Friday, Apr 18, 2008 LOS ANGELES (Reuters)
British newcomer Leona Lewis achieved a rare double on the U.S. pop charts on Thursday, reclaiming the top spot on the singles tally a day after her debut album opened at No. 1, her label said.
Lewis, the 23-year-old winner of the talent show "X Factor," led the Hot 100 singles chart with "Bleeding Love," which was bounced from No. 1 a week ago by Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body."
Lewis' tune comes from the album "Spirit," which opened at No. 1 on the albums chart on Wednesday, making her the first British musician to achieve this feat with a debut release. The charts are published by music magazine Billboard.
The last artist to top both charts was singer/songwriter Alicia Keys in November 2007. But the last British performer to do so was Phil Collins in 1990.
Lewis is the first British artist to top the singles chart since James Blunt in 2006, and the albums chart since Rod Stewart, also in 2006.
However Lewis' reign on the albums chart will be short-lived. Preliminary data show that Carey's "E=MC2" will open at No. 1 when the next chart is published on Wednesday. Carey's "Touch My Body" single, meanwhile, slid to No. 5 on the latest Hot 100.
"Spirit" debuted at No. 1 in the UK last November, while "Bleeding Love" was Britain's biggest-selling single last year. The U.K. and U.S. albums have different tracks, a throwback to the days when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones tailored their releases for the different markets.
Lewis won "X Factor" in 2006, securing a recording contract with the show's creator, Simon Cowell. His SyCo Records label partnered on her U.S. album with New York-based J Records, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Sony BMG is a joint venture between Sony and Bertelsmann.
(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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