In a week encompassing Grammy boosts and Valentine's Day sales, country star Taylor Swift returned to the top of the U.S. pop chart Wednesday, while Grammy champs Robert Plant and Alison Krauss zoomed 67 places to No. 2.
Swift's "Fearless" rose two places to No. 2 after selling 92,000 units during the week ended February 15, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It has now spent nine non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. The last album to spend more time at the top was Santana's "Supernatural," which enjoyed 12 weeks at No. 1 in 1999 and 2000.
Plant and Krauss' "Raising Sand," which won five Grammys on February 8 including album of the year, sold 77,000 copies last week, enjoying a massive 715% increase. The Americana set debuted at No. 2 in late 2007 with 112,000 units and has now sold 1.26 million to date.
As for other Grammy winners/performers, Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" jumped 23 places to No. 8 with 62,000, up 271%; the album generated four Grammys, including song of the year for "Viva La Vida."
The "Grammy Nominees 2009" compilation rose three places to No. 9 with 61,000 copies, up 114%. Best new artist winner Adele's "19" climbed 17 places to No. 10 with 57,000 on 218% bump.
Elsewhere on the Billboard 2000, India.Arie's "Testimony: Vol. 2 -- Love & Politics" arrived at No. 3 with 76,000. The R&B singer/songwriter's last release, 2006's "Testimony: Vol. 1 -- Life & Relationship," started at No. 1 with 161,000.
After topping the chart last week, the Fray's self-titled album fell to No. 4 with 75,000. Directly behind was Lily Allen's "It's Not Me, It's You," which started with 70,000 at No. 5. The British singer's debut release, 2007's "Alright, Still...," bowed at No. 20 with 34,000.
Bruce Springsteen's "Working on a Dream" fell four places to No. 6 with 65,000, and R&B crooner Bobby Valentino's "The Rebirth" entered at No. 7 with 64,000 copies.
At 8.56 million units, sales were off by 12.6% compared to the same week in 2008.
(China Daily/Agencies February 19, 2009)
