Scotty McCreery First ‘Idol’ Winner To Top Album Chart Since Ruben Studdard

Robbie Daw | October 12, 2011 9:25 am

Billboardnotes a slew of achievements Scotty McCreery has pulled off with his debut LP Clear As Day, not the least of which is the fact that he’s the first American Idol winner since Ruben Studdard (in 2003) to land their debut album at #1 on the Top 200 chart. The North Carolina crooner embarked on a series of high-profile promotional appearances last week behind his album, which sold 197,000 copies. At age 18, McCreery is now the youngest male solo artist to debut at #1 on the Top 200 with their debut album. Likewise, Billboard reports that the “Trouble With Girls” singer is the first country artist to pull off the same feat.

That’s good news for Idol, as things were looking bleak last fall when Season 9 winner Lee DeWyze — who has since been dropped from his label — debuted at a disappointing #19 on the Top 200 with Live It Up, then plunged to #93 the following week.

Now we just have to wait a week to see how this year’s AI runner-up Lauren Alaina fares with her own debut album Wildflower, which was released on Tuesday. Currently it’s at #3 on iTunes and #10 on Amazon’s bestseller list.

Other Top 10 debuts this week on the main album chart include Feist’s fourth LP Metals (#7, with 38,000 sold), Rodney Atkins’ Take A Back Road (#8, 35,000) and Jack’s Mannequin’s People And Things (#9, 31,000).

Next week we’ll also find out how Evanescence’s self-titled comeback LP, which is currently the top download on iTunes, impacts the chart.

The Top 10 Of Billboard‘s Top 200 Chart:

1. Scotty McCreery, Clear As Day *new* *1 week* 2. Adele, 21 3. Tony Bennett, Duets II 4.Lady Antebellum, Own The Night 5. J. Cole, Cole World: The Sideline Story 6.Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV 7. Feist, Metals *new* 8. Rodney Atkins, Take A Back Road *new* 9. Jack’s Mannequin, People And Things *new* 10. Blink 182, Neighborhoods