A Smart Move

Bon Jovi went country for their new album, Lost Highway, and boy did it pay off!
The band’s record jumped to the #1 spot on the U.S. album chart’s this week.
This mark’s Bon Jovi’s first #1 in TWENTY years!
The last time they hit pole position was in 1988 with their New Jersey album.
Congrats!
The White Stripes also had an impressive week, moving 223,000 copies of their new album, Icky Thump.
This is the Stripes’ highest charting album and their best sales week ever.
Kudos to them too!
Brad Paisley‘s 5th Gear opened at #3 and other notable debuts this week include Mandy Moor,├é┬á├é┬áShop Boyz, Huey, Chrisette Michele and Lifehouse.
CLICK HERE for more detailed chart info!

From Billboard
├óΓé¼┬ó To quote Bon Jovi’s 2006 No. 1 hit, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”? Home, that is, to the top of The Billboard 200, where the band claims its first No. 1 album since 1988. Its new “Lost Highway” starts with 288,000 units — the act’s biggest sales frame since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. Previously, the group’s best sales week came when its last album, 2005’s “Have a Nice Day,” bowed at No. 2 with 202,000. The band has expanded its fan base to include country music devotees, thanks to its No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” with Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles. “Lost Highway” was recorded partially in Nashville with half of the album’s cuts produced by Dann Huff. (He has helmed 17 No. 1s on the Country Songs chart.) The set also boasts guest turns from country stars LeAnn Rimes and Big & Rich. Still, the album doesn’t stray far from Bon Jovi’s familiar rock sound — despite its Nashville influences — and it does not chart on Top Country Albums.
├óΓé¼┬ó With each successive album, the White Stripes debut higher on The Billboard 200 with bigger sales weeks. With their new effort, “Icky Thump,” the duo checks in at No. 2 with 223,000. Its last album, 2005’s “Get Behind Me Satan,” started at No. 3 with 189,000 … “Icky Thump” sold 53,000 through digital retailers — 24% of its overall first week — easily making it No. 1 on Top Digital Albums … The title track is the band’s second-biggest Alternative/Modern Rock chart hit, as it holds at No. 3 for a second week. Only 2003’s “Seven Nation Army” went higher, spending three weeks at No. 1 … In support of the new album, the band played the Bonnaroo festival June 17 in Manchester, Tenn., and “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” June 18. The act also staged a June 20 performance at Tower Records’ former location on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Fashioned as an “Icky Thump Records” store, the band played an “in-store” that was streamed live on the Web via AT&T’s Blue Room … “Icky Thump” was available via the Apple iTunes Store with two bonus tracks (as a pre-order) or with one bonus track (if purchased after the pre-order window closed). Additionally, 6,666 specially designed, limited-edition USB drives containing the album were sold via the White Stripes’ official Web site. Each drive — crafted with caricatures of either Jack White or Meg White — sold for $57.50 or for $99 as a set of two … The band’s tour has dates lined up through October. It includes stops at the Austin City Limits Festival in September and the Ottawa Bluesfest in July.
