With the title cut of his latest album, country star
That makes it the biggest debut of a young 2013 and Church's second album to hit the top spot on Billboard's charts. His last album, 2011's "Chief," debuted with 145,000 copies sold, according to Billboard.
"Chief" has now sold 1.7 million copies and was named album of the year by both the Country Music Assn. and the Academy of Country Music. Heading into the release of "The Outsiders," Church's single "Give Me Back My Hometown" had hit No. 52 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
In a recent interview with The Times, Church admitted that the success of "Chief" had kind of "freaked" him out.
"We'd always been on the margins, and I liked it there," Church said. "And then I felt the industry move toward me. All of a sudden, we were in the middle of the road. This time I said, 'Let's get back out there.' "
Church's set is the only album to debut this week inside the top 10, although locals the Glitch Mob have a career breakout on its hands with "Love Death Immortality." The album, the act's first-ever to reach the top 200, sold 22,000 copies. The electronic act has a major slot on this year's
Last week's chart topper, the 49th edition of the "Now That's What I Call Music!" compilation album, slips to No. 3. The title sold 77,000 copies this week, giving it a two-week total of 176,000 copies.
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