Thomas Rhett’s ‘Life Changes’ Is Country Music’s First Billboard 200 No. 1 of 2017
Thomas Rhett's newest studio album, Life Changes, made a big splash on the charts in its first week out: The record debuted at No. 1 on both Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and the all-genre Billboard 200 chart; the latter achievement makes Rhett the first country artist to top the Billboard 200 in 2017.
According to Billboard, Life Changes sold 123,000 equivalent album units and 94,000 in traditional album sales in its first week out. Not only were those numbers enough for No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts, they also gave Rhett his best sales week ever, and the third-best week in 2017 for a country project.
Life Changes is the first country record to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Oct. 1, 2016, when Jason Aldean's They Don't Know led the chart. The album is one of three country releases in the Billboard 200's Top 10 for the week of Sept. 30: Dustin Lynch's new record, Current Mood, is debuting at No. 7 on the chart, while Kip Moore's Slowheart sits at No. 10 in its first week out as well.
“Every time you put out a new project, it’s scary — like, are people going to like it at all, or is it going to flop, or is it going to do great?” Rhett said prior to Life Changes' release. “But in the other sense … This record was not made out of any sort of fear; it was made out of excitement and just sheer ‘I cannot wait to record these songs, because I’m so passionate about these songs.’ In that aspect, it does take a little bit of the pressure away, because I know in my heart that this is the best representation of me, today.”
Life Changes is available for pre-order on Amazon and iTunes. Fans can find a list of all of Rhett’s upcoming shows on his website.
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