Checotah native's debut album tops country music chart

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Checotah native Carrie Underwood's debut album is at Number One on Billboard's country album chart, having sold 314,000 copies since its release November 15th.<br/><br/>The

Thursday, November 24th 2005, 6:11 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Checotah native Carrie Underwood's debut album is at Number One on Billboard's country album chart, having sold 314,000 copies since its release November 15th.

The number makes the "American Idol" winner the highest-debuting country artist since Billboard began using Soundscan to rank album sales.

Keith Caufield of the Billboard magazine's charts department says her ranking will be reflected in the December 3rd issue.

A representative of Underwood's label says the Oklahoma-born singer's album "Some Hearts" is the best-selling disc by a female "American Idol" winner and the top debut album in 2005.

The album is Number Two on Billboard's top 200 chart, falling short of Madonna's new album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor," which has sold 350,000 copies.