James Blunt's 'Back To Bedlam' & Bad Boy's Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Duets' Hits U.S. Top Ten!

NEW YORK (By Sheila Richman/ Atlantic Records) - "BACK TO BEDLAM," the debut album from Custard/Atlantic recording artist James Blunt, has bulleted into the No 9 spot on this week's Billboard 200 album chart, marking the singer/songwriter's debut in the U.S. top ten.
The album, which was recently certified RIAA gold, has leapt a remarkable 40 spots on the chart in the last four weeks. In addition, "BACK TO BEDLAM" hits No 1 this week on the Top Digital Albums chart. Blunt will fly to the U.S. for a very special pre-Grammy Awards performance at the House of Blues in Los Angeles on February 7th.

At the same time, Bad Boy Records' "THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. DUETS: THE FINAL CHAPTER" continues its huge presence on the national charts. The album comes in this week at No 8 on the Billboard 200, marking its fifth consecutive week in the top ten. It is also spending its fifth week in the top five on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, while nearing the 800,000 mark in U.S. sales.

On the international front, "BACK TO BEDLAM" hit No 1 on the European album chart last week, while returning to the top spot on the UK album chart - where it ranked No 1 for nine weeks this past summer, and continues to hold at No 1 in Australia. "THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. DUETS" is also being embraced around the world, and has thus far been certified gold in Canada and silver in the U.K.