Madonna Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200

Madonna scores her eighth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with the debut of her "MDNA," while Lionel Richie's all-star country collaborations covers album "Tuskegee" bows in the runner-up slot -- his highest-charting album since 1986.



Madonna remains in second place among women with the most No. 1 albums. She now needs only one more No. 1 to tie Barbra Streisand, the leader among women with nine chart-toppers.


"MDNA" sold 359,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, and is Madonna's fifth straight studio album to debut at No. 1. It follows 2008's "Hard Candy," which moved 280,000 in its first week. "MDNA's" opener is her best sales week since 2000's "Music" shifted 420,000 when it debuted at No. 1.


In terms of release-week promotion, Madonna was basically off the radar, instead focusing her energy on rehearsals for her upcoming world tour. That stands in contrast to Richie, who worked the TV circuit hard in the past week.


As for Madonna, since headlining the Feb. 5 Super Bowl halftime show, she's been laying low. Her only significant recent media appearances have been via a live Facebook chat with Jimmy Fallon (March 24) and a brief drop-in at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami the same night.


"MDNA's" sales were aided by a successful album sales promotion involving Madonna's upcoming world tour. U.S. customers who bought a concert ticket had the option of also receiving the album as part of their purchase. The only sales that count towards Billboard's charts are those where the customer opted to receive "MDNA."


This sort of ticket/album promotion has been used in the recent past by such acts as Bon Jovi and Tom Petty. The latter's "Mojo" album saw a No. 2 debut on July 3, 2010 -- thanks to a fair number of customers who got the album via a ticket purchase. The same goes for Bon Jovi's 2007 No. 1 album "Lost Highway."


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