From Vine to Billboard, Shawn Mendes lands chart-topping album

[April 23, 2015]  By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Teen singer Shawn Mendes, who grew a devoted fanbase as a Vine star on social media, landed at No. 1 on the U.S. weekly Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, ousting the "Furious 7" soundtrack from the top spot.

"Handwritten," the debut record from 16-year-old Mendes, sold 106,000 albums, 103,000 songs and 4.8 million streams, tallying a total of 119,000 units.

Billboard said Mendes is the youngest artist to notch No. 1 on the album chart since another social media star-turned-singer, Justin Bieber, topped the chart in 2010 at age 16.

Last week's chart-topper, the soundtrack to Universal Pictures' blockbuster film "Furious 7," dropped to No. 2 this week with 79,000 units, while country singer Reba's latest album "Love Somebody" debuted at No. 3 with 62,000 units.

Other new entries in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 include rapper Tyler the Creator at No. 4 with "Cherry Bomb" and hard rockers Halestorm at No. 5 with "Into the Wild Life."

The Billboard 200 chart tallies album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

On the Digital Songs chart, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again," the emotional tribute to late "Furious 7" star Paul Walker, held the top spot with 375,000 downloads.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by David Gregorio)

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