The 'Hope for Haiti Now' digital album – which was downloadable Sat. Jan. 22 via iTunes the day after the charity telethon debuted – topped the Billboard 200 this week. With 171,000 sold according to Nielsen SoundScan, the album marks the first digital-only album to top the charts in Billboard's 54-year reign, and the first time in five years that an album sold over 100,000 copies in the first three tracking weeks of the year. Okay, so digital-exclusives are a newer phenomenon, but the album shows that a world in crisis can bring together a slew of artists – old and new – to collaborate, create, and cover classics. Matt Morris and Justin Timberlake's cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' proved to be the No. 1 download on iTunes, whereas other memorable songs on the album were performed by Bono, Rihanna, The Edge, Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, just to name a handful.
Other debuts on the Billboard 200 this week are Spoon's seventh studio album 'Transference' at No. 4 with 53,000 albums sold -- the first full-length since 2007's 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga' -- and Motion City Soundtrack's fourth album 'My Dinosaur Life' at No. 15 with 27,000 albums sold.
Last week's chart-topper 'Contra' by indie group Vampire Weekend slid slightly to No. 6 with 43,000 and Susan Boyle's 'I Dreamed a Dream' held the No. 2 spot with 86,000, heavily due to the "Oprah Effect" which we saw happen to Lady GaGa's 'The Fame' last week after she made her first appearance on the show Jan. 15.
And it's no surprise that in anticipation for the 2010 Grammys, debuting this Sunday, that the '2010 Grammy Nominees' album would debut on the charts at No. 5 with 49,000. Featuring record of the year nominations Kings of Leon 'Use Somebody' and Taylor Swift's 'You Belong With Me,' the album also boasts nominated country performers Zac Brown Band and Lady A. Songs from nominated rock albums are also featured by veterans U2, Eric Clapton & Steven Winwood and others. Check out a list of this year's Grammy Award nominations. The Grammy countdown begins!