Reality star Leona Lewis tops US album chart

Leona Lewis has become the first female British artist to see her debut album take the No 1 slot in the US charts.

She sold 204,841 copies of her album Spirit in the US this week, taking it to the top of the Billboard top 200.

Music producer Simon Cowell said: "What Leona has achieved is simply incredible. This is the hardest market to crack and for her debut album to go in at No 1 is unbelievable."

Her success comes just weeks after being the first British female to top the US singles chart in more than two decades, with the song "Bleeding Love".

The singer's career was launched by the ITV talent show, The X Factor, which she won in December 2006.

Lewis has been recently appearing on US chat shows and has now had No 1 albums and singles in 20 countries across the world. In Britain, Spirit became the fastest-selling album of all time. Before achieving pop stardom, Lewis, 23, worked as a pizza waitress in Hackney.