Korn News

After 15 years in the game, the hip-hopster landed his first chart-topping bow with Finding Forever, selling 155,000 copies for the week ended Sunday to 123,000 for Korn's latest, per Nielsen SoundScan.

Common, who broke into the mainstream with 2000's Like Water for Chocolate, took his career up a notch with 2005's Be, which aligned him with Kanye West and his GOOD Music label. That album hit the number two spot and picked up several Grammy nominations.

West produced several tracks on Finding Forever, with additional tracks by Will.I.Am and the late, great J. Dilla.

Common's rise to the top of the pop chart kept Korn's in the two hole. The group's previous album, 2005's See You on the Other Side, opened at three, while 1998's Follow the Leader and 1999's Issues both bowed at number one.

The untitled album (says singer Jonathan Davis, "Why not just let our fans call it whatever they wanna call it?") is in keeping with the band's clean slate as the disc reintroduces Davis' famed bagpipes and unveils personnel changes that include drummer David Silveria's hiatus and guitarist Brian Welch's departure.

With two big bows, Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 25 slipped to number three with about 123,000 in sales.

All told, the week saw four Top 10 openings. Jamaican teen Sean Kingston sold 75,000 copies of his self-titled debut to open at six. The singer benefits from his Hot 100 chart-topper, "Beautiful Girls," a morbid-yet-catchy love song centered around a "Stand By Me" sample.

The fourth Top 10 entry belonged to Kidz Bop 12, the popular series featuring hit singles as performed by young'uns. The latest installment, which sold 71,000 copies at seven, became the sixth consecutive series title to open in the Top 10.

Holding steady in the Top 10 were the Hairspray soundtrack at four, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus at five, T.I. vs. T.I.P. at eight, Fergie's The Dutchess at nine and Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight at 10.

Expect the Cyrus disc to stick around for a while as the tween dream announced she was going out on tour as both herself and her Disney Channel alter ego. She will open each concert with Hannah Montana material and, after an intermission, perform her own tunes. The 54-date Best of Both Worlds kicks off Oct. 18 in St. Louis and ends Jan. 8 in Albany, New York. Tickets go on sale Aug. 18, with $1 from each going toward City of Hope.

Outside the Top 10, noteworthy debuts included the Starting Line's Direction at 30, American Idol's Mandisa at 43 with True Beauty, DevilDriver's Last Kind Words at 48, Keith Murray's Rap-Murr-Phobia at 52 and Kia Shine's Due Season at 84.

To recap, the Top 10 albums for the week were as follows:

1. Finding Forever, Common

2. Untitled, Korn

3. Now That's What I Call Music! 25, various

4. Hairspray soundtrack, various

5. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus

6. Sean Kingston, Sean Kingston

7. Kidz Bop 12, Kidz Bop

8. T.I. vs. T.I.P., T.I.

9. The Dutchess, Fergie

10. Minutes to Midnight, Linkin Park