Luke Combs’ second album, What You See Is What You Get, commands Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart for a 34th week (on the list dated Nov. 21). The set earned 46,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 12, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
The album debuted atop the chart dated Nov. 23, 2019, and has been boosted the past three weeks by its Oct. 23 deluxe reissue, which added six songs to its track list.
Combs’ first LP, This One’s for You, opened at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart dated June 24, 2017, and reigned for a record-tying 50 weeks, matching Shania Twain’s 1997 album Come On Over. This One’s for You (which was also helped by a deluxe version, released June 1, 2018) ranks at No. 2 on the latest list, with 19,000 units.
Combs becomes the first artist in the Top Country Albums chart’s history, which dates to 1964, with two albums that have each ruled for at least 34 weeks. He bests Garth Brooks, whose second album, No Fences, logged a 41-week domination starting in October 1990, while follow-up Ropin’ the Wind ruled for 33 weeks beginning in September 1991.
Meanwhile, Combs’ “Forever After All,” which blasted in atop Billboard’s airplay-, streaming- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart dated Nov. 7, becoming just the sixth title to have arrived at the summit since the chart began as an all-encompassing genre ranking in 1958, dips 2-3. The song corralled 13.7 million U.S. streams in the tracking week (down 14%) and leads Country Streaming Songs for a third frame. It sold 11,000 downloads (down 1%) and likewise leads Country Digital Song Sales for a third week.
Combs claimed two trophies at the 2020 Country Music Association Awards (Nov. 11 on ABC): He was named male vocalist of the year and What You See Is What You Get won for best album.
Combs’ current single being promoted to country radio, “Better Together,” lifts 16-13 on Country Airplay, up by 12% to 15.1 million impressions in the week ending Nov. 15.
NEW TOP 10s Jon Pardi achieves his seventh Country Airplay top 10 as “Ain’t Always a Cowboy” ascends 11-9 (20.1 million, up 4%).
The song, which Pardi co-produced, is the second single from his album Heartache Medication, which debuted and peaked at No. 2 on Top Country Albums in October 2019. The title-track first single topped Country Airplay for a week in February, becoming his third of fourth Country Airplay leaders. He notched his fourth No. 1, for a week in May, as featured on Thomas Rhett’s “Beer Can’t Fix.”
Pardi’s first No. 1, “Head Over Boots,” ruled for a week in August 2016, followed by his three-week leader “Dirt on My Boots,” starting in March 2017. His additional two top 10s are “Heartache on the Dance Floor” (No. 3, September 2017) and “Night Shift” (No. 5, May 2019).
Plus, Dan + Shay score their eighth Country Airplay top 10 as “I Should Probably Go to Bed” rises 12-10 (19.2 million, up 2%). The pair’s prior seven top 10s all hit No.1; most recently, “10,000 Hours,” with Justin Bieber, led for two frames starting Jan. 25.
RHETT ROARS IN Thomas Rhett’s “What’s Your Country Song” bounds at No. 18 on Country Airplay with 11.7 million audience impressions after its first five days of airplay, helped by hourly plays on participating iHeartMedia stations the day of its release (Nov. 11).
Rhett scores his highest Country Airplay arrival among his 25 entries. His latest surpasses “Look What God Gave Her,” which began at No. 20 in March 2019 and topped the list that June, becoming his 13th of 15 leaders.
His new single name-checks an array of classic country hits, from Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight” to Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee,” as well as “That Ain’t My Truck,” by Rhett’s father, Rhett Akins, who sent the song to No. 3 in 1995. The father-and-son combo wrote the new track with Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley and Parker Weiling.
