Miranda Lambert Flies in at No. 1 on Top Country Albums With ‘The Weight of These Wings’
Miranda Lambert's sixth studio album, The Weight of These Wings, arrives as her sixth No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart (dated Dec. 10).
Miranda Lambert‘s sixth studio album, The Weight of These Wings, arrives as her sixth No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart (dated Dec. 10). It sells 122,000 copies in its initial week, ending Nov. 24, according to Nielsen Music. On the all-genre, consumption-based Billboard 200, Wings flies in at No. 3 with 133,000 equivalent album units.
Lambert is the second artist in the Top Country Albums chart’s nearly 53-year history to post six consecutive career-opening No. 1s, tying Carrie Underwood, who banked her sixth straight leader (encompassing her entire output)with Storyteller (Nov. 14, 2015). Like Underwood, all of Lambert’s titles have bowed at the summit, starting with 2005’s Kerosene, which was followed by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2007), Revolution (2009), Four the Record (2011) and Platinum (2014).
Additionally, the 122,000 in opening-week sales for Lambert’s new set are the most for a female country act since Underwood’s Storyteller launched with 164,000. In a case of baton-trading, Storyteller marked the largest first-week sales for a female artist since Lambert’s Platinum (180,000; June 21, 2014).
Meanwhile, Lambert ties Underwood for the fourth-most Top Country Albums No. 1s among women. Reba McEntire leads with 12, followed by Loretta Lynn (10) and Dolly Parton (seven). Among all acts, George Strait leads with 26.
Wings is Lambert’s first release since her 2015 divorce from Blake Shelton; she co-wrote 20 of its 24 tracks. Disc one of the project is titled The Nerve, while disc two is named The Heart.
In August, Lambert granted Billboard an exclusive interview, saying, “I’m never going to have an album that’s quote-unquote a ‘heartbreak album,’ because everybody has bad moments, and then you come out of it and you have a great moment, and then you have some somber times. I want an emotional journey, because that’s what life is, and I want to document that. But I don’t think anybody’s going to listen to this new project and say, ‘Ohhh, it’s so sad.'”
The lead track from Wings, “Vice” (from The Nerve), debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated Aug. 6. On Country Airplay, the single climbed to No. 11 (Oct. 15). Second single “We Should Be Friends” (also from The Nerve) pushes 40-39 on Hot Country Songs. On Country Airplay, it leaps 50-41, up 47 percent to 2.2 million audience impressions.
More From Pro
