First! John Mayer fans have totally forgiven him, apparently — not only for his years of being hate-able but also for his lack of performances leading up to the release of his fifth solo record Born and Raised due to a granuloma on his vocal cords. Despite relatively little promotion, the LP sold 219,000 copies per Nielsen SoundScan — almost three times what Adam Lambert managed at hit No. 1 last week — and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200. It’s Mayer’s third chart-topper. And for the record, he hit No. 27 on our list of rock’s biggest punching bags.
2 Through 10: Adele and Carrie Underwood hold Nos. 2 and 3 respectively (with 21 and Blown Away). No. 4 belongs to Slash’s Apocalyptic Love, which only sold 38,000, while One Direction bounce back to No. 5 (from No. 10 last week) with 37,000 copies of Up All Night. Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee comes in at No. 6 with 33,000, followed by a pair of debuts — MercyMe (The Hurt & the Healer, with 33,000) and Sara Bareilles (Once Upon Another Time, a five-song EP, with 31,000). That pesky Now 42 compilation (31,000) and Norah Jones’ Little Broken Hearts (28,000) bring up the rear in Nos. 9 and 10, respectively.
No Trespassing: Adam Lambert’s sophomore LP took a hard hit and dropped out of the Top 10, landing at No. 12 with just 22,000 sold. His tumble also signifies an industry-wide drop in sales this week compared to the 2011 numbers, which were 22 percent higher.
Idolized: Though the top spot didn’t belong to an American Idol winner for the first time in four weeks, the No. 11 spot did: This season’s victor Phillip Phillips debuted with 24,000 copies of Journey to the Finale sold, all via an iTunes-exclusive sale.
