Avril Lavigne the "Best" seller in U.S

04/20/2007 4:26 PM, Reuters


Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne's third studio album will top the U.S. charts when sales data are issued Wednesday, while rock combo Nine Inch Nails will be the runner-up, industry experts predict.

Each should open with more than 200,000 copies, a welcome boost for the Billboard 200, where the chart-topper on four occasions this year, including the current week, has sold less than 90,000 copies.

Lavigne's "The Best Damn Thing" is the follow-up to 2004's "Under My Skin," which debuted at No. 1 with sales of 380,500 units, and launched the hit singles "My Happy Ending" and "Don't Tell Me." The first single off the new album, "Girlfriend," is currently at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Nine Inch Nails' "Year Zero" is the successor to 2005's "With Teeth," which opened at No. 1 with 271,000 copies, a sales record for the Trent Reznor-led combo. The 1999 set "The Fragile" was its only other No. 1, hitting that mark with first-week sales of 229,000.

Current chart-topper, the hits package "NOW 24," featuring tunes by the likes of Fergie and Nickelback, sold 89,000 copies in the week ended April 15, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Reuters/Billboard