And yet the country trio's having no trouble matching up against the Total Request Live wonders, soaring to the top of the pop-album
charts for the second straight week.
The Chicks' Fly moved 204,000 units for the week ended Sunday, compared to the Boys' Millennium at 182,000, according to record
label estimates.
"The Dixie Chicks continue to defy the preconceived ideas of what country music is today," Sony Music Nashville president Allen
Butler crowed about his in-house act, in a statement.
The Chicks are the first country group to debut atop SoundScan's Top 200 album charts with their sophomore effort--and then stay at
No. 1.
Weep not for the Backstreet Boys, however. Not out of the Top 5 in seemingly a Millennium, the band's own followup album has
registered 5.7 million sales to date. If the weather would cooperate, the group could launch its sold-out North American tour. The first
two dates of the tour were nixed this week due to Hurricane Floyd. Looks like Friday's date in North Carolina now will be the
road-show opener.
Rounding out the week's Top 5: Ex-Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera's self-titled debut held at No. 3, with 173,000 units sold; Jurassic
rock group Santana continued to surprise at No. 4, with 139,000 copies moved for its Supernatural; and Kid Rock's Devil Without a
Cause jumped two spots, to No. 5 (127,000 units).
There are only three Dixie Chicks, compared to five Backstreet Boys (six, if count the wannabe who took the stage with the boy band
at last week's MTV Video Music Awards).