Dixie Chicks at ‘Home’ at No. 1

Thanks in part to the exposure of singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, the Dixie Chicks have regained the top spot on the nation’s album sales chart, SoundScan reported Wednesday.

The country trio’s album “Home” got off to a rapid sales start in September when it entered the chart at No. 1 by selling 780,000 copies in its first week. The album remained No. 1 for three weeks, then moved back to the top last week after selling an additional 104,000 copies.

The Chicks’ return to the top ended a three-week reign at No. 1 for Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me,” which fell to No. 2 after selling 101,000 copies last week. Its U.S. total is now 3.2 million.

The week’s highest chart entry was registered by Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan’s new band, Zwan. The group’s “Mary Star of the Sea” sold 90,000 copies in its first week in the stores, making it No. 3 on the new chart.

Looking ahead, rapper 50 Cent, who is featured on the hot “8 Mile” soundtrack album, is expected to enter the chart at No. 1 next week with his album “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”

The album was to be released Tuesday, but was moved up to today by Interscope Records because the label was concerned about intense bootlegging and Internet piracy.

Albums are traditionally released on Tuesdays, but Interscope earlier moved up the release date of Eminem’s last album, “The Eminem Show,” to defuse piracy. In that case, the album sold 285,000 copies in the remaining three days of the week before selling an additional 1.3 million copies in its first full week in stores.

-- Robert Hilburn