Cash earns first No. 1 album since 1969

Even in death, Johnny Cash is still mighty enough to top the Billboard 200. "American V: A Hundred Highways" earned the Man in Black his first No. 1 album since 1969's "Johnny Cash at San Quentin," selling 88,000 copies its first week in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

The album, a collection of songs Cash recorded just before his death in 2003, also crowned the Top Country Albums tally, knocking the Dixie Chicks' "Taking the Long Way" (Columbia) to No. 2 after seven weeks on top. Though the top debut is a great posthumous achievement, the Rick Rubin-produced "American V" (American Recordings/Lost Highway) sold the fewest copies of a No. 1 debut since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

The previous low for a No. 1 debut belonged to Destiny's Child's "#1's" in 2005, which started with sales of 113,000 U.S. copies. Nelly Furtado's "Loose" (Mosley Music/Geffen) climbed three spots to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 81,000 copies sold, despite an 18 percent slip in sales from the week before. After scoring her first No. 1 last week, India.Arie's Universal Motown release "Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship" fell to No. 3 with 69,000 copies sold on a 57 percent week-to-week sales hit. The Chicks' "Taking the Long Way" held tight at No. 4 with 57,000 units sold, down 27 percent.

Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere" (Downtown/Atlantic) continued a gradual ascent to a new peak position, moving from sixth to fifth place with 56,000 copies sold (off 6 percent).