On the Charts: Leona Lewis Makes History With "Spirit"-ed Debut

The Big News: Aided by the collective powers of Simon Cowell and Oprah, Artist to Watch Leona Lewis' first album Spirit rocketed to the top of the chart, selling 204,841 copies on its way to becoming her the first British solo artist to ever have a debut album open atop the U.S. charts. A pair of country artists occupied two and three, with George Strait's Troubadour and James Otto's Sunset Man selling in the 50Ks. NOW 27 clung to number four, while R.E.M.'s Accelerate hung around at five after debuting last week at two.

Debuts: R&B artist/sex tape star Ray J and his All I Feel came in at number seven. The physical release of Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I-IV debuted at fourteen with 25,807 copies. Nick Cave's Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! took sixty-fourth, the Breeders' Mountain Battles slotted ninety-eighth, Tapes N Tapes' sophomore set Walk It Out seeded 116 and, for some reason, 8,078 people bought Punk Goes Crunk.

Last Week's Heroes: Diddy's Day26 suffered the biggest fall, stumbling from four to eighteen. It what's becoming an ongoing joke, Alvin & the Chipmunks soundtrack remained in the upper tier despite dropping from five to six. And Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride joined the double platinum club after twenty-five weeks.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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