David Corio for The New York Times Vampire Weekend filming a video for the song “Ya Hey.â€Vampire Weekend scored its second No. 1 album on the Billboard chart this week, beating new releases by the country stalwart George Strait and the pop starlet Demi Lovato.
“Modern Vampires of the City†(XL), Vampire Weekend's third release, opened at the top of the chart with 134,000 sales in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Mr. Strait's “Love Is Everything†(MCA Nashville) reached No. 2 with 120,000 sales, becoming his 18th album to reach the Top 10. That ties him with Paul McCartney at fourth place among solo male performers with the most Top 10 albums; only Bob Dylan (with 20 titles), Elvis Presley (27) and Frank Sinatra (33) have more.
Ms. Lovato opens at No. 3 on this week's album chart with 110,000 sales of her latest release, “Demi†(Hollywood); the “Great Gatsby†soundtrack fell two spots to No. 4, with 95,000 sales; and last week's No. 1, Lady Antebellum's “Golden†(Capitol Nashville), fell four spots to No. 5 with 56,000 sales, a 67 percent drop.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, the independent rap duo that has been ruling the singles chart for much of the year, holds the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 for a third week with “Can't Hold Us.†It sold 231,000 downloads and was streamed 5.9 million times in the United States on digital services like Spotify and YouTube. Earlier this year, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis had a six-week run at No. 1 with “Thrift Shop.â€
