Congratulations are in order for our dear Britney Spears because she has made history today with her 6th #1 album on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. With Femme Fatales debut atop the album chart this week, Britney not only becomes the ONLY female artist in history to have 6 albums debut at #1 but she is also the youngest artist in history to have #1 albums in 3 different decades. Britney Spears is #1 again! And that is cause for MUCH celebration.

Britney Spears flies in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with her sixth chart-topping album, “Femme Fatale,” selling 276,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The feat ties her for the third-most No. 1s among women with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. Only Barbra Streisand (nine No. 1s) and Madonna (seven) have earned more No. 1s. Spears has hit the top with six out of her seven studio albums, only missing with 2007′s “Blackout,” which debuted and peaked at No. 2 (290,000). Her last effort, 2008′s “Circus,” started more robustly than “Femme Fatale,” as it launched at No. 1 with 506,000 following its Dec. 2 release. “Femme Fatale’s” debut of 276,000 is Spears’ second-lowest sales start with a studio set — only her 1999 debut effort, “Baby One More Time,” began with a smaller figure (121,000 at No. 1). Though, one could conclude that “Circus” was a more highly-anticipated album, in that it was seen as a “comeback” after a number of years where Spears’ personal and professional life was in chaotic high-gear. “Circus” was ushered in by the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Womanizer” — complete with a return-to-sexy-form music video. “Femme Fatale,” however, isn’t a comeback album. There’s nothing to come back from, aside from great success. Spears sold 1.7 million of “Circus” in the U.S., snared three top 20 Hot 100 singles from the set, and mounted a blockbuster global tour … Also worth noting is that “Femme Fatale” is Spears’ first album to see a spring release in over a decade. While her first set dropped in January of 1999 and her second offering, 2000′s “Oops! … I Did It Again,” came out in May of 2000, the rest of her catalog (even her hits packages and remix sets) were issued during the always-busy shopping period of November-December.

Altho Britney‘s first week numbers aren’t her highest ever, it should be noted that the music buying climate of consumers is vastly different than it used to be in year’s past. The record industry is dying a slow death … people just don’t buy music the same way they used to. And even still, Britney managed to outsell everyone else in the first week of her 7th album’s release. I am SO bummed that Blackout is Britney‘s only album not to go to #1 … it’s a fantastic album and if she were well enough to promote the album when it was released, it would’ve surely been her most successful album up to that time. IMHO, Femme Fatale is Britney‘s strongest album in years and is arguably the best album of her career. Britney Spears, makin’ history … as usual :) I’m gonna celebrate Britney‘s latest accomplishment by playing Femme Fatale on repeat today … just like I have been doing for the past 3 weeks :D Woot!!!

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