LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Eminem's "Encore" held onto the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 after its first full week of U.S. retail sales, Billboard reported Wednesday.
The Shady/Aftermath/Interscope album, released on a Friday to combat piracy, sold 871,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's a 22 percent increase from the previous week's sales, and at 1.6 million total units ties the two-week total of 2002's "The Eminem Show."
"Encore" kept the top position despite a strong challenge from "Destiny Fulfilled," the latest album from R&B powerhouse Destiny's Child, which took No. 2 on sales of 497,000 copies.
Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz posted 363,000 in sales to push "Crunk Juice" from 31st to No. 3 on the chart and keep it in the top spot on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart for a second week. Clay Aiken took the fourth position with "Merry Christmas With Love" with sales of 270,000 for the biggest debut week of any holiday album in the SoundScan era, which began in 1991.
