Keith Urban barely edges the Weeknd for No. 1 spot
The Weeknd had a few choice words upon learning his chart debut: “… country music.”
The avant-R&B; singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, had just breezed through two of his collaborations with Drake at the Greek Theatre on Tuesday (the second of a two-night stint) when the equally emotive rap hybrid walked onstage to surprise Tesfaye.
Drake didn’t drop in to rap his lines from their lush fan favorite “Crew Love.” Instead, he came to deliver big news: The Weeknd’s first studio effort, “Kiss Land,” was No. 1 in the country.
Well, that was only half right.
“Kiss Land” will top the R&B; charts, but he missed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 by 3,000 copies.
Country statesmen and returning “American Idol” judge Keith Urban edged him out with his latest album, “Fuse,” moving 98,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Kiss Land” bowed at No. 2 with 95,000 copies.
Such a narrow margin between the top two albums hasn’t been seen since early January when 1,400 copies came between the “Les Misérables” soundtrack (92,000) and Mumford & Son’s “Babel” (91,000), with the final tally rounded.
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