J.Cole tops Billboard 200 chart: Taylor Swift, Zayn have hot single

[December 20, 2016]   NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hip hop artist J.Cole grabbed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album charts on Monday with "4 Your Eyez Only," while Taylor Swift and Zayn's single for movie "Fifty Shades Darker" was top of the digital songs chart.

"4 Your Eyez Only" notched the third-biggest album debut of the year with 492,000 units sold in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. That placed the U.S. singer's fourth studio album in the major league, behind only Drake's "Views" and Beyonce's "Lemonade" earlier this year.

A cappella group Pentatonix scored a rare two spots in the top five of the Billboard 200 after a TV special last week.

Their 2016 holiday album "A Pentatonix Christmas" rose to No. 2 with 156,000 units sold for the week, while their 2014 release "That's Christmas To Me" took the No.5 spot. Billboard noted that the double feat is usually only achieved after the sudden deaths of major artists, including Prince and David Bowie earlier this year.

Canadian rapper The Weeknd with "Starboy" and R&B singer Bruno Mars with "24K Magic" rounded out the top five albums.

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

On the digital songs chart, which measures online song sales, Swift and former One Direction band member Zayn took a commanding lead with 188,000 units sold of "I Dont' Wanna Live Forever."

The romantic ballad is the theme song for the latest movie in the steamy "Fifty Shades" movie and book franchise.

"Fifty Shades Darker," starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan and Kim Basinger, opens in movie theatres worldwide in February.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Alan Crosby)

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