Susan Boyle's 'Dream' tops US charts

(All Rights Reserved)

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle's debut album "I Dreamed a Dream" shot straight to the top of the US charts, according to Nielsen SoundScan on Thursday.

The frumpy but fabulous singer, who was discovered this year in the "Britain's Got Talent" competition, sold 701,000 copies of her album in its first week - the best initial performance for an album in the country this year.

Trailing far behind Boyle were albums released in the same week by American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

Boyle also saw her album go straight to number one in Britain last week, selling 410,000 copies.

Nielsen SoundScan said "I Dreamed a Dream" was the biggest seller in an album's first week since heavy metal heroes AC/DC sold 784,000 copies of "Black Ice" in October 2008.

The previous best performance this year in the United States had been rapper Eminem's "Relapse."

Most remarkably, Boyle's album is the biggest selling debut work by a female artist in SoundScan's tracking history, which began in 1991. The only male performer to beat Boyle is rapper Snoop Dogg, whose debut "Doggystyle" sold 803,000 copies back in 1993.

Boyle, 48, works in a church and bears no resemblance to her glamorous, usually youthful and often scantily-clad female competitors in the music industry.

Her soaring voice was discovered when she appeared on "Britain's Got Talent."

Although she came runner-up in the competition, footage of her singing "I Dreamed A Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables" became a YouTube hit, with at least 100 million viewings.