Boyle Ends The Year On Top In America

SUSAN BOYLE has landed the last number one album of 2009 in America - her I DREAMED A DREAM has scored a fifth week at the top.

The album sold a staggering 510,000 copies over Christmas to take its tally to 2,982,000 copies in America alone.

According to Billboard.com, I Dreamed A Dream has sold more than half a million copies in each of its first five weeks of release - a feat only four other albums have managed since 1991.

And the album could steal the year’s best-selling album title from Taylor Swift - the country star’s Fearless has sold 3,157,000 in 2009, less than 200,000 copies more than Boyle’s debut.

The Scot has become the first artist in the Billboard 200’s 53-year chart history to enter the countdown at number one with a debut album and spend five consecutive weeks at the top. Lauryn Hill and Ashanti both scored three weeks at number one with debut albums.

Boyle’s success keeps Mary J. Blige’s Stronger With Each Tear off the top - that album debuts at two on the new chart with 330,000 sales. Andrea Bocelli’s My Christmas stays put at three, while Alicia Keys’ The Element of Freedom falls two spots to four and Swift’s Fearless rounds out the top five.