Usher, Rihanna Lead The Way On U.K. Charts

Usher scored an instant No. 1 yesterday (June 1) on the new U.K. album chart with "Here I Stand" (LaFace/Sony BMG) as Rihanna's "Take a Bow" (Def Jam/Universal) started a second week atop the singles survey.

"Stand" is the American R&B star's third studio album in a row to debut at the top of the British chart, following "8701" in 2001 and "Confessions" in 2004. But each of those titles fell from No. 1 after one week. Duffy's "Rockferry" (A&M/Universal), double platinum in the U.K. for 600,000 shipments, rose again 4-3 in its 13th chart week as its current single "Warwick Avenue" jumped 7-3.

Neil Diamond's "Home Before Dark" (Columbia/Sony BMG) fell 2-3 and last week's No. 1, "We Started Nothing" (Columbia) by the Ting Tings, dropped to No. 4. "Emergency" (Dance to the Radio), the second album by Leeds-based rock five-piece the Pigeon Detectives, entered at No. 5. It's the follow-up to "Wait for Me," which debuted at No. 3 exactly a year ago.

Also new in the top 20 were Spiritualized's "Songs in A&E" (Sanctuary) at No. 15, the Futureheads' "This Is Not The World" (Nul Recordings) at No. 17 and a "special edition" of tenor Russell Watson's "The Ultimate Collection" (Decca/Universal) at No. 19.

Rihanna leads a singles chart with only one new title in the top 10, her Def Jam labelmate Ne-Yo's "Closer," which rose 12-7. Chris Brown's "Forever" (Jive/Sony BMG) entered at No. 17 and Paul Weller's double-sided "Have You Made Up Your Mind"/"Echoes Round rhe Sun" (V2/Universal) at No. 19.

Madonna continues to reign over Billboard's pan-European sales charts. "Hard Candy" (Warner Bros.) is in a fourth week atop European Top 100 Albums and "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake spends a sixth week at No. 1 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.

Source: Billboard.com