Cory Asbury Debuts at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums; As for Top Gospel Albums… Just ‘WOW’
Singer-songwriter and worship leader Cory Asbury, of Bethel Music, debuts at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums with his solo set Reckless Love.
Singer-songwriter and worship leader Cory Asbury, of Bethel Music, debuts at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums with his solo set Reckless Love.
In its first week, ending Feb. 1, Reckless earned 11,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 8,000 were via traditional sales.
For Asbury, a native of North Carolina, the 10-song set marks his first solo appearance on Top Christian Albums. Asbury joined Bethel Music, the musical arm of Bethel Church, in 2015 and regularly leads Sunday worship at Bethel’s home base in Redding, California.
Meanwhile, the Reckless title track lead single jumps into the top 10 (14-7) on Hot Christian Songs (which blends airplay, streaming and sales data), giving Asbury his first top 10.
“Reckless” enters Christian Streaming Songs at No. 10 (1.1 million U.S. streams), giving Asbury his maiden top 10 on that tally, as well. The song also surges by 67 percent to 2 million audience impressions and darts 33-27 on Christian Airplay.
THEY ‘WOW’-ED US AGAIN: On Top Gospel Albums, WOW Gospel 2018, the 21st edition of the annual compilation series (begun in 1998), opens at No. 1 with 4,000 units, all in pure sales.
The WOW franchise is especially noteworthy in that the artists featured are from the three major gospel labels (Motown Gospel, RCA Inspiration and Word-Curb). The new 30-track set includes, among others: Charlie Wilson, Marvin Sapp, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Kierra Sheard and Tamela Mann.
Of the 21 WOW gospel albums, 19 (all consecutively since 2000) have hit the summit; 2006’s brought the best starting sales sum: 43,000.
NORTH TO NO. 1: On Christian AC Songs, West Palm Beach, Florida-based Tenth Avenue North banks its second No. 1, among 12 top 10s, as “Control (Somehow You Want Me)” rises 2-1 (up 10 percent in plays).
“Control” marks the act’s first Christian AC Songs leader since 2011, when “You Are More” spent five weeks at No. 1 (starting March 26).
On Christian Airplay, “Control” holds the summit for a third week as it gains by 7 percent to 9 million impressions.