This Week’s Chart Report: “Cheek To Cheek: Ekes Out A #1, Streisand Stays Strong

Three albums sold more than 125,000 copies last week to finish in the top 3 of the Nielsen charts published by Billboard. Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s duets album "Cheek to Cheek" narrowly took the top spot, selling 131,000 copies and breaking Bennett’s own record for oldest living artist to have a #1. Kenny Chesney was #2, selling 130,000 copies of "The Big Revival" to secure his 12th Top 10 album.

Last week’s #1, Barbra Streisand’s "Partners", took #3 with 127,000 copies. That's down 35% from her debut week, but the smallest second-week drop since February which bodes well sustained success, especially with the holiday season approaching.

"All in all, it was an exhilarating sales race to follow," commented James Donio, President of Music Biz, " and we hope to see more weeks like this in the future. That wasn’t the only story, though, as indie rockers Alt-J shattered their personal best sales record to land at #4 with This Is All Yours, a cappella group Pentatonix scored their best debut at #5 with PTX: Vol. III (EP), blues guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa debuted at #8 with Different Shades of Blue, and Jennifer Hudson rounded out the Top 10 with JHud."

Next week offers a major Country faceoff between Lady Antebellum and Blake Shelton along with the debut of two new Prince albums.