This is Urban’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Before this, he had gone as high as No. 3 twice, with 2004’s "Be Here" that sold 267,000 copies and 2006’s "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing" that sold 270,000 copies.
His third chart topper ‘Defying Gravity’ grabbed the top spot on the U.S. pop chart on Wednesday after beating Prince's latest, LotusFlow3r, with a difference of only 4,000 copies.
Urban sold 172,000 copies of his latest, "Defying Gravity", and Prince was not far behind with 168,000 copies sold of his latest, "Lotus Flow3r."
"It's an incredible feeling to have a No. 1 record," Urban said in a statement. "But equally moving is knowing that this particular record, that comes from such a joyous, loving and hopeful place, is connecting with so many people."
Keith Urban, born in Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand, started his career early in life when, at the age of fifteen, he embarked on the journey of singing. He recorded his first solo album in 1990, and in 1992, he moved to Nashville to pursue the largest country music market in the world. He married Nicole Kidman in June 2006.
"Keith made the commitment many years ago to make the move to the US and it has finally paid off for him," said Billboard collator Christie Eliezer.
"Americans have really embraced him as one of their own. So much so that it wasn't until Keith started dating Nicole that many Americans realised he was Australian."
Grammy-winning jazz songbird Diana Krall also debuts high on this week’s chart, entering at No. 3 with ‘Quiet Nights’ that sold 104,000 copies, which was enough to rule the Top Jazz Albums chart.
One-time rap duo UGK debuted at No. 6 with ‘UGK 4 Life’, which sold 76,000 copies. The album is a tribute from Bun B to his partner Pimp C, who was found dead in a California hotel room in late 2007.
Here's a recap of the Billboard Top 10 Albums as of Wednesday, April 8:
1. Defying Gravity, Keith Urban (172,000 copies)
2. LotusFlow3r, Prince (168,000 copies)
3. Quiet Nights, Diana Krall (104,000 copies)
4. Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack, various (87,000 copies)
5. Now That's What I Call Music! 30, various (87,000 copies)
6. UGK 4 Life, UGK (77,000 copies)
7. Twilight soundtrack, various (73,000 copies)
8. R.O.O.T.S., Flo Rida (55,000 copies)
9. The Fame, Lady Gaga (51,000 copies)
10. Fearless, Taylor Swift (42,000 copies)
Other artists in the list include jazz trumpeter Chris Botti's live set ‘Chris Botti in Boston’ at No. 13 with 36,000 copies sold; country singer Rodney Atkins' ‘It's America’ at No. 15 with 34,000 copies; Bow Wow's ‘New Jack City II’ at No. 16 with 31,000 copies; and Gavin DeGraw's ‘Free’ at No. 19 with 26,000 copies sold.
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