MAYER IS MAJOR

Columbia guitar-slinging heartthrob John Mayer debuts at #1 this week with his sixth studio effort, the '70s’ singer/songwriter-influenced Born and Raised, which nabs 231k in total sales.

That makes him the easy winner over XL/Columbia labelmate Adele’s monumental 21, which adds another 53k to its now-staggering 9.2 million, good for #2.

19/Arista Nashville’s Carrie Underwood stays steady at #3, with Fair Trade/Columbia Christian pop-rockers MercyMe debuting at #4 and Syco/Columbia’s One Direction rounding out the leaders at #5, giving Columbia’s Team Stringer/Barnett four of the Top 5 and Doug Morris' Sony Music all five.

Dik Hayd/EMI Label Services’ Slash (#6) and Epic’s Sara Bareilles (#8), with her five-song Once Upon Another Time EP, are both new entries to the Top 10, alongside holdovers such as Mercury Nashville’s Lionel Richie (#7), Capitol/EMI’s Now 42 (#9) and Blue Note/EMI’s Norah Jones (#10), giving the soon-to-be merged EMI three in the Top 10.

Warner Bros.’ New Zealand singer/songwriter Kimbra, who sings the duet with Gotye on the smash, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” is the next highest chart newcomer at #12, followed by 19/Interscope’s Haley Reinhart (#16), Sony Masterworks’ Tedeschi Trucks Band (#18), J&R Adventures’ Joe Bonamassa (#22), 19/RCA’s Kris Allen (#23) and Cooking Vinyl’s The Cult (#34).

Universal Republic’s Florence + the Machine (#36), Universal Republic’s Hunger Games soundtrack (#41) and Glassnote’s Mumford & Sons (#47) all re-enter the Top 50.

Universal Republic’s Of Monsters and Men (#37-17, +97%) is the week’s biggest double-digit gainer, largely thanks to a $2.99 Amazon special. 19/RCA’s Kelly Clarkson (#49-32, +45%) and Def Jam/IDJ’s Rihanna (#31-30, +11%) also show upward mobility.

The big releases over the next few weeks include RCA’s Usher (6/12), IDJ’s Justin Bieber (6/19), WB’s Linkin Park and A&M/Octone’s Maroon 5 (6/26), RCA’s Chris Brown (7/3) and Atlantic’s Zac Brown Band (7/10).