This week, Selena Gomez collects her first No. 1 title on
the Billboard 200 with the arrival of "Stars Dance." The Hollywood
Records release sold 97,000 copies in its first week -- a career-high
frame for the singer.
Each of her four albums have steadily grown larger in
their debut weeks, bowing with successively bigger sums and placing
higher on the chart.
Her 2009 debut, "Kiss and Tell," opened at No. 9 with
nearly 66,000. It was followed by the No. 4-ranking "A Year Without
Rain" in 2010 (which slightly exceeded 66,000) and then 2011's "When the
Sun Goes Down" (No. 3 peak, a week after it launched at No. 4 with
78,000).
Gomez has been red hot this year, scoring her biggest hit
single yet with the lead track from "Stars Dance," "Come & Get It."
The cut sailed to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 (her first top 10) and
No. 2 on the Pop Songs airplay chart.
Gomez, who just turned 21 last week, is also the youngest
solo female artist to hit No. 1 since her friend Taylor Swift in 2010.
On the chart dated Nov. 13 of that year, the then-20-year old Swift
debuted at the top with her second leader, "Speak Now."
Gomez bumps Jay Z's "Magna Carta . . . Holy Grail" down to No. 2 with 77,000 (down 40%). It had ruled the list for two weeks.
It's a good week for all things Disney, as Hollywood
Records' sister label, Walt Disney Records, sees its "Teen Beach Movie"
soundtrack soar from No. 8 to No. 3. The set sold 57,000 in its second
week of release, jumping into the top three with a monster gain of
128%.
The increase follows a full week's worth of impact from
the movie's Disney Channel premiere on July 19. In addition, repeated
airings of film—along with its quick turnaround DVD release on July
30—should ensure another solid sales week for the soundtrack.
The "Kidz Bop 24" album falls 3-4 with 39,000 (down 37%),
while Marc Anthony debuts at No. 5 with his new Spanish-language album
"3.0" (nearly 39,000). "3.0" marks Anthony's best sales week and
highest-charting set since his 2002 English album "Mended" debuted and
peaked at No. 3 with 111,000.
He previously tallied two top 10 sets, but
both were English affairs: "Mended" and his 1999's self-titled effort. "3.0" is the highest-charting Spanish set by any act since
April 30, 2011—when Mana's "Drama y Luz" debuted at No. 5 with
47,000—and the biggest sales frame for a Spanish effort since Nov. 25,
2011, when Romeo Santos' "Formula: Vol. 1" launched with 62,000 at No.
9.
Back in this week's top 10: Florida Georgia Line's "Here's
to the Good Times" slips 5-6 with 30,000 (down 6%), and Imagine
Dragons' "Night Visions" falls 6-7 with 27,000 (down 4%).
Rock band We Came As Romans notches its first top 10 album
and best sales week yet, as "Tracing Back Roots" starts at No. 8 with
26,000. The group previously topped out at No. 21 in 2011, where its
last release, "Understanding What We've Grown to Be" launched with
19,000.
Next up in the top 10 is the "Rich Gang" compilation from
Young Money and Cash Money Records, which starts at No. 9 with 24,000.
It's the highest-charting hip-hop compilation since the "Good Music
Cruel Summer" set ranked at No. 7 on Oct. 13, 2012. (It debuted at No. 2
the week previous.)
Rounding out the top 10 is Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience," which falls one rung to No. 10 with 21,000 (down 14%).
