25 Years After His Death, Elvis Is No. 1

Elvis Presley is shaking up the pop world again.

Twenty-five years after his death, rock’s signature star entered the nation’s album chart at No. 1 on Wednesday with a hits collection that sold 500,000 copies last week.

The album, “Elvis: 30 #1 Hits,” was patterned after the Beatles’ hugely successful “1” album, which has sold more than 8.4 million copies since its release in 2000.

Because in recent years Beatles retrospectives have tended to do better on the charts than Presley’s, the new RCA disc is off to an impressive start because the Beatles’ “1” only sold 595,000 copies in its first week. But it’s anybody’s guess whether the Presley package can match the continued sales momentum of the Beatles album.

“This was a really, really handsome first week, and it suggests the album is a contender to be one of the fourth quarter’s big gift items,” said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard magazine.

The album, which contains such classic hits as “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Don’t Be Cruel,” ended a one-week stay at No. 1 by the rock group Disturbed’s “Believe,” which fell to No. 4. It has sold more than 402,000 copies in two weeks.

It was a strong week for new releases, with five other artists with new albums also entering the Top 10 last week: India.Arie (No. 6), Beck (No. 8), Peter Gabriel (No. 9) and Nas (No. 10).

Another classic hits retrospective, the Rolling Stones’ “Forty Licks,” was released Tuesday. It too is expected to do well.

On the singles chart, “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson’s “Before Your Love” sold 146,000 copies last week to remain No. 1.