SHOWBIZ
Diamond Gets First US Album Number One
2008-05-15 12:06pm
After a lifetime in the music industry and 29 studio albums, Neil Diamond has topped the US album charts for the first time.
Chart compiler Billboard says Diamond's latest album, Home Before Dark, made its debut in the number one slot after selling 146,000 copies in the US in its first week.
Diamond first appeared on Billboard's charts in 1966 with The Feel of Neil Diamond, and the closest he ever got to No. 1 was with the 1973 soundtrack to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, which reached No. 2.
Diamond's previous album, 12 Songs, which he released in 2005, made it to number four on the Billboard chart. Both 12 songs and Home Before Dark was produced by Grammy award-winner Rick Rubin.
Country singer Toby Keith came in behind Diamond with his double-disc collection 35 Biggest Hits, with 103,000 copies sold, while Madonna's Hard Candy fell from the top slot to No. 3, with 94,000 albums sold last week.
(c) NewsRoom 2008