Neil Diamond Dings Claynation

Pop-rock relic scores first No. 1 of career, finishing ahead of Clay Aiken, Josh Groban and Toby Keith

It may have taken him more than four decades and 40-plus albums to get there, but Neil Diamond is finally No. 1, to the dismay of Toby Keith, Clay Aiken and Josh Groban.

The easy-rocking relic's Home Before Dark has become the first chart-topper in his storied career, which dates back 42 years and 46 albums. Diamond's disc moved 146,000 copies for the week ended Mother's Day, per Nielsen SoundScan numbers.

The Jazz Singer, who previously peaked at No. 2 with 1973's Jonathan Livingston Seagull soundtrack, made a big comeback with 2005's 12 Songs, his first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin and the first Diamond album to feature the artist on guitar since his '70s Bang Records days. Home is the singer's second album with Rubin.

Diamond has sold over 125 million albums, written 36 Top 40 hits, chalked up 15 Top 10 albums and picked up both a Grammy and a Golden Globe.

His boffo sales benefited from an appearance as an American Idol mentor, which is ironic considering he beat the pants off Aiken this week.

The season two runner-up sold 94,000 copies of On My Way Here at No. 4. While he's released two cover albums and an EP in recent years, On My Way Here is Aiken's first album of originals since 2003's Measure of a Man, which set the mark for best sales week by an Idol alum with 613,000 debut copies.

Sandwiched between Diamond and Aiken, Keith's double-disc 35 Biggest Hits roped in the No. 2 spot, selling 103,000 copies, while Madonna, who topped last week's chart with Hard Candy, sold another 94,000 or so copies at No. 3, just edging out Aiken's similar sales.

Groban, meanwhile, sold 58,000 of Awake Live at No. 8. The Oprah fave had a monster year in 2007 with his holiday disc Noël finishing as the year's all-around top seller.

Country singer Dierks Bentley's Greatest Hits: Every Mile a Memory 2003-2006 followed at No. 9 (43,000), while Latin pop crooner Luis Miguel's Cómplices rounded out the Top 10 (32,000). On the Top Latin Albums chart, Cómplices became Miguel's eighth No. 1, the most of any artist in that chart's history.

The weeks other top debuts included gospel great Tye Tribbett & Greater Anointing's Stand Out at No. 16 (26,000) and Germany's hair-spray-loving Tokio Hotel at 39 (16,000).

Overall, sales were up 7 percent over last week but still down nearly 5 percent compared to the same sales period in 2007.

A recap of the Top 10 albums:

1. Home Before Dark, Neil Diamond
2. 35 Biggest Hits, Toby Keith
3. Hard Candy, Madonna
4. On My Way Here, Clay Aiken
5. E=MC2, Mariah Carey
6. Spirit, Leona Lewis
7. Gavin DeGraw, Gavin DeGraw
8. Awake Live, Josh Groban
9. Greatest Hits: Every Mile a Memory 2003-2006, Dierks Bentley
10. Cómplices, Luis Miguel