British songstress' self-titled debut set is top-selling album in UK

English singer/songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae entered the the UK albums chart at No. 1 with her self-titled debut set, pushing Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams to No. 2, according to data issued Sunday by the Official UK Charts Company.

Bailey Rae, whose soulful voice has drawn comparisons with Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, will release her album in the United States on June 6 via Capitol Records, the label said in a statement Monday.

It will be preceded by the release Tuesday of the three-song, digital-only EP Like A Star and by club shows in New York (March 13), in Los Angeles (March 15), and at the South By Southwest festival in Austin (March 16).

Strong sellers by Arctic Monkeys, KT Tunstall, and Kaiser Chiefs each fell a place to positions 3-5, with the Chiefs' Employment completing a year on the chart. Neil Diamond's 12 Songs also held up well, falling just one place from last week's No. 5 entry.

Former Blue member Simon Webbe continued an impressive run with his solo debut, Sanctuary, which moved up four places to No. 9 and into the top 10 for the first time. This follows a modest No. 28 debut last November. The only other newcomer in the top 20 was Ne-Yo's In My Own Words at No. 14.

X-Factor TV graduate Chico scored a No. 1 on the UK singles survey, which featured new rock talent in the form of top 10 entries for Orson and the Feeling.

Chico, whose full name is Chico Slimani, took part in The X-Factor talent series on British television late last year and, despite losing to Shayne Ward, developed a following while he was being "mentored" by judge Sharon Osbourne. His single, named after his catchphrase "It's Chico Time," was released by Sony BMG last week and debuted ahead of "Beep" by Pussycat Dolls featuring will.i.am, which entered at No. 2.

California band Orson made a strong No. 5 start with the debut single "No Tomorrow," while British quintet the Feeling arrived at No. 7 with its first single, "Sewn." Shakira also landed a British top 10 hit with "Don't Bother" at No. 9.

On the European Top 100 Albums chart, James Blunt's Back to Bedlam wore the crown for a seventh consecutive week, in addition to the single week it earlier spent at the top last October. There's a new entry at No. 1 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles roundup for Madonna's "Sorry."