HANNAH DROPS THE HAMMER

Put it up on the big board: Hannah Montana is Disney’s latest franchise—and Miley Cyrus is a star.

Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley, containing 10 songs from the soundtrack and another 10 from Miley, ran away with #1 on the HITS Top 50, as 323k units flew out of stores. Right behind at a healthy 300k was Kelly Clarkson’s My December, as RCA/RMG pressed all the right buttons under the legendary leadership of Clive Davis. Yes, kiddies, that’s not one but two albums boasting numbers in the rarefied air above 300k—proving yet again that bona fide stars still sell records.

The third Top 10 debut belongs to none other than former bad boy Ryan Adams, whose Easy Tiger (Lost Highway/IDJ) racks up an impressive 56k to go along with universally glowing reviews and widespread reports of good behavior.

The Top 10 holdovers are #3 Bon Jovi (Island), #4 Brad Paisley (RCA/RMG), #5 White Stripes (Third Man/WB), #6 Amy Winehouse (Universal Republic), holding steady at 62k, #7 Linkin Park (WB), #9 Maroon 5 (A&M/Octone) and Paul McCartney (Hear Music/Concord), who rounds out the Top 10 with a solid 50k.

The only album to post a double-digit increase is Akon (SRC/Universal Motown), who moves #42-28 on a +20% tally of 23k.

After the smoke clears from the Fourth of July fireworks (and our heads clear from the brewskis we’ll be sucking down), we’ll let you know how the July 3 releases from Velvet Revolver (RCA/RMG), Destiny’s Child alumna Kelly Rowland (Columbia) and rap star T.I. (Atlantic) are faring in what will be a five-day weekend/mini-vacation for many Americans.