Plus, Mary Chapin Carpenter extends her history on Top Country Albums.
Luke Bryan banks his ninth No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart, and his eighth to arrive at the pinnacle, as Born Here Live Here Die Here soars in at the summit on the survey dated Aug. 22.
The set earned 65,000 equivalent album units (48,000 in album sales) in the week ending Aug. 13. On the all-genre Billboard 200, it enters at No. 5, marking Bryan’s 11th top 10.
Released Aug. 7, the album, co-produced by the father-and-son team of Jeff and Jody Stevens, was originally due April 24 but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Three singles, all of which topped Country Airplay, have been released from the new LP so far: “Knockin’ Boots” led for two weeks in September 2019; “What She Wants Tonight” ruled for a week this April; and “One Margarita” reigned for two weeks in July.
Bryan last led Top Country Albums with What Makes You Country, which debuted at No. 1 in December 2017. The new album is Bryan’s fourth in a row to launch at No. 1. The first in the string was 2015’s Kill the Lights, the only album that has generated six Country Airplay No. 1s.
‘STARS’ SHINES Mary Chapin Carpenter‘s new LP The Dirt and the Stars enters Top Country Albums at No. 35 (5,000 units, mostly via album sales). The set extends the singer-songwriter’s history on the chart to just over 31 years, dating to her first entry, State of the Heart, which opened on the Aug. 19, 1989, list.
Carpenter is one of nine acts who have ranked in the chart’s top 40 with titles in the ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, joining Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, George Strait and Hank Williams Jr.
Carpenter’s new set also launches at No. 6 on Americana/Folk Albums. On the all-genre Top Album Sales chart, it opens at No. 14, her best rank since Stones in the Road reached a career-best No. 10 in 1994.
