DHAKA: Beyonce’s self-titled album claimed the top spot on the United States Billboard 200 album chart for the third week running with 310,000 copies sold during the Christmas week.

According to figures released on Thursday from Nielsen SoundScan, The Straits Times publishes this report on Friday.

The pop star’s fifth solo album has sold a total of 1.3 million copies in the US in the 17 days from its surprise release through December 29, the final day for tallying this week’s chart.

Beyonce is the first album to remain at No. 1 for three weeks since Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience did the same in April, Billboard said.

The album, Beyonce’s first since 2011, was released December 13 exclusively through Apple’s iTunes digital music store and was not available in other retailers until December 21.

BDST: 1539 HRS, JAN 03, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor