Keith Urban News

No disrespect to Kelly Preston, but it looks like Nicole Kidman married the real Urban Cowboy.

Fresh off last weekend's win at the Academy of Country Music Awards, Keith Urban roped in his first No. 1 album as Defying Gravity just edged out Prince's latest, LotusFlow3r.

Mr. Kidman, who peaked at No. 3 with his previous two albums, also scored his 10th chart-topping country hit last month with Gravity single "Sweet Thing." 

Urban and Prince (whose three-disc effort was a bargain-priced Target exclusive)  were neck-and-neck most of the week, finishing with sales of 172,000 and 168,000, respectively. Grammy-winning jazz songbird Diana Krall's Quiet Nights followed at No. 3 with 104,000, which was enough to rule the Jazz Albums chart.

UGK 4 Life, the swan song for one-time rap duo UGK, sold 76,000 copies at No. 6. A few months after 2007's Underground Kingz debuted at No. 1, Pimp C was found dead in a California hotel room. Surviving member Bun B made the new album as a tribute to his fallen partner.

Flo Rida holds the digital sales record for his recent single "Right Round," but the hit track didn't help put the rapper's new album over the top. His sophomore set, R.O.O.T.S., sold 55,000 copies at No. 8.

Other noteworthy debuts include the concert disc Chris Botti in Boston at No. 13, Rodney Atkins' It's America at No. 15, Bow Wow's New Jack City, Pt. II at No. 16 with New Jack City, Pt. II and Gavin DeGraw's Free at No. 19.

Deep down in the chart's basement, Playlist: The Very Best of Clay Aiken sold a meager 3,000 copies at No. 173. It's only been five years since Aiken's Measure of a Man set the still-unbroken record for the biggest sales week by an American Idol contestant.

Sales overall are up 5 percent over last week but down 11 percent compared to the same week in 2008.

Here's a recap of the Top 10 albums based on Nieslen SoundScan figures for the week ended Sunday:

  • Defying Gravity, Keith Urban   • LotusFlow3r, Prince   • Quiet Nights, Diana Krall   • Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack, various   • Now That's What I Call Music! 30, various   • UGK 4 Life, UGK   • Twilight soundtrack, various   • R.O.O.T.S., Flo Rida   • The Fame, Lady Gaga   • Fearless, Taylor Swift

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