Daughtry Dethrones "The King of Pop"

[Brian Damage]

After three weeks of Michael Jackson owning the top selling album in the U.S., the late King of Pop steps aside as Daughtry reigns with "Leave This Town," which tops the Billboard 200 after selling 269,000 units, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

For Daughtry, "Leave This Town" is the band's second No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its self-titled freshman set debuted at No. 2 with 304,000 upon its release in November 2006. It went to No. 1 in its ninth week on the list, an incredible feat considering the vast majority of No. 1 albums get to No. 1 by debuting there. The new album's first single, "No Surprise," is the act's sixth-straight top five hit on the Adult Top 40 radio airplay chart, where it ranks at No. 5 this week.

Michael Jackson mania isn't over on the charts. He still looms large on both the Top Pop Catalog Albums and Top Comprehensive Albums charts. In the tracking week that ended on July 19, his "Number Ones" hits collection was his best-seller, shifting 192,000 (down 45%). That 2003 effort finds itself at No. 1 on the Catalog chart and No. 2 on Top Comprehensive Albums. All told, Jackson has six out of the top 10 on Top Comprehensive Albums and the entire top 12 slots on Top Pop Catalog Albums are Jackson-related. The majority of his releases are down in sales this week, including "The Essential Michael Jackson" (125,000; down 15%), "Thriller" (114,000; down 57%), "Off the Wall" (68,000; down 36%), "Bad" (61,000; down 38%) and "Dangerous" (55,000; down 19%).

Back on the Billboard 200, rock super group The Dead Weather sees its first album "Horehound" enter at No. 6 with 51,000. The quartet consists of Jack White (of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs), Alison Mosshart (of the Kills), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of the Raconteurs and the Greenhornes). All told, this is the sixth top 10 album for White, counting his three top 10s with the White Stripes, two with the Raconteurs and the new Dead Weather set.

R&B singer Joe claims his fourth top 10 album and second in less than a year as "Signature" arrives at No. 7 with 49,000 copies sold. On the Billboard 200 dated Oct. 11, 2008, he saw "Joe Thomas, New Man" enter and peak at No. 8 with 54,000.

Rapper Twista places the final top 10 bow on the Billboard 200 this week with his "Category F5" debuting at No. 8 with 45,000 -- his fourth straight top 10 set.

Maxwell's "BLACKsummers'night" falls one slot to No. 2 with 103,000 (down 67%) while the "Hannah Montana 3" soundtrack also slides one rung to No. 3 with 73,000 (down 47%). The "Now 31" compilation moves from No. 3 to No. 4 with 69,000 (down 31%) and the Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." stays steady at No. 5 with 54,000 (down 13%). Taylor Swift's "Fearless" (up one at No. 9 -- 37,000; up 1%) and Kings of Leon's "Only By the Night" (up four to No. 10 -- 33,000; up 9%) round out the top 10.

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending July 19) totaled 6.78 million units, down 6.8% compared to the sum last week (7.27 million) and down 9.3% compared to the same sales week of 2008 (7.48 million). Year to date album sales stand at 195.4 million, down 13.9% compared to the same total at this point last year (227 million).

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