Judy Collins Scores First Career No. 1 on a Billboard Chart With New Album ‘Winter Stories’
The set, with Jonas Fjeld & Chatham County Line, crowns Bluegrass Albums.
Judy Collins earns her first career No. 1 on any Billboard chart, more than 55 years after she first reached a ranking.
The legendary singer-songwriter’s new holiday LP, Winter Stories, with Jonas Fjeld and featuring Chatham County Line, climbs 2-1 in its second week on the Bluegrass Albums chart (dated Dec. 21) with 1,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 12, according to Nielsen Music.
Collins, 80, adds her long-awaited first No. 1 to an already robust history on the charts.
She initially appeared on a Billboard survey when Judy Collins #3 entered the Billboard 200 albums chart dated March 28, 1964.
Her 1968 LP Wildflowers reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200, her lone top 10 of 18 appearances to-date. The most iconic track from Wildflowers, Collins’ rendition of the Joni Mitchell-penned “Both Sides Now,” rose to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, her sole top 10 among 10 entries.
Collins recently told Billboard that Winter Stories is more of a winter-themed project than Christmas-specific. “Winter lasts a lot longer than Christmas does, that’s for sure,” she said with a chuckle.
The set finds Collins collaborating with Norwegian singer-songwriter Jonas Fjeld and veteran Americana band Chatham County Line, based in Asheville, North Carolina.
The album includes “Highwayman,” which was written by Jimmy Webb and originally recorded by the Highwaymen supergroup, which comprised Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. Their version topped Hot Country Songs in 1985.
The set also sports new versions of the Mitchell-written “River,” as well as the Collins compositions “The Blizzard” and “Mountain Girl,” which she originally released on her albums Fires of Eden in 1990 and Shameless in 1995, respectively.
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