From billboard.com - Ashlee Simpson may have followed in the footsteps of her singer/reality show star sister Jessica, but she's the first in the family to notch a No. 1 album. The actor-turned-singer's Geffen debut," Autobiography," bows on top of The Billboard 200 thanks to first week sales of 398,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Simpson co-wrote the 12 tracks on her first album, including debut single "Pieces of Me." That track rises to No. 3 on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart this week.

2. Jimmy Buffett's "License to Chill" fell 38% to 148,000 copies
3. Van Halen's "The Best of Both Worlds" debuts with sales of 138,000 copies
4. Usher drops two slots with "Confessions" sales slid 10% to 113,000 copies
5. Gretchen Wilson's "Here For the Party" holds at No. 5 with .5% drop to 89,000
6. Lloyd Banks' "The Hunger for More" dips 3-6 on a 10% decline to 88,000
7. Avril Lavigne "Under My Skin" falls one despite a 10% spike to 87,000
8. Prince's "Musicology" rises to No. 8 on a 7% increase to 79,000
9. Big & Rich's "Horse of a Different Color" falls two to No. 9 on a 5% drop to 74,000
10. "A Cinderella Story" soundtrack which dips one slot to No. 10 on sales of 71,000

*(I helped on 5 of those this past week - 1, 2, 3, 7, 9)*

Debuting just outside of the top 10 is R&B artist Lloyd's Def Jam solo debut "Southside," which arrives at No. 11 with 67,000 copies sold. After performing with teen pop group N-Toon for the 2000 DreamWorks album "Toon Time," Lloyd was recruited by Antonio "L.A." Reid. His pairing with R&B songstress Ashanti on the album's title track is a top-15 hit on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

The Hives' Interscope debut, "Tyrannosaurus Hives," bows at No. 33 on The Billboard 200 with 33,000 copies sold. It's the highest-charting album on the big chart for the Swedish rock combo, which previously peaked at No. 63 with 2000's "Veni, Vidi, Vicious" (Epitaph/Sire/Warner Bros.); that set has sold 398,000 copies to date.

Making upward strides on the chart is Maroon 5's "Songs About Jane" (Octone/J), which is up seven slots to No. 20 on a 27% sales spike to 44,000 copies. The band's follow-up live EP "1.22.03.Acoustic" also gains, jumping 63-42 on a 34% increase to 25,000 copies.

Overall U.S. album sales for the week ending July 25 were up slightly (0.9%) to 11.5 million, about 6% ahead of the comparable week last year. Sales for the year are beating those of 2003 by about 7%.

Van Halen, Buffet, Prince? I thought maybe this was a "look back at history" thread.

Good for Jimmy!

Top Jimmy cooks

I just can't wrap my head around the idea the 398,000 people felt the need to purchase Ashlee Simpson's CD.

I think the numbers are faked.

I bet with a price of 9.99 at Best Buy the numbers are real. I am sure a lot of people watch her show on MTV and just had to pick up the cd.

Ashlee's nose takes up half the cover...

No talent, no brains, no beauty...in America, that makes you a celebrity millionaire. Somewhere, Don King is laughing his butt off.

I will never understand people's need to rip on other people's taste in music just because they don't agree with it. I personally like Ashlee's single and went out to buy a copy of the album after hearing it streamed on MTV.com. I thought it was pretty good and already far surpassed anything her sister has done musically, but then I never cared for Jessica at all.

I can't believe Ashlee Simpson has a #1 record. There are thousands of undiscovered bands out there with infinitely more talent than this sad excuse for a musician. And those thousands of bands will likely remain undiscovered because they don't have famous sisters who can help them get their foot in the door.

I hate throwaway shallow pop garbage. Then again, different strokes.

Quote:

Originally posted by FatTony
I can't believe Ashlee Simpson has a #1 record. There are thousands of undiscovered bands out there with infinitely more talent than this sad excuse for a musician. And those thousands of bands will likely remain undiscovered because they don't have famous sisters who can help them get their foot in the door.

Yeah, there's a leaky water drain on the building at the corner of my street that has more musical talent than this "artist" does. I bet her daddy bought the 397,998* copies so he wouldn't have to hear her whine incessantly.

* Minus the two copies purchased by badger1997 & bigjim25.

I agree. And for that matter, i can't stand Prince.

hey,, Prince is kool;; he's like the Frank Sinatra of Soul-rock

You gotta hand it to Prince for a brilliant marketing move...everyone that goes to his concerts gets a Musicology cd, and these are counted as album sales (price included in the cost of the ticket).

So if he plays three concerts in a week, that's 45,000-50,000 albums sold.

Now I'm not one to defend Jessica Simpson......but since neither of these two chicks actually make their own music that leaves them with just their vocals. Can you seriously compare the two vocally?

Neither one of them will ever compare to Maynard.

Ashlee Simpson debuting at #1 = Latest sign the apocalypse is upon us....

No, that would be Nick Lachey having a hit solo album.