Kane Brown Crowns Country Albums Chart With Self-Titled Debut
Up-by-the-bootstrap Internet star Kane Brown proves he’s ready for the majors this week as his self-titled Zone 4/RCA album debuts at the top of Billboard's country albums chart on Nielsen Soundscan-authenticated sales of 45,457 copies.
Brown, who first created a mammoth presence by posting his own video covers of country hits online, also opened shows for Florida Georgia Line this year on the duo’s Dig Your Roots Tour.
On the country airplay rankings, Old Dominion moves into the winner’s circle as “Song for Another Time” concludes its 27-week uphill journey.
As might be expected at such a festively cluttered time, there’s precious little new chart activity to note -- just one other first-appearing album and two freshman songs.
Ned LeDoux’s EP, Forever a Cowboy, bows in at No. 44. LeDoux is the son of the late cowboy singer Chris LeDoux.
Although Chris had been performing for years on the rodeo circuit, he wasn’t widely known until Garth Brooks made him famous in 1989 with his first chart single, “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” which refers to a rodeo cowboy listening to “a worn out tape of Chris LeDoux. “
Returning to the chart at No. 32 is Sturgill Simpson’s Grammy-nominated A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.
There are two new songs -- Brett Young's “In Case You Didn’t Know” (No. 52) and Drake White’s “Makin’ Me Look Good Again” (No. 60).
Tucker Beathard’s “Mama and Jesus” bounces back into the game at No. 57.
The No. 2 through No. 5 albums, in that order, are Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s Christmas Together, Miranda Lambert’s The Weight of These Wings (last week’s No. 1), Brooks and Yearwood’s Christmas Together/Gunslinger and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller.
Following directly behind “Song for Another Time” in the Top 5 songs array are Brett Eldredge’s “Wanna Be That Song,” Florida Georgia Line’s “May We All,” featuring Tim McGraw (last week’s No. 1), Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and Carrie Underwood’s “Dirty Laundry.”
There’s still time to make country music great again by buying scads of albums. Be sure to do your part. America’s counting on you.
