Those who didn't think he'd sleep his way to the top don't know Jack.
Despite competition from Sheryl Crow and Lenny Kravitz, surfer-turned-singer Jack Johnson rode a sales wave to the top of the charts with his latest album, Sleep Through the Static. The album crested with 375,000 in sales for the week ended Sunday, the most single-week copies of any album this year, per Nielsen SoundScan.
A remarkable 139,000 of those copies were digital, setting a new single-week record for legal downloads. Kanye West 's Graduation sold 133,000 digital discs upon its release last fall. Sleep is also the Aloha State singer's second straight U.S. number one, following his 2006 soundtrack, Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George.
The album also debuted at number one in the U.K., where Johnson's 2005 album, In Between Dreams, was a sleeper hit that took 44 weeks to reach the top. In the U.S., Dreams peaked at two in its opening week with help from its hit single "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing."
Johnson fended off solid debuts by Crow's Detours (number two, 92,000) and Kravitz's It Is Time for a Love Revolution (number four, 73,000). This was Crow's fourth straight album to open at number two. For Kravitz, it was the highest debuting studio album of his career. (Last week's chart-topper, Alicia Keys' As I Am, was sandwiched in between Crow and Kravitz, with 80,000 in sales.)
The fourth and final Top 10 entry was k.d. lang's self-produced Watershed, washing in with 41,000 copies at number eight.
Despite the three other big bows, Johnson dominated the week, selling more copies than the other three Top 10 debuts combined.
The Step Up 2: The Streets soundtrack scored the next best bow at 13, selling 31,000. The album features Enrique Iglesias' first foray into hip-hop, "Push," and rookie rapper Flo-Rida with his massive hit "Low," currently in its seventh week atop the Hot 100 chart.
Kenny G followed at 14 with his first Latin-themed album, Rhythm & Romance, selling 31,000 copies. This marks the horn-blower's first album for Starbuck's Hear Music label.
Other notable debuts included Nada Surf's Lucky at 81, Hot Chip's Made in the Dark at 108, HorrorPops' Kiss Kiss Kill Kill at 148, They Might Be Giants' Here Come the 123s at 171 and Paul Hardcastle's Hardcastle 5 at 175.
While albums won't feel the full Grammy bump until next week, several artists benefited from some preshow hype. The 2008 Grammy Nominees collection remained in the Top 10 at number five; Record of the Year/Best New Artist winner Amy Winehouse leapt 30 spots to 24 with her 48-week-old Back to Black; and Herbie Hancock's eventual Album of the Year shocker, River: The Joni Letters, reentered the charts at 158.
Overall, album sales were up 11 percent from last week but down 14 percent compared to the same period in 2007.
Here's a rundown of the Top 10:
1. Sleep Through the Static, Jack Johnson
2. Detours, Sheryl Crow
3. As I Am, Alicia Keys
4. It Is Time for a Love Revolution, Lenny Kravitz
5. 2008 Grammy Nominees, various
6. Juno soundtrack, various
7. Growing Pains, Mary J. Blige
8. Watershed, k.d. lang
9. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus
10. Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift