Elevation Worship adds its sixth No. 1 on Top Christian Albums and its first on Top Gospel Albums. Maverick City Music scores its first No. 1 among three top 10s on the former chart and its second No. 1 on the latter.
The week that
Jesus Is King debuted, West added an unprecedented achievement: Thanks to the set s songs individually, he became the first artist to monopolize the entire top 10 on both Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs. (The charts, which launched in 2003 and 2005, respectively, are fueled by streaming, airplay and sales data.
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This week, nine of the Old Church Basement songs take over the top 10 on Hot Gospel Songs. Leading the haul, Jireh, featuring Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine, which debuted atop Hot Gospel Songs dated April 10, rebounds 2-1 for its third total week on top, with 2.7 million U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads sold. On Hot Christian Songs, Jireh climbs 12-8 for a new high, after it launched at No. 10.
Music
Elevation Worship, Maverick City Music Breaks Worldwide Record on Apple Music with Most Album Streams in a Day, Most First-Day Album Streams
Tiffany BarnesMay 11, 2021 12:21 PM EDT
Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music Breaks World Record for Most First-Day Album Streams For Christian/Gospel Genre, And Most Album Streams In A Day In The U.S. Old Church Basement, the collaborative album from GRAMMY®-nominated and Billboard No. 1 worship groups Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music has made history, setting a new worldwide record for the most first-day streams for a Christian and Gospel album on Apple Music. Additionally, on Spotify, the 13-song project broke the U.S. record for the most streams in a day for an album by a Christian group and was No. 4 out of all U.S. albums its first weekend of release. It also tops both Billboard s Christian and Gospel Album charts and ranks at No. 31 on its Top 200 Overall chart.
It’s been over two years since Billie Eilish released her chart-dominating debut,
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and fans have, seemingly, been getting impatient. Last week, she finally announced its followup,
Happier Than Ever, would be arriving this summer, and it promptly shot to the top of the Apple Music Pre-Add Chart.
During the week of April 23 through April 29th,
Happier Than Ever, which drops July 30th, pulled in more pre-adds than any other album on the platform. Pre-adds allow listeners to queue up an album to be added to their library when it’s released, offering a good indication of the albums that fans are most excited for. It’s a good sign that it’s leading the pre-add chart, where previous RS 200 toppers like Rod Wave and Moneybagg Yohave also led.
Thomas Rhett - Country Again (Side A) Cover | Big Machine Label Group | Courtesy of The Green Room PR
In the early morning hours Friday, Thomas Rhett’s new “Country Again (Side A)” ascended to #2 on the US iTunes album sales chart.
As the day progressed, the album moved into the #1 position.
“Country Again (Side A)” remains atop the all-genre chart as of press time at 9:30PM ET Friday night. Its closest competition comes from DJ Khaled’s new “Khaled Khaled.”
GOJIRA’s new “Fortitude,” which held the top spot prior to the Thomas Rhett album, now occupies the #3 position. Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music’s new “Old Church Basement” (#4) and Adam Calhoun & Struggle Jennings’ “Outlaw Shxt” (#5), both new releases, complete the current Top 5.
Gojira - Fortitude cover | Art by Joe Duplantier | Roadrunner Records | Via @gojiraofficial
Update: Since the start of “New Music Friday” at midnight ET, GOJIRA’s “Fortitude” and Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music’s “Old Church Basement” have each spent time at #1 on the all-genre US iTunes sales chart.
“Fortitude” leads the way as of press time at 1:20AM ET, with “Old Church Basement” now at #2.
Thomas Rhett’s new “Country Again (Side A)” (#3), Adam Calhoun & Struggle Jennings’ new “Outlaw Shxt” (#4), and MercyMe’s “inhale (exhale)” (#5) are also charting prominently.
The iTunes chart tends to be very volatile on “New Music Friday,” so any of the aforementioned positions could change in the coming minutes and hours.