Sugarland Top the Country and All-Genre Album Charts
Sugarland have scored a sweet victory on both the Billboard Country Album charts and the all-genre Billboard 200. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the duo cranked out sales of 202,000 copies of 'The Incredible Machine' this past week, knocking last week's champ, Darius Rucker, to the No. 2 spot on the country chart and holding back rock's Kings of Leon, who debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Interestingly, on the Top Digital Album chart, the Kings rule in the No. 1 position, while Sugarland are at No. 2, registering 38,000 downloads of their album.
"We are thrilled to be No. 1 this week," says Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles. "We are grateful for all the fans that bought the album. This is an incredible start on a record that feels big and close to our hearts!"
"We're excited that so many people bought the album this week," adds Kristian Bush. "We have been playing many of these songs on tour all year and are happy that fans get to finally have the music in their hands and ears."
Elsewhere on the Top Country Album chart, Kenny Chesney's 'Hemingway's Whiskey' holds steady at No. 3, while the Zac Brown Band's 'You Get What You Give' retains the No. 4 spot and the Band Perry's self-titled effort drops to No. 5.
Taylor Swift has the No. 1 track on the country digital chart with 'Mean,' which is No. 2 on the multi-genre digital tracks chart. She also rules 40 percent of the Top 10 on the country chart, with four tracks from 'Speak Now' among the most downloaded tunes of the week.
Now that 'Speak Now' has officially been released, all eyes will be on next week's charts to see just how Taylor follows up the six-times-platinum success of 'Fearless,' which sold 592,000 copies in its first week nearly two years ago.