Posthumous Ray Charles Charts Big

Ray Charles might have hit the road, Jack, but he has come back. Big time.

The R&B icon's posthumous duets disc, Genius Loves Company, sold 202,000 copies to finish at number two on this week's album chart. Charles lost his battle with liver disease in June at age 73.

The album--featuring performances with Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, B.B. King and Elton John--ties the legendary signer's previous pop chart peak with 1961's Recipe for Soul.

The Charles disc was one of three new albums, along with new entries from Jill Scott and LL Cool J, that came within spitting distance of number one, but when the dust settled, Tim McGraw proved he was one tough cowboy to buck and his Live Like You Were Dying managed to live a second straight week at number one, wrangling sales of 227,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released Wednesday.

A week ago, Mr. Faith Hill also outsold three newbies that all opened in the top four. Moreover, this marks the first time since Shania Twain's Up! that a country album held the top spot for consecutive weeks. (Ironically, the country diva's chart-topping run in late 2002 kept McGraw's previous album from hitting the top spot.)

Four years after her debut, Grammy-nominated R&B singer Scott returns with Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, which moved nearly 193,000 copies at number three. The Philly-born singer first made her mark on the 1999 Top 40 Roots' hit "You Got Me."

LL Cool J, who scored his first hit nearly 20 years ago, scored a number four debut with his 11th album, The DEFinition, selling 173,000. The rapper-actor previously opened at two with 2002's 10, but that disc sold a lesser 154,000 first-week copies.

The rest of the Top 10 were holdovers: Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 16 at five, R. Kelly's Happy People/U Saved Me at six, Young Buck's Straight Outta Cashville at seven, Ashlee Simpson's Autobiography at eight, Prince's Musicology at nine and Mase's Welcome Back in the 10 spot.

The year's longest running Top 10 album, Usher's Confessions, dropped to number 11 in its 24th week.

New albums charting outside the Top 10 included the Insane Clown Posse at number 12 with Hell's Pit selling 73,000 copies. The duo's first new album in five years, Hell's Pit tops Billboard's Independent chart and marks the rappers' second-highest debut on the Billboard 200.

Fresh off an appearance at the Summer Olympics, Björk finished at 14 with her a cappella album Medulla. Papa Roach's Getting Away with Murder opened at 17 and Ozzfest alums Lamb of God landed at 27 with Ashes of the Wake.

In connection with the DVD release of the film, former Creed singer Scott Stapp came in at 37 with The Passion of the Christ: Songs of Inspiration. The disc, featuring Stapp's own "Relearn Love," also includes contributions by P.O.D., Third Day, and MxPx. Coincidentally, the film's official soundtrack benefited from the DVD and Stapp releases, reentering the charts at 80 with a fivefold sales increase.

On the flipside, the Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse soundtrack debuted at 43. The film itself hits the box office this weekend.

Other notable debuts included the Libertines' self-titled at 111, DJ Louie Devito's Dance Factory: Level 3 at 131 and Mastodon's Leviathan at 139.

Next week, look for a cowboy shootout as Alan Jackson's What I Do tries to knock McGraw from top saddle.

Here's a recap of the Top 10 albums for the week ended Sunday:

1. Live Like You Were Dying, Tim McGraw
2. Genius Loves Company, Ray Charles
3. Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, Jill Scott
4. The DEFinition, LL Cool J
5. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 16, various
6. Happy People/U Saved Me, R. Kelly
7. Straight Outta Cashville, Young Buck
8. Autobiography, Ashlee Simpson
9. Musicology, Prince
10. Welcome Back, Mase