Feuding Kelly, Jay-Z Top U.S. Albums Chart
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – Despite a nasty public feud that brought an abrupt end to their joint tour last weekend, R. Kelly and Jay-Z are chummy on top of the U.S. pop album charts.
Their second album together, “Unfinished Business” (Jive/Def Jam/IDJMG), debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 215,000 copies in the week ended Oct. 31, according to Nielsen SoundScan data issued Wednesday.
R. Kelly has filed a $75 million breach-of-contract suit against Jay-Z after being dismissed from their co-headlining Best of Both Worlds tour. The trek took its name from the duo’s first album, 2002’s “The Best of Both Worlds,” which opened at No. 2 with 223,000 copies; it has sold 875,000 to date.
“Unfinished Business” replaced Rod Stewart’s “Stardust …The Great American Songbook: Volume III” (J), which fell to No. 4 with 134,000 copies.
Trick Daddy burst in at No. 2 with his highest charting album and a career-best sales week. “Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets” (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic) moved 145,000 copies, an improvement over 2002’s “Thug Holiday,” which bowed at No. 6 with 130,000 copies; it has sold 731,000 to date.
It’s instant gratification this time around for Simple Plan, whose sophomore Lava set, “Still Not Getting Any…,” opened at No. 3 with 139,000 copies. That’s in sharp contrast to the Canadian pop/punk act’s 2002 debut, “No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls,” which was out for two months before it appeared on the big chart. It eventually peaked at No. 35 and has sold 1.8 million copies.
“Motown Two,” Michael McDonald’s second compilation of covers tied to the venerable R&B label, was an even bigger success than the first. The new Motown set debuted at No. 9 on sales of almost 70,000 units, while last year’s “Motown” settled for a peak of No. 14. That set, which has sold 1.3 million to date, re-entered the chart this week at No. 158 with 7,000 copies.
Significant interest in the Ray Charles biopic “Ray,” which opened at No. 2 at the North American box office last weekend, also translated to music sales as the WMG/Atlantic/Rhino soundtrack jumped 13 places to No. 10 with 55,000 copies. Despite the hype, the late artist’s final studio set, “Genius Loves Company” (Concord/Hear Music), slipped three places to No. 8 with 96,000 copies.
Rounding out the top 10, Nelly’s “Suit” (Derrty/Fo’Reel/Universal) fell three places to No. 5 with 130,000 copies, Usher’s “Confessions” (LaFace/Zomba) dipped two to No. 6 with 113,000 copies, and George Strait’s “50 number Ones” (MCA Nashville) dropped four places to No. 7 with 104,000 copies.
Gospel artist Michael W. Smith grabbed his highest posting on the Billboard 200 with a No. 11 debut for “Healing Rain” (Reunion). The set opened with sales of 55,000, a bit less than 2002’s “Worship Again,” which moved 58,000 to start at No. 14. It has sold 692,000 to date.
“Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill” gave the country artist a No. 20 start with his third Warner Bros. album based on sales of 39,000 copies. Last year’s “The Dreamer” fared a bit better, opening at No. 8 with 77,000 copies; it has sold 627,000 to date.
Last week’s spooky holiday fueled sales of Mannheim Steamroller’s “Halloween: Monster Mix” (American Gramaphone), which jumped 144-56 to 15,000 copies. Also enjoying a notable increase was Three Days Grace’s self-titled Jive set, which was reissued with a bonus DVD. The set rebounded 161-96 with 11,000 copies.
Overall U.S. album sales were down from the previous week by about 2% at 10.5 million units and about 5% lower than the same week last year. Year-to-date sales are ahead of 2003 by about 4.5% at 506 million units.
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