Dixie Chicks Remain At No. 1 For Third Week

NEW YORK (Top 40 Charts) - With most labels opting not to release albums the week of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on America last week, this week's The Billboard 200 shows little debut action � save for a few Christian/gospel and country artists. The Dixie Chicks' third studio album, Home, remains top the Billboard 200 chart for a third straight week after selling more than 214,000 copies.
The Chicks--Emily Robison, Martie Seidel, and Natalie Maines--have moved more than 1.3 million copies of Home in just three weeks time.

Avril Lavigne's Let Go climbs to Number Two this week, propelled by the strength of her latest single "Sk8er Boi." Meanwhile, Eminem's The Eminem Show is at Number Three, and Nelly's Nellyville is at Number Four. Toby Keith's Unleashed is at Number Five, and Bruce Springsteen's The Rising is at Number Six.

In the coveted top 10, the Dixie Chicks remain at No. 1 for the third week in a row; Avril Lavigne and Eminem trade spaces to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively; Nelly remains at No. 4; Toby Keith sees the biggest jump from No. 11 to No. 5; Bruce Springsteen, Norah Jones, and Coldplay dip one each to Nos. 6, 7, and 8, respectively; the Clipse bumps up one to No. 9; and James Taylor rises two to No. 10.

The week's highest bows come from Christian/gospel act Bill & Gloria Gaither, whose patriotic-themed Let Freedom Ring comes in at No. 15 and God Bless America at No. 19.

Three other acts debut in the top 40 -� country singer Rebecca Lynn Howard, Forgive, No. 31; folk-alternative singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter, No. 34; and gospel singer Fred Hammond, Speak Those Things Pol. Chapter 3, No. 39.

The biggest album to be released on Sept. 10 was country singer Aaron Tippin's Stars & Stripes, but music buyers only brought the release to the No. 63 position.