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Passion, Michael W. Smith & Jekalyn Carr Debut on Christian & Gospel Charts

By Jim Asker
3/8/2018
By Jim Asker
3/8/2018
Passion
Allie Hine

Passion

Passion earns its ninth Top Christian Albums No. 1 with 'Whole Heart.'

Passion's Whole Heart arrives at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart (dated March 10) with 13,000 equivalent album units (12,000 via traditional sales) in the week ending March 1, according to Nielsen Music.

The set marks the ninth No. 1 for the worship collective (formerly known as Passion Worship Band), all of which have bowed at the summit. The act first led with Passion: Awakening on March 27, 2010.

The lead single from Heart, "Reckless Love," featuring Melodie Malone, debuts at No. 39 on Hot Christian Songs.

Artist Mentioned

Passion

Michael W. Smith begins at No. 2 on Top Christian Albums with his live worship album Surrounded (5,000 units). That makes back-to-back No. 2 bows for Smith, whose A Million Lights opened (with 4,000 units) in the runner-up spot on the March 3 list.

Smith scores his 31st Top Christian Albums top 10, extending his mark for the most among soloists dating to his first week in the region (April 28, 1984); Amy Grant ranks second in that span with 29 top 10s.

Concurrently, the debuting album's "Surrounded (Fight My Battles)" enters the Hot Christian Songs top 40 (46-36).

On Top Gospel Albums, 20-year-old singer-songwriter Jekalyn Carr's One Nation Under God launches at No. 1 with a career-best 4,000 units (the bulk from traditional album sales). Carr collects her second No. 1, after her first live set, The Life Project, started atop the tally dated Aug. 27, 2016 (with 2,000 copies sold).

Carr's solo-penned "You Will Win," the first single from the new album, tops Gospel Airplay for a sixth week.

By Jim Asker
3/8/2018

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