Houston, whose powerful voice lifted her to the top of pop music world but whose personal decline was fuelled by years of drug use, died on Saturday afternoon in a Beverly Hills hotel room. She was 48.

A return of Houston songs to the charts is near certain after the deaths of artists Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse sent their record sales soaring.

While Del Rey's - real name Elizabeth Grant - debut album "Born to Die" may not have moved this week, three other albums broke into the top 10.

"Lonely are the Brave" by English-Irish vocalist and rapper Maverick Sabre went straight to number two, "Kisses on the Bottom" by former Beatle Paul McCartney came in at number three, and veteran rockers Van Halen's "A Different Kind of Truth" entered the top 10 at number six.

In the singles chart "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Belgian-Australian songwriter Gotye, featuring New Zealand's Kimbra, climbed two places to claim the top spot.

The only new entry in the singles top 10 was "T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)" at number three, the product of a star-spangled collaboration between R&B songstress Jennifer Lopez, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas)

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