Billboard: Lady Gaga Topples Eminem With 'ARTPOP'

Credit: Interscope Records

Eminem's reign at the top comes to an end after one week, as Lady Gaga has taken the No. 1 spot with her latest album, ARTPOP. The album sold 258,000 copies, narrowly beating out The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which had a strong second week despite a 73% sales drop from last week's debut. The rap album sold 210,000 copies to take the No. 2 spot.

As for Gaga, this is the singer's second No. 1 album after 2011's Born This Way, which debuted with 1.1 million copies sold, a number boosted by a limited time 99-cent sale by Amazon MP3. In addition, ARTPOP marks Lady Gaga's fifth top 10 release, following The Fame, The Fame Monster, The Remix and Born This Way.

The success of ARTPOP continues what has been a strong year for women in the music industry. Lady Gaga has now had the third-biggest sales week for a woman in 2013, following the 286,000 debut of Katy Perry's PRISM and the 270,000 debut of Miley Cyrus' Bangerz.

Of course, it's also been a huge week for compilations.

The new Now 48 compilation enters the charts at No. 3 with 114,000 copies sold, the 47th top 10 debut for the series (all but the first made the cut). Meanwhile, The Robertsons' Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas (featuring a compilation of holiday tracks from country artists such as George Strait, Alison Krauss, and Luke Bryan) takes the No. 4 spot with 66,000 copies sold.

Joining Now 48 among this week's new arrivals is the No. 7 entry: The Beatles' On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2, which sold 37,000 to become the 31st top 10 album of the band's career. Just behind the Fab Four is another new entry, Sail Out from R&B singer/songwriter Jhené Aiko, which sold 34,000 copies.

In other hip-hop/R&B news, Drake took a bit of a hit, dropping from No. 7 to No. 9. Nothing Was the Same sold 33,000 copies, a decline of eleven percent. However, the album remains strong, holding onto a top 10 spot while other, more recent releases have fallen by the wayside. Rounding out the list this week is Lorde, who clings to the top 10 with Pure Heroine, which drops to No. 10 with 32,000 copies, although this is only a decline of seven percent, which is an encouraging sign for the New Zealand singer.

The full top 10:

1. ARTPOP, Lady Gaga (258,000 copies)

2. The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem (210,000 copies)

3. Now 48, Various Artists (114,000 copies)

4. Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas, The Robertsons and Various Artists (66,000 copies)

5. PRISM, Katy Perry (46,000 copies)

6. Wrapped In Red, Kelly Clarkson (42,000 copies)

7. On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2, The Beatles (37,000 copies)

8. Sail Out, Jhené Aiko (34,000 copies)

9. Nothing Was the Same, Drake (33,000 copies)

10. Pure Heroine, Lorde (32,000 copies)

Via: Billboard