Norah Jones sells nearly 500,000 more copies of her debut disc following recent Grammy sweep

NEW YORK (AP) _ Talk about a Grammy sales bump _ Norah Jones' debut album, ``Come Away With Me,'' sold 621,000 copies after her Grammy sweep, almost 500,000 more than the week before _ the

Wednesday, March 5th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Talk about a Grammy sales bump _ Norah Jones' debut album, ``Come Away With Me,'' sold 621,000 copies after her Grammy sweep, almost 500,000 more than the week before _ the biggest post-Grammy sales spike ever, according to her record company.

Jones' disc, which won eight Grammys, including album of the year, is the No. 1 album in the country, according to figures released Wednesday.

Its sales rose 331 percent, according to EMI Recorded Music, which owns her label, Blue Note Records. The previous week, the disc had sold about 144,000 copies.

Jones' huge sales leap knocked R. Kelly off the top of the charts. His ``Chocolate Factory'' placed at No. 3, while rapper 50 Cent moved from No. 3 to No. 2 with ``Get Rich or Die Tryin'.''

Jones, who also won best new artist, performed ``Don't Know Why,'' which won record and song of the year, on the Feb. 23 Grammy broadcast.

So far, the 23-year-old pop-jazz singer's album has sold 4.2 million. Most in the industry didn't expect it to sell more than 100,000 when it was released in February 2002.

Other Grammy-winning and nominated artists experienced a sales increase, though not as significant as Jones' bump. The Dixie Chicks, whose ``Home'' won three Grammys, saw album sales rise from 127,000 the previous week to 202,000, placing the disc at No. 4; and John Mayer, who won the best pop male vocal award, sold 97,000 copies of ``Room for Squares,'' compared with 45,000 the previous week. It placed at No. 8.

Bruce Springsteen, who won three Grammys, saw his disc rise from No. 129 on the charts to No. 27. ``The Rising'' sold 36,000, compared with 11,000 the previous week.