Mumford & Sons Hold Billboard 200 No. 1 for Third Week

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British folk band Mumford & Sons continued their hold at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday for a third consecutive week, fending off seven debuts in the top ten.

"Babel", the second studio album from Mumford & Sons, sold 96,000 copies in its third week and came ahead of independent hip hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who entered at No. 2 with "The Heist".

Like Us on Facebook

This is the first record from Seattle-based hip hop artist Macklemore and producer Lewis, who have built a steady following on YouTube and Twitter.

They independently produced and released "The Heist" last week, shooting to No. 1 on the iTunes album chart within hours and selling 78,000 copies in their first week.

Veteran rockers Kiss entered at No. 3 with their 20th studio album, "Monster". A Billboard 200 No. 1 album has eluded the band over their five-decade career, with their highest chart position coming from 2009's "Sonic Boom", which came in at No. 2.

Kiss weren't the only veterans to enter strongly in Wednesday's album chart. Barbra Streisand notched No. 7 with her compilation "Release Me", which features rare and previously unreleased tracks by the 70-year-old singer.

Other chart entries came from rapper MGK (Machine Gun Kelly), at No. 4 with debut studio album "Lace Up", and progressive rock group Coheed and Cambria, who rounded out the top five with their seventh studio album, "The Afterman: Descension".

Pop-punk band All Time Low's fifth studio album, "Don't Panic", came in at No. 6. British pop singer Ellie Goulding entered the chart at No. 9 with her sophomore album, "Halcyon", led by the popularity of her first album's lead single "Lights", which became a U.S. singles chart hit in August.

Country-pop starlet Taylor Swift dominated the Digital Songs chart with three entries in the top ten, led by her latest single "I Knew You Were Trouble" at No. 1, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" at No. 7, and "Red" at No. 10. All singles are from Swift's album "Red", to be released on October 22.