reaganomics specified: Lionel Richie Scores First #1 Album In 25 Years

Friday, April 20, 2012

Lionel Richie Scores First #1 Album In 25 Years

Nicki Minaj's Roman Reloaded slips 68 percent in week two.
By Gil Kaufman

Lionel Richie
Photo: Cliff Lipson/ Getty Images

In what might mark one of the longest-ever droughts between #1 albums, Lionel Richie will have something to dance on the ceiling about next week, when his all-star country comeback album, Tuskegee, grabs the #1 spot on the Billboard 200. After debuting at #2 and falling to #4 last week, Richie managed to hit #1 on sales of 129,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.

Thanks to a sales increase of 35 percent boosted by his prime-time CBS special, "Lionel Richie and Friends," the former Commodores singer and solo star will be back on top for the first time since 1986's Dancing on the Ceiling.

Richie's numbers were more than enough to stop Adele from reclaiming the pole position, though she did move another 92,000 copies of 21, to put her past the 8.7 million mark. It was a major comedown for Nicki Minaj, as her first #1 debut, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, slipped 68 percent in its second week, falling to #3 on sales of 81,000.

Among the new faces in the top 10: Monica, whose New Life came in at #4 (69,000), blues veteran Bonnie Raitt, #6 with Slipstream (64,000), and rapper Hoodie Allen, who debuted at #10 with All American (27,000).

The rest of the top 10: One Direction, Up All Night (#5, 66,000); Gotye, Making Mirrors (up 111 percent following a "Saturday Night Live" appearance and a spot on "Glee" to #7 on sales of 54,000); Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls (up eight spots to #8, 43,000); and Rascal Flatts, who dropped six spots in week two to #9 with Changed (41,000).

Counting Crows mark a return to the charts with a #11 bow for Underwater Sunshine (or what we did on our summer vacation) (27,000), while Madonna's MDNA continued its free-fall, dropping 10 more spots in week three to #18 as sales fell another 56 percent to 21,000.

Those high-profile appearances helped Gotye grab the #1 spot on the iTunes singles chart with "Somebody That I Used to Know," which bested fun.'s "We Are Young." The #3 position belonged to One Direction ("What Makes You Beautiful"), followed by Justin Bieber ("Boyfriend"), Carly Rae Jepsen ("Call Me Maybe"), Nicki's "Starships," Flo Rida ("Wild Ones"), The Wanted ("Glad You Came"), Kanye West ("Mercy") and the "Glee" cast's version of "Somebody That I Used to Know."

Richie reigned supreme on the iTunes albums chart as well, followed by One Direction, Gotye, Hoodie Allen, Minaj, Adele, Raitt, Of Monsters and Men's My Head Is an Animal, Alabama Shakes and Trip Lee's The Good Life.

Next week will bring new releases from Jason Mraz, Train and Jack Johnson.