Recovery by Eminem tops 2010 US album chart

Eminem’s “Recovery” was the top-selling album of 2010 in the US, shifting 3.42m copies, according to music sales tracker Nielsen SoundScan.

He is the first artist to top the annual chart twice since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. In 2002, The Eminem Show sold 7.61m copies.

Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now was at number two, with 3.09m, followed by Taylor Swift’s Speak Now, with 2.96m.

California Gurls, by Katy Perry, was the most downloaded song, selling 4.4m.

It narrowly beat Hey Soul Sister, by rock band Train, which sold 4.31m.

As well as his album success, Eminem had the third and seventh best-selling singles of the year – Rihanna collaboration “Love The Way You Lie” was third with 4.35m copies while “Not Afraid” was seventh, selling 3.41m units.

British singer-songwriter Taio Cruz also appeared in the year’s top 10 twice.

“Dynamite” sold 4.08m making it number four on the list, while “Break Your Heart” was ninth with 3.25m.

The top five was rounded out by “Airplanes”, by B.O.B featuring Hayley Williams, which sold 4m copies.

Meanwhile, the fourth best-selling album of the year was “My World 2.0”, by 16-year-old Justin Bieber – with 2.32m – while Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle was next with sales of 1.85m for second album “The Gift”.