LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former British soldier turned pop star James Blunt on Wednesday broke through to the Top 10 album sales charts 16 weeks after the U.S. release of his debut album, “Back to Bedlam.”

Blunt’s ballad-heavy CD rose from 13th place to 9th in U.S. album sales, selling 41,000 units for the week ended January 22, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Blunt’s album, released by Warner Music Group’s Atlantic Records, was already a massive hit in Europe. Released in Britain in October 2004, it spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the nation’s album chart and now ranks as the best-selling album in England for 2005. Prior to Blunt’s ascension to the Top 10 on Wednesday, the album had spent 16 weeks among the top 100 U.S. albums.

The former cavalryman’s CD is quickly mounting a strong offensive for U.S. audiences with singles, “You’re Beautiful” and “No Bravery,” the latter inspired by Blunt’s military service.

Blunt, who comes from a military family, drew from various life experiences, including his stint in the army serving as part of a peacekeeping unit in Kosovo.

According to his Web site, Blunt was sleeping off a hangover at the back of a university sociology lecture hall when the next thing he knew he was in Kosovo with a gun and a guitar strapped to the side of tank.

Higher up on the U.S. album chart this week, Jamie Foxx’s “Unpredictable” climbed back to No. 1, selling about 97,000 units, switching places with Mary J. Blige’s “Breakthrough,” which sold about 95,000 units.

Rapper Eminem’s hits compilation “Curtain Call” ranked third with 74,000 units, followed by “American Idol” diva Carrie Underwood’s “Some Hearts” at the No. 4 spot with 73,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The late Johnny Cash’s retrospective “The Legend of Johnny Cash” jumped five places to No. 5, boosted by a strong showing at the Golden Globes by the Cash film “Walk the Line.”

The Cash CD sold 55,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Total U.S. album sales rose 1 percent over the previous week at 9.5 million units, but fell 1 percent from the same period a year ago. Sales for 2006 exceed sales from the same period in 2005 by about 2 percent at 30.3 million units.