Alicia Keys Scores First U.K. No. 1 Album February 08, 2010
- Global
| Retail
| RB Hip-Hop
By Paul Sexton, London
Alicia Keys is celebrating her first U.K. No. 1 album, after "The Element of Freedom" (J/Sony Music Entertainment) moved up one place on the new Official Charts Company survey. Owl City's "Fireflies" (Universal Island) started a third week atop the singles chart.
"The Element of Freedom" moved 35,000 copies last week, according to the Official Charts Company.
Keys' previous highest-charting album in the U.K. was her 2001 debut "Songs In A Minor," which reached No. 6. The 2003 set "The Diary of Alicia Keys" peaked at No. 13, 2005's "Unplugged" at only No. 52 and "As I Am" in 2007 at No. 11. "Empire State of Mind Part II," the current single from "Freedom," climbs 7-5 on the new Feb. 7 survey.
"Fireflies" secures a third week atop the singles chart despite a strong challenge from former "X Factor" contestants, teenage twins Jedward, who debuted at No. 2 with "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)" (Sony Music Entertainment) featuring Vanilla Ice. Jedward's debut single "mashes up" Ice's 1990 chart-topper "Ice Ice Baby" with the 1980 No. 1 on which that was already based, "Under Pressure" by Queen featuring David Bowie.
"If We Ever Meet Again" (Interscope/Universal) by Timbaland featuring Katy Perry climbed 17-3 on the new chart, while RCA/Sony Music Entertainment breakthrough act Ke$ha scored a second U.K. hit as "Blah Blah Blah" entered at No. 11 and her debut album "Animal" opened at No. 8. There was also a No. 12 debut hit for Marina & the Diamonds, aka Welsh-born singer Marina Diamandis, with "Hollywood" (679/Warner Music).
As Keys moved to the top of the album chart, Dutch musician Andre Rieu's waltz collection "Forever Vienna" (Decca/Universal) climbed to a new peak, 4-2. Last week's No. 1, Paolo Nutini's "Sunny Side Up" (Atlantic/Warner Music), fell to No. 3, as Corinne Bailey Rae marked her return with "The Sea" (Virgin/EMI) at No. 5 and English-born pop artist Peter Andre entered at No. 9 with "Unconditional Love Songs" (Rhino/Warner Music).
Ke$ha now also sits atop Billboard's pan-European Hot 10 Singles chart, after "Tik Tok" climbed 2-1. Lady Gaga maintains pole position on European Albums with "The Fame" (Interscope/Universal).
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Music applications are among the most popular types of apps downloaded to today's smartphones. But which are the best of
the best? Which new music apps created in the last year are setting the stage for tomorrow's successes? Billboard's Music App Awards is the
first awards program answering these questions by showcasing and celebrating the best and most innovative new music apps defining the space today. The
deadline to submit your app for consideration is Aug 6. Click here to apply.
Share
Share on LinkedIn
