Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys and Radiohead swap places at the top of this week's U.S. album chart, but it's the soundtrack to indie-film-that-could "Juno" that's making the biggest waves on the tally. The soundtrack album jumps from its No. 8 post last week to No. 3, thanks to a 78% increase in sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It moved a total of 68,000 copies this week, bringing it to 143,000 copies sold so far. Radiohead's "In Rainbows" slips to No. 2 with sales of 69,000 copies.

Alicia Keys holds down the top spot on the U.S. album sales chart, securing the position with one of the lowest sales totals for a No. 1 album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. Her "As I Am" sold 61,000 copies in a slow release week. Only the soundtrack to "Dreamgirls" has sold less in the pole position, posting sales of 60,000 copies early last year. There are some newcomers to this week's chart. Neo-soul artist Raheem DeVaughn enters at No. 5 after selling 45,000 copies.

Alicia Keys and the soundtrack to "Juno" continue to dominate the U.S. pop album chart, but this week, they finally have some new company -- with guitars. Keys' "As I Am" returns to the top spot, but with sales of 61,000 copies, again just a hair ahead of the all-time low figure for a No. 1 album of 60,000 posted a little over a year ago by the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack. It gives Keys her fourth week as the nation's top-selling album artist. Falling in behind "Juno," which finished No.

The holiday season has arrived for the music industry, as a dozen albums on the U.S. pop chart this week sold more than 100,000 copies, a rare feat in a year when albums reached the No. 1 spot eight times with sales of less than six figures. Last week's sales were fueled by a host of hits compilations, including a new collection from Led Zeppelin, and a pair of divas. R&B singer Alicia Keys leads the charge of four new arrivals in the Top 10. Her "As I Am" lands at No.

IT might not rank with JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner" as a phrase for the ages, but when Alicia Keys looked out from the stage at the crowd of striking Writers Guild members at their Hollywood Boulevard rally and declared, "I'm a writer too," it sounded like a ringing plea for legitimacy that a star of her stature rarely has occasion to make.

UPN, riding high with its new Chris Rock sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," is working with Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys to develop a drama loosely based on her childhood, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The coming-of-age story will follow a girl from a biracial family. Keys, 24, was born to a white mother and a black father, who split up when she was 2.

It was a night meant to honor the top songwriters and publishers of 2008, and it did. Winners shuffled to the stage Friday at ASCAP's 22nd annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, posing for photos as they clutched onto their trophies. But it was also the night after Michael Jackson's death, and the ASCAP ceremony at the Beverly Hilton took on the feel of a tribute, with Alicia Keys, Ne-Yo, Berry Gordy and more paying their respects to the fallen pop icon. The event began with a moment of silence in honor of the "King of Pop."

Michael Jackson's first posthumous release has only been circulating for a little more than a day and already it's controversial. We shouldn't be surprised: Despite the unified field of emotion that formed during his mourning, the late King of Pop always has been a polarizing figure, not only because of his troubled personal life, but also because of his music. The Jackson hits that helped shape an era of blockbuster pop -- especially ballads such as "Man in the Mirror" and "You Are Not Alone," which are close in spirit to the newly released "This Is It" -- were scorned by many critics as saccharine, overly smooth and sometimes grandiose.

Alicia Keys certainly loves challenges. After staying behind the piano and playing relatively intimate settings early in her singer-songwriter career, the young New Yorker surprised her fans last year by blossoming as a performer on an arena tour with Beyonce and Missy Elliott. The move seemed a major gamble, because who knew if Keys could compete with those flashy artists on such a high-energy, spectacle level? Yet she not only held her own but stole the show, according to some critics.

R&B star Alicia Keys led an array of singers and other international celebrities who entertained an enthusiastic audience of thousands Thursday night to raise money for tsunami relief work. The MTV Asia Aid event in the Thai capital, Bangkok, brought together Western musicians, actors from India's Bollywood film industry and even a cricket-playing legend from Sri Lanka to aid relief efforts in countries devastated by the Dec. 26 disaster.