PacificCoastNews.comWho needs Hannah Montana? Apparently not Miley Cyrus.
The tween queen's new, non-Hannah album, Breakout, broke onto the charts at No. 1, selling 371,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan data released today.
Her two previous studio releases, both Miley-Hannah combo jobs, also topped the Billboard 200. But Breakout is an official solo release (she cowrote eight of the 13 cuts). It also represents her best sales week, topping last summer's Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus by 45,000, and the second-best week for a female artist this year.
Despite the big numbers, Cyrus' album didn't come close to Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, which sold 1 million copies for the biggest sales week of the year, or even Mariah Carey's E=MC2, which sold 463,000 copies its debut week—the best for a female artist this year. Cyrus does have bragging rights over Madonna, though. The Material One's Hard Candy opened with 288,000.
Cyrus faced some stiff competition from Sugarland. The countrified duo moved 314,000 of Love on the Inside to land at No. 2.
Other than the odd photo spread, Cyrus' path to world domination continues unabated. She hosts the Teen Choice Awards this weekend. Her animated movie Bolt opens in November, the same month as her sweet 16th, and she already expressed interest in doing a soundtrack duet with film costar John Travolta. Then there's the upcoming new season of her Disney Channel hit, as well as a Hannah Montana movie, due in May 2009, both of which will spawn albums.
Like Cyrus' latest, Love on the Inside marks a new career high for Sugarland, whose previous high was a 211,000-copy No. 4 bow for 2006's Enjoy the Ride. Love on the Inside is also the band's first album to top the Country Albums chart.
(For those keeping track at home, the current Love on the Inside album is a deluxe edition, with the regular version set to make its debut on next week's chart. At that point, sales of the two editions will count as just one title.)
The rest of the top 10 were holdovers, with Nas' new untitled album falling from last week's top slot down to No. 8 in its second week. The Mamma Mia! soundtrack continues to surge in the wake of the film's success, however, selling another 168,000 copies at No. 3.
Further down the chart, Nine Inch Nails' The Slip sold 29,000 copies at No. 13 after having originally debuted as a free download. The double-disc physical version is a numbered limited edition.
One Day as a Lion followed at No. 28, selling 17,000 copies of its new eponymous EP. The duo features Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine fame and former Mars Volta stickman Jon Theodore.
Finally, five-time Grammy winner Buddy Guy sold 9,000 copies of his new album, Skin Deep, for a No. 68 bow. This marks the highest chart debut ever for the blues legend.
Overall, sales are up 5 percent from last week but also down 5 percent compared to the same period in 2007, when Now! 25 topped the chart.
Here's a recap of the top 10:
1. Breakout, Miley Cyrus
2. Love on the Inside, Sugarland
3. Mamma Mia! soundtrack, various
4. Rock N Roll Jesus, Kid Rock
5. Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne
6. Viva la Vida, Coldplay
7. Camp Rock soundtrack, various
8. Untitled, Nas
9. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 28, various
10. Beautiful Eyes, Taylor Swift
(Originally published July 30, 2008, at 12:02 p.m. PT.)