Brits One Direction makes Billboard history with chart-topping debut and follow-up

Boyband One Direction made Billboard chart history on Wednesday after storming to the top of the 200 album chart with their second album Take Me Home, holding off competition from Christina Aguilera, Soundgarden and Lana Del Rey.

Take Me Home notched up the third-biggest opening week sales of the year with 540,000 units sold according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, placing it behind only Mumford & Son's Babel and Taylor Swift's Red, which had the year's biggest opening with 1.2 million copies sold.

This is also the first time a British band have seen their first two albums debut at the top of the US Billboard 200 chart. Their first album Up All Night shot to the top of the chart with 176,000 copies in March this year.

The lead single from Take Me Home, "Live While We're Young" also made Billboard chart history after selling 341,000 copies in its first week, becoming the biggest opening week single sales for a non-US artist.

One Direction were able to trump a new release from pop star and The Voice judge Aguilera, who debuted at No. 7 with her fifth studio album Lotus, selling 73,000 copies.

She was unable to replicate the success of fellow Voice judge Adam Levine, whose band Maroon 5 shot to No. 2 on the album chart in July with Overexposed, selling 222,000 copies.

The members of the British-Irish quintet One Direction, aged between 18 and 20, are Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne. They have come a long way since forming on The X Factor, coming in third place and going on to conquer the US and build a devoted following of fans.

The band will face stiff competition from R&B star Rihanna for the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart next week, as her new album Unapologetic is set for a big debut.

Elsewhere on the album chart, seven new debuts entered the top 10 this week.

Taylor Swift's Red was knocked down to No. 2 by One Direction's debut, while the soundtrack for the final Twilight film, Breaking Dawn - Part 2, debuted at No. 3 with sales of 93,000 after the film hit theaters last week.

The soundtrack features lead single "The Forgotten" by Green Day and songs by Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, Fiest and a duet between Twilight cast member Nikki Reed and husband Paul McDonald, a former American Idol finalist.

Canadian R&B star The Weeknd landed at No. 4 this week with his hotly anticipated debut, Trilogy, while 1990s grunge rock band Soundgarden rounded out the top five with King Animal, their first album in 16 years.

Green Day's Dos!, the second installment of their trilogy of new albums this year, came in at No. 9 on the chart with 69,000 copies, a big drop from their first album Uno!, which debuted at No. 2 in October with sales of 139,000 copies. The third installment, Tre!, is due out on 11 December.

Indie-pop songstress Del Rey rounded out the top ten with her latest studio set Paradise, an eight-song record which was also offered as part of a deluxe edition of her debut album Born To Die, which notched No. 2 on the chart in February.

Reuters