‘Drive’ Slips Back Into No. 1 Spot

After slipping to second place on the national pop chart last week, country singer Alan Jackson’s “Drive” album is back on top after selling an additional 184,000 copies, according to SoundScan.

Jennifer Lopez’s “J to tha L-0! The Remixes,” which broke Jackson’s three-week reign last week by entering the chart at No. 1, fell to No. 3 this week with sales of 134,000 copies. The collection offers revamped versions of songs from her previous album, “J-Lo,”

Though Jackson has been a star in the country field for more than a decade, “Drive” is his first album to top the pop chart. One reason for the album’s success is the wide radio exposure for Jackson’s hit single “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” The song was written by Jackson in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

“Drive” has now sold almost 1.2 million copies since its release five weeks ago, though it has a long way to go to match the 4.8 million sales of Jackson’s 1995 “The Greatest Hits Collection.”

Creed’s “Weathered”, which has sold almost 4.5 million copies since its release in November, jumped from fourth to second. Two other albums returned to the Top 10: Puddle of Mudd’s “Come Clean,” which has sold almost 1.5 million since last summer, moved from No. 13 to No. 9, while Enrique Iglesias’ “Escape,” which has sold almost 2.1 million since last fall, moved up even more dramatically--from No. 21 to No. 10.

The other positions in the Top 10 are held, in order, by Linkin Park, Nickelback, Ludacris, Barry Manilow and Pink. The nation’s best-selling single continues to be B2K’s “Uh Huh.”