Alicia Keys Earns Fifth No. 1 Album On Billboard 200

Alicia Keys crowns the Billboard 200 for the fifth time in her career, as her fifth studio album, , debuts atop the list with 159,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Keys previously led the list with her first four albums (three studio sets and a live release). Her last album, 2009’s  (her fourth studio set), launched at No. 2 with 417,000. Its hefty sales were buoyed by its week-before Christmas release date (Dec. 15). However, it was blocked from No. 1 by Susan Boyle‘s , which was in its fourth week at No. 1 (with 661,000).

The launch of  is the smallest of any Keys album — falling lower than that of her 2005  set (196,000). That said, the album’s start is what industry sources had forecasted a week ago, when insiders suggested it would…