Luckett no longer torn from chart success - Los Angeles Times
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Luckett no longer torn from chart success

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Times Staff Writer

A child of destiny is at the top of the charts, and her name is not Beyonce. LeToya Luckett, an original member of Destiny’s Child who was banished from the group in 2000, has the No. 1 album in the nation now with her solo debut.

“LeToya,” which features the hit ballad “Torn,” sold 165,000 copies during its first week in stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks retail sales of CDs. It marks a major reinvention for Luckett, who was bounced from Destiny’s Child six years ago after a falling-out with manager Mathew Knowles, the father of the group’s most famous member, Beyonce.

The members have since reconciled, but Luckett had been most famous for missing out on much of the pop group’s success and for being the target of some harsh lyrics in the 2001 Destiny’s Child hit “Survivor.”

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Also new this week: “In My Mind” from Pharrell Williams. The CD, which sold 142,000 copies and enters the chart at No. 3, was scheduled for release last fall but was repeatedly delayed as the Neptunes member reworked the material. It has been well received: Richard Cromelin, reviewing for The Times, said that the music has “the invention and urgency, if not quite the eloquence” of Kanye West’s acclaimed recordings.

Tom Petty is back on the charts this week with “Highway Companion,” the third solo album from the Florida-born frontman of the Heartbreakers. It sold 112,000 copies and enters the chart at No. 4, the highest debut of his career.

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