├óΓé¼┬ó Brad Paisley’s fifth studio album, “5th Gear,” is his third straight studio set to debut at No. 1 on Top Country Albums. The Arista Nashville effort starts with 197,000 units — Paisley’s best sales week ever — enough for a No. 3 bow on The Billboard 200 … The album is led by the No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit “Ticks,” Paisley’s eighth chart-topper in as many years … Paisley played “Good Morning America” June 15 and GAC’s “Grand Ole Opry Live” June 16. Additionally, GAC presented a 90-minute concert special starring Paisley June 17 … “5th Gear” was sale-priced for less than $10 at Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart and Wal-Mart … Powered by its smash hit “Party Like a Rockstar,” Shop Boyz enter The Billboard 200 at No. 11 (52,000) with their debut set, “Rockstar Mentality.” The rap trio’s “Party Like a Rockstar” has spent the past the month lodged at No. 2 on The Billboard Hot 100, stuck behind Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”
├óΓé¼┬ó Other debuts in the top half of The Billboard 200 this week include Lifehouse at No. 14 with its fourth album, “Who We Are.” The set, which includes the current single “First Time,” is the follow-up to the band’s 2005 self-titled album … Huey’s “Notebook Paper” glides in at No. 26 on The Billboard 200 with 29,000. The rapper’s dance anthem “Pop, Lock & Drop It” already hit the top 10 on The Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs … New R&B singer Chrisette Michele starts at No. 29 on The Billboard 200 and No. 5 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with her debut, “I Am.” The set was sale-priced for less than $8 at Target, Best Buy and Circuit City. The album’s lead single, “If I Have My Way,” is bulleted at No. 16 on the Urban AC/Adult R&B radio chart this week … Singer/actress Mandy Moore returns to The Billboard 200 with her first studio album in six years, as “Wild Hope” debuts at No. 30 with 25,000. Moore’s last proper studio set was her 2001 self-titled album, which debuted and peaked at No. 35. Since then, she has visited the chart with a covers album and a greatest-hits package. Her new film, “License to Wed,” co-starring John Krasinski of “The Office” and Robin Williams, opens July 3 … Straylight Run zips in at No. 72 on The Billboard 200, shifting 10,000 units. Its “The Needles the Space” album was sale-priced for $7.99 at Best Buy (where it came with two bonus tracks) and $8.64 at Wal-Mart … Rock act August Burns Red debuts at No. 81 with “Messengers” with 9,000. The set also starts at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums.
MARKET WATCH
• Album units, current chart week: 8.9 million units
├óΓé¼┬ó DOWN 7.12% from last issue’s charts: 9.58 million units
• DOWN 5.2% from same week, 2006: 9.39 million units
• This week: The top three albums sell more than 100,000 copies.
├óΓé¼┬ó This week last year on The Billboard 200: Nelly Furtado made a comeback, strutting in at No. 1 with “Loose,” selling 219,000. Underoath’s “Define the Great Line” started at No. 2 with 98,000 while Keane’s “Under the Iron Sea” began at No. 4 with 75,000. Only the No. 1 album sold more than 100,000 units.
BORDERLINES
├óΓé¼┬ó The No. 1 album this week, Bon Jovi’s “Lost Highway” (Island/IDJMG), sold 288,000.
├óΓé¼┬ó The No. 1 album for the same week of 2006, Nelly Furtado’s “Loose” (Mosley/Geffen), sold 219,000.
• Average total of the No. 200 album for the same week of the year during the past 10 years (1998-2007): 320,042.
PROGRESS REPORTS
├óΓé¼┬ó Ozzy Osbourne tops the Active Rock radio chart for the first time and becomes the first solo artist to hit No. 1 on that list in more than nine years with “I Don’t Wanna Stop.” It’s not for a lack of trying on Osbourne’s part, either. He has had four singles peak at No. 2 and another three stop at No. 3 … Osbourne, who also spends a 10th week atop the similarly named Rock radio chart, becomes just the fourth solo artist to hit No. 1 in the 10-year history of the Active Rock chart and the first since Rob Zombie completed a three-week reign with “Living Dead Girl” in June 1999. The only other solo artists to post Active Rock No. 1s are Lenny Kravitz with “Fly Away” in 1998 and Everlast with 1999’s “What It’s Like.”
├óΓé¼┬ó Montgomery Gentry claims its third No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart as “Lucky Man” hops 3-1. The duo first topped the chart when “If You Ever Stop Loving Me” led for a week in June 2004, then again with “Something to Be Proud Of” in September 2005. “Lucky Man” sends Brad Paisley’s “Ticks” tumbling 1-5, which is the biggest drop since Bon Jovi & Jennifer Nettles’ “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” similarly fell 1-5 in May 2006.
├óΓé¼┬ó Rihanna is the first female lead artist to debut eight songs in a period of slightly more than two years on the CHR/Top 40 radio chart, as “Shut Up and Drive” zooms in at No. 35. “Drive” extends Rihanna’s chart career to two years and two weeks, dating back to the debut of “Pon De Replay” in June 2005. The only artist to place eight songs on the CHR/Top 40 survey more quickly (besting Rihanna’s run by two weeks) is Hootie & the Blowfish, which posted eight entries from October 1994 through October 1996. Impressively, Rihanna has appeared on the CHR/Top 40 chart for all but three weeks since “Replay” began its run.