Sade's Soldier Of Love Marches Into Billboard #1

By Gil Kaufman

Apparently, it doesn't matter how long Sade stays away, because as soon as she slinks back into our lives, we can't get enough of the enigmatic Helen Folasade Adu, whose last album came out in 2000. The smooth-as-silk singer will easily take the top spot on next week's Billboard 200 charts with her sixth full-length album, Soldier of Love, capitalizing on the Valentine's Day holiday and racking up impressive sales of 502,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan

That feat was enough to push the previous two-week champ, Lady Antebellum's Need You Now down to #2, as sales slipped a fraction to 208,000. Debuting at #3 is R&B crooner Jaheim, whose Another Round moved 112,000 units, followed by two more new faces in the top 10, country singer Josh Turner with Haywire (#5, 85,000) and Christian pop act tobyMac, with Tonight (#6, 79,000).

The rest of the top 10 are Lil Wayne's Rebirth (#4, 89,000, down 49 percent), Lady Gaga's The Fame (#7, 76,000), the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) (#8, 67,000), Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream (#9, 51,000) and Taylor Swift's Fearless (#10, 50,000).

Canadian crooner Michael Bublé's Crazy Love appeared to get a Winter Olympics boost, as the disc's sales picked up 87 percent following his appearance at Friday night's opening ceremonies, moving 48,000 copies and jumping 11 spots to #11. Coming in at #17 is the latest collabo between Dave Matthews and guitarist Tim Reynolds, Live in Las Vegas, which moved 35,000 copies.

Nick Jonas & the Administration's Who Am I, takes a tumble in week two, dropping 25 spots to #28, as sales fell by 71 percent to 24,000. The news is equally ghastly for Rob Zombie, whose Hellbilly Deluxe 2 dipped 59 percent in its second week, slipping 29 to #37 on sales of 20,000.

Indie darlings Yeasayer have a strong debut at #62 with Odd Blood (12,000), and further down the line, dance act Hot Chip hit #97 in week one with One Life Stand (8,000).

Sade will likely keep the top spot for another week, as no other major releases are scheduled for this week.

Related Post: Sade Adu's Soldier Of Love sold half a million units in its first week.