Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam performs at the taping of the third annual VH1 Rock Honors: The Who concert in Los Angeles in this July 12, 2008 file photo.[Photo/Agencies]

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In a battle of veteran rockers, Pearl Jam beat former Beatle Paul McCartney to the top of the US Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday.

"Lightning Bolt," the 10th studio album by Seattle band Pearl Jam, who rose to prominence in the early 1990s grunge-rock movement, sold 166,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

British musician McCartney, 71, came in at No. 3 on the album chart with his latest record "New," which sold 67,000 copies. That was behind Miley Cyrus' "Bangerz," which dropped one spot to No. 2 this week.

The Billboard 200 chart measures both physical and digital album sales in the United States on a weekly basis.

Other new entries in the chart's top 10 this week include folk-rock group Avett Brothers at No. 5 with "Magpie & The Dandelion," while "American Idol" winner and country singer Scotty McCreery landed at No. 6 with his latest set, "See You Tonight."

Country music singer Willie Nelson came in at No. 9 with his latest record "To All the Girls," featuring duets with some of country music's longtime female stars including Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn.

Indie folk rockers The Head and the Heart rounded out the top 10 with its sophomore effort, "Let's Be Still."

On the digital songs chart, which measures single track downloads, rapper Eminem shot to the top with his new single "Rap God," knocking New Zealand singer Lorde's "Royals" to No. 2 and Katy Perry's "Roar" to No. 3.

Overall album sales for the week ending October 20 totaled 4.7 million, down 11 percent from the comparable week in 2012, Billboard said.

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