Beatles Still on Top, but Lopez Debuts Strong

The Beatles held off a stiff challenge by reggae star Shaggy to retain the No. 1 spot on the national album chart, but strong opening-day sales Tuesday for Jennifer Lopez make her the favorite in this week’s sales race.

The Beatles’ hits compilation, “1,” sold 215,500 copies last week, bringing the group’s total to 5.8 million since its release in November. That gave the Fab Four about a 12,000 vote lead over Shaggy’s pop-flavored “Hotshot” album, which has sold more than 2.3 million copies since August, according to SoundScan.

But the big news is the fast start by Lopez’s “J.Lo.” Based on first-day sales, the album should sell about 250,000 copies in its first week in the stores, one major retailer projects.

If so, Lopez could be the one to end the Beatles’ seven-week hold on the No. 1 spot. Lopez’s 1999 debut album, “On the 6,” has sold more than 2.4 million copies.

“[Sales] have been extremely strong, and it looks like it will debut No. 1 for us,” says Bob Bell, senior pop buyer for the Wherehouse Entertainment chain.

Lopez’s album is benefiting not only from the coordinated opening this week of her new movie, “The Wedding Planner,” but also from extremely strong airplay for the album track “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.”

The singer-actress faces competition not only from the Beatles and Shaggy, but also from the hip-hop/R&B; soundtrack from “Save the Last Dance,” the film that has been No. 1 at the box office for two weeks.

The album, featuring selections by such artists as K-Ci & JoJo and Pink, has jumped from 41 to 11 to 3 in three weeks. It sold 172,000 copies last week, up almost 100,000 over the previous week.

“I don’t think [Lopez] has a lock [on No. 1],” says Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard magazine. “I think she’s a contender, but I think Shaggy and ‘Save the Last Dance’ are going to be very strong. And I wouldn’t count the Beatles out.”

The remaining places in the national Top 10 this week are held by the hits compilation “Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 5,” Creed, Sade, Limp Bizkit, Dido, OutKast and Lenny Kravitz. The best-selling single: Madonna’s “Don’t Tell Me.”