Posted by Emily Exton on 11/21/2012 at 9:00 AM News

The Popdust Files: Diamonds, harry styles, liam payne, louis tomlinson, niall horan, one direction, rihanna, Take Me Home, unapologetic, Zayn Malik

In addition to penning captivating fan fiction and filling buckets with their own tears, One Direction has proven their fans are also the kinds of people who buy albums. The guys of 1D have topped the U.S. charts yet again, selling 540,000 copies of Take Me Home in its debut week. The group surpassed expectations with their album’s release, recording the third-best first week sales numbers of the year, behind only Taylor Swift’s Red and that pesky Mumford and his unrelenting Sons. It’s also the second No. 1 album for the group in nearly eight months, following March’s Up All Night, which made them the first U.K. act to debut at the top spot in the U.S. Seriously, Queen Elizabeth. Show some respect.
 

Photo: Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images

 

But they might want to start worrying about whether or not they can hold onto their current chart position. Rihanna scored her 12th No. 1 single this week, as “Diamonds” (finally) overtook Maroon 5′s longstanding hit, “One More Night.” (We were rooting for you, Psy.) The latest achievement puts RiRi behind an impressive list of artists with the most No. 1 singles: the Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (18) and Michael Jackson (13). BFF Katy Perry already tied a MJ record of her own last year—do you think this is stuff they talk about when they’re painting their toenails and gossiping about the terrible award show outfits of their peers? We sure hope so.

“Diamonds” is a grower, and we’ve become more obsessed than ever following her early Apple SNL performance and the news that Rihanna carries conflict-free jewels with her whenever she travels. With early projections from HITS Daily Double hovering between 240 -260,000 copies, it’s enough to make Unapologetic Rihanna’s biggest debut to date and potentially her first No. 1 album. As in ever.