New Hendrix Album Hits No. 2

“People, Hell and Angels” collects unreleased recordings by Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix is dead but not forgotten. His posthumous album “People, Hell and Angels,” rose to No. 2 on the Billboard album chart this week, selling 72,000 copies more than four decades after he died. The last time one of Hendrix’s albums charted so high was back in 1968, when “Electric Ladyland” spent two weeks at No. 1.

It is no mean feat for a deceased pop star o have such appeal this long after his death. Sometimes the death of an artist will rekindle interest and propel sales: Michael Jackson’s “This Is It,” rose to the top of the chart in 2009, and Whitney Houston’s greatest hits album spent three weeks at No. 2 shortly after her death last year. Johnny Cash’s “American V: A Hundred Highways” charted in 2006, three years after his death.

But Hendrix died on Sept. 18, 1970, and there is still strong demand for any unreleased tracks from his archive, which is controlled by his estate’s label, Experience Hendrix. Few other artists have cracked the top five this long after their deaths, though Elvis Presley’s “Elvis: 2nd to None” entered the chart at No. 3 in 2003.

The album contains 12 studio recordings of blues-rock songs Hendrix made in the two yea! rs before his death, most of them after his original trio with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell broke up. Four of the tracks come from sessions with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, the lineup known as the Band of Gypsies.

Elsewhere on the chart, the country singer Luke Bryan scored his first No. 1 album with a new compilation of previously released songs, “Spring Break … Here to Party.” With tracks drawn from four earlier EPs, that album sold 150,000 copies.

The rest of the Top 10 is dominated by older releases. Bruno Mars’ “Unorthodox Jukebox” fell to No. 3, while Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” landed at No. 4. The fifth slot belonged to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “The Heist,” and the sixth to Rihanna’s “Unapologetic.” The country duo Florida Georgia Line’s debut full-length album cracked the Top 10 for the first time, landing at No. 7, as their hit single “Cruise” started to receive spins on pop stations. Rounding out the Top 10 were the “Now 45” compilation at N.. 9 and the Lumineer’s self-titled album at No. 10.

Over on the Hot 100 singles chart, novelty songs ruled. Baauer held on to the top position for the fourth week in a row with his electronic dance track “Harlem Shake.” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s comic rap song “Thrift Shop,” which features Wanz, stayed at No. 2, gaining radio airplay and remaining strong in digital sales. Bruno Mars’s wistful piano ballad “When I Was Your Man” held steady at No. 3 on the strength of airplay on Top 40 stations. Rihanna’s duet with Mikky Ekko, “Stay,” landed at No. 4, and Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie,” which contains a rap by Jay-Z, moved up to No. 5. The rest of the top ten, in order, were Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble,” Drake’s “Started From the Bottom,” Will.i.am and Britney Spears’s “Scream & Shout,” Lil Wayne’s “Love Me” (which features Drake and Future) and Mr. Mars’s “Locked Out of Heaven.”