1 post tagged “leona lewis tops u.s. album chart”
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - New pop sensation Leona Lewis debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart this week, the first British woman to achieve this feat, her record label said on Wednesday.
Just three weeks ago, the 23-year-old winner of British talent show "X Factor" rewrote the history books when her song "Bleeding Love" hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
It was the first time a British female solo artist had topped the chart since Kim Wilde went to No. 1 in 1987 with a cover of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On."
"Bleeding Love" is from the album "Spirit," which sold 205,000 copies this week in the United States.
Simon Cowell, a record executive who groomed Lewis and appeared as a judge on "X Factor", called the achievement "simply incredible.
"This is the hardest market to crack and for her debut album to go in at number 1 is unbelievable," he said in a statement.
The Daily Variety trade publication said "Spirit" ranks as the biggest-selling debut by a female artist since former "American Idol" champ Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts" debuted at No. 2 with 314,500 copies in November 2005.
Lewis won "X Factor" in 2006, securing a contract with Cowell's Syco Records, which partnered on the project with New York-based J Records.
"Spirit" debuted at No. 1 in the UK last November, while "Bleeding Love" was Britain's biggest-selling single last year. Continued...
