Spears album tops sales chart

Britney Spears’ “Circus” took the singer back to the top of the national sales chart after selling 505,000 copies during its first week of release. Billboard noted that it makes her the first act with four albums to sell 500,000 or more copies out of the gate.

Spears had been tied at three with Jay-Z, Garth Brooks, 2Pac and 50 Cent. It is her fifth No. 1 album.

“Circus” was the only album to debut in the Top 20 this week. Other new chart entries included Scarface’s “Emeritus,” which entered at No. 24 on sales of 42,000, and Neil Young’s “Sugar Mountain -- Live at Canterbury House 1968,” starting out at No. 40 with 26,000 copies.

Randy Lewis