Adele beats 7 new albums to keep top spot on chart

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer Adele stood her ground atop the Billboard album chart with "21" on Wednesday despite seven new entries vying for No. 1 this week, including stiff competition from country music singer Tim McGraw.

"21," which has sold more than 6 million copies in the United States since its release in February 2011, notched its 18th week in the top spot of the Billboard 200 chart.

Adele, who has been resting her voice after vocal cord surgery last November, said she will be making her live comeback at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 12.

Country music star McGraw's 11th studio album, "Emotional Traffic" debuted at No. 2, scoring the singer his 14th top 10 album in the Billboard 200 chart and 13th No. 1 in the Billboard Country Albums chart.

New albums from rock band "Lamb of God," singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, "American Idol" alumnus Kellie Pickler, Christian music singer Kari Jobe and soul singer Seal dotted the top 10, along with the "2012 Grammy Nominees" and "Kidz Bop 21" compilation and Drake's "Take Care."

After a couple of weeks in early January that saw low unit sales figures, the chart was rejuvenated this week across the top 10. Still, "21" was the only album to cross the 100,000 copies mark, partially driven by a re-issued deluxe edition released last week in Target retail stores.

Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You") took the top spot on the Digital Songs chart, followed by Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" holding steady at No. 2 and last week's chart-topper, David Guetta's "Turn Me On" featuring Nicki Minaj, falling to No. 3 this week.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Beyonce's new baby makes Billboard chart debut

On her last album "The Dreamer," released just three months before her death, Etta James sings a mix of covers, from the R&B classic "Misty Blue" to the Ray Charles song "In the Evening." But perhaps the most curious tune included on the disc may be the Guns N' Roses staple "Welcome to the Jungle."

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Adele joins "Titanic" in her 16-week chart reign

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer Adele's multi-platinum selling album "21" scored its 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, entering an elite list of only five albums to cross the that mark in the past 20 years.

"21," which has been selling more than 100,000 copies each week for 33 weeks, joined the ranks of the soundtrack to the 1997 box-office phenomenon "Titanic," Whitney Houston's soundtrack to 1992 film, "The Bodyguard," country crooner Garth Brooks' "Ropin' The Wind" and Billy Ray Cyrus' "Some Gave All," also in 1992, all of which crossed 16 weeks at No. 1.

Recently disbanded Christian rock group David Crowder Band made the highest chart debut this week at No. 2 with new album "Give Us Rest," selling 50,000 copies.

Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol debuted their sixth studio album, "Fallen Empires," at No. 5, following Black Keys' "El Camino" and Drake's "Take Care."

Adele also snatched the top spot on the Digital Songs chart with "Set Fire to the Rain" from last week's No. 1, Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up," which fell to No. 9.

This week saw low sales on the album chart, as the bottom three CDs on the Top 10 list sold less than 20,000 copies each, the first time in Nielsen SoundScan history that albums selling less than 20,000 have entered the top 10.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Adele, Jason Mraz top 2012's first Billboard chart

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer Adele kicked off 2012 just like much of 2011 -- at the top of the Billboard album charts, for a 15th week, with her best-selling "21".

Soul-pop singer Jason Mraz scored the year's first top song with "I Won't Give Up" at No. 1 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, ahead of his eagerly anticipated fourth album.

"21" sold 124,000 copies, almost three times more than this week's No. 2 album, Drake's "Take Care." While album sales across the top 10 were down this week, the chart saw a resurgence of some of 2011's favorites, including Black Keys' "El Camino" up to No. 3, Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" back up at No. 5 and Rihanna's "Talk That Talk" up to No. 6.

The only new entry this week to break into the top 50 was alternative rock group SafetySuit's sophomore album "These Times," which entered the chart at No. 7.

In the digital songs chart, Mraz surpassed recent chart staples such as LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It," Rihanna's "We Found Love," with his new single.

The song was released after the singer posted a video on his website, which then spread through the social networks. It sold more than 229,000 download copies in its first week.

"I Won't Give Up" precedes Mraz's follow-up to 2008's "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things," which included the hit single "I'm Yours" and earned a Grammy nomination.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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