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HITS Daily Double
Among this week’s releases, Columbia rapper J Cole is exploding out of the box.

TONY AWARDS!

Legendary Crooner Bennett Nabs First-Ever #1 Album; Demi Lovato, Needtobreathe, Gavin DeGraw, Mindless Behavior and Pearl Jam Bow in Top 10
It’s hard to believe, but the great saloon crooner Tony Bennett has never had a #1 album…until now.

The legendary 85-year-old singer’s new RPM/Columbia album, Duets II, debuts at #1 this week with a total of 183k, thanks to a spate of TV and live performances, including a concert at L.A.’s Staples Center Saturday night on which he was joined by Stevie Wonder and Carrie Underwood. Bennett’s previous high chart showing was 2006’s Duets: An American Classic, featuring Paul McCartney, Elton John, Billy Joel and Sting, among others, which turned out to the most successful of his career, debuting at #3 with more than 202k sold and going on to 1.7 million in sales.

Capitol Nashville/EMI’s Lady Antebellum, last week’s #1, drops to #2 with 120k, while XL/Columbia’s Adele, now at #3, adds another 118k to her total, now over 3.6 million.

Hollywood teenpop diva Demi Lovato returns with Unbroken, which bows at #4, one of six newcomers to the Top 10, along with Atlantic Christian rockers Needtobreathe’s Reckoning (#6), RCA’s Gavin DeGraw (#7), Interscope Troy Carter-managed R&B boy band Mindless Behavior’s #1 Girl (#8) and Columbia’s Pearl Jam Twenty soundtrack (#10). The remaining holdovers include a pair of hip-hop albums in Cash Money/Universal Republic’s Lil Wayne (#5) and Roc-a-Fella/Roc Nation’s Jay Z & Kanye West collab, Watch the Throne (#9).

Other Top 50 newcomers include Atlantic teen star Cody Simpson (#12), Vagrant’s Thrice (#17), Deutsche Grammophon’s Tori Amos (#20), Universal Republic’s SuperHeavy (#24), the group featuring Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, A.R. Rahman and Damian Marley, Rounder’s The Jayhawks (#25) and Reprise’s Never Shout Never (#38). Re-entries include Interscope’s LMFAO (#34), Nickelodeon/ Columbia’s Victorious soundtrack (#45) and Def Jam/IDJ’s Rihanna (#49).

Glassnote’s resilient Mumford & Sons is the week’s biggest double-digit gainer, moving #30-18, +46%, with a total now over 1.8 million, followed by A&M/Octone’s Maroon 5 (#36-27, +15%), fueled by the “Moves Like Jagger” single, Interscope’s Lady Gaga (#22-19, +12%) and Capitol/EMI’s Katy Perry (#38-32, +10%).

Among this week’s releases, Columbia rapper J Cole is exploding out of the box, with other new albums hitting from Geffen’s blink-182, Beluga Heights/WB’s Jason Derulo, Verve Forecast’s Daryl Hall, DBPM/Anti-’s Wilco, Reprise’s Mastodon, eOne’s Chickenfoot, Universal Republic’s Seth MacFarlane and Curb’s LeAnn Rimes.

In addition, there is a pair of historic reissues in Capitol/EMI’s Pink Floyd catalog (14 albums’ worth) and Geffen’s deluxe Nirvana Nevermind set.