Little Mix Makes Chart History with Debut; Daft Punk Still #1

Daft Punk's getting lucky with their new album. Random Access Memories holds at #1 for a second week on the Billboard Album Chart, selling an additional 93,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan.  In its two weeks of release, the album has sold 432,000 copies.

The big news, though, is Little Mix.  The British girl group's debut album DNA has entered the chart at  #4.  This marks the highest debut ever for a British girl group's first album: even the Spice Girls' first album only managed a #6 debut back in 1997.  DNA has, of course, been out for a while overseas, and has sold over two million records worldwide.

Overall, Little Mix's debut is the highest for any female group's first album British or otherwise since 2006, when Danity Kane's first release entered the chart at #1.

Speaking to the BBC, Little Mix's Jade Thirwall said of the group's chart achievement, "We can't believe it. It's mental! We were going to be happy with being in the top 10 so to get to number four is just a bonus."  And while Little Mix isn't "quite at the level of One Direction yet," Jade says, "We get loads of people [in the U.S.] waiting for us at airports and running after our tour bus. We love it!"

Little Mix, the first group ever to win The X Factor in either the U.K. or the U.S., will take the stage at New York City's Central Park this Friday for ABC's Good Morning America summer concert series.  They'll be performing along with Emblem3, who came in fourth on the second season of The X Factor U.S.  On Monday, they'll perform on Live with Kelly & Michael.