Barbra Streisand Breaks Record on Top of Billboard 200; Chris Brown, Tim McGraw and George Strait Have Big Weeks as Well

Album sales continue to be huge for a third-straight week as the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 was loaded with seven debuts for a second week. Let's jump right in:

Barbra Streisand topped the charts with her duets album Partners, which sold 196,000 copies. You may have already read Kyle Dowling's report on the subject, but the no. 1 spot means that Streisand becomes the first performer to score a chart-topping album in six-straight decades, going back to her debut People during 1964 (the title song is covered with Stevie Wonder on the new album). It also moves her into a tie for no. 3 all-time in terms of no. 1 albums with ten. She's now equal with Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen, while The Beatles and Jay Z remain ahead.

Chris Brown probably would have scored a no. 1 on your average week during 2014 but he had the bad luck of going up against Streisand. His X sold a healthy 146,000 copies, which is up from his last release.

Two country performers take spots no. 3 and 4 respectively. Tim McGraw is in the third spot with his new album Sundown Heaven Town, which sold 71,000 copies. More exciting perhaps is George Strait's The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium, the recording of the country icon's last performance, which went down at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium earlier during 2014. The event was a who's-who of country music (although McGraw wasn't present).

Train rounds out a Top 5 full of new albums with its Bulletproof Picasso, which sold 50,000 copies.

The only room for returning albums on this week's Top 10 happened in spots nos. 6-8. OneRepublic became the most recent act to profit from Google Play's 99 cent sales scheme, causing its Native to rise from no. 57 to no. 6 while selling 49,000 copies. Maroon 5 spent its third week on the chart by moving another 34,000 copies of V while passing last week's no. 1, Lecrae and Anomaly, which sold 31,000 copies and settled at no. 8.

Motionless in White had its biggest debut yet, selling 31,000 copies of its album Reincarnate, while Slash rounds out the Top 10 with his new release World on Fire.

Tags

Slash, Motionless in White, Lecrae, Maroon 5, OneRepublic, Train, George Strait, Tim McGraw, Chris Brown, Barbra Streisand