Eagles soar past Britney to top of charts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In an unusual development on the pop album charts, veteran rock band the Eagles were awarded the No. 1 spot on Tuesday after a last-minute rule change relegated Britney Spears to second place.

The Eagles' first studio release in 28 years, "Long Road Out of Eden," sold about 711,000 copies last week, according to preliminary data released by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. Spears sold a modest 290,000 copies of her album, "Blackout."

In a normal world, the Eagles would be No. 1 and Spears No. 2, but the Eagles album was available only through Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which traditionally does not report data to SoundScan.