Susan Boyle debuts at No. 1 in US

Reuters

TOP OF THE POPS: Susan Boyle has soared to the top of the US album charts with her debut album.

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Boyle, 48, a frumpy Scottish singer who became an international YouTube sensation in April after appearing on TV show Britain's Got Talent, also topped the British album charts earlier this week.

Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream, which was released last week, marked the best US opening of a female artist's debut album since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, Billboard.com said.

Billboard said only one album in SoundScan's tracking history had seen a bigger opening week than Boyle.

US rapper Snoop Dogg's album Doggystyle sold 803,000 copies in its first week in 1993, before traditional album sales began tumbling in the face of piracy and a shift to digital sales.

Boyle's album entered the Billboard 200 album charts at No.1, ahead of American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, whose album debuted at No. 3 with 198,000 copies.

- Reuters