Harry Connick Jr. — actor, singer and a veteran of Billboard’s jazz charts since the late 1980s — achieves his first entry on Top Christian Albums, as Alone With My Faith debuts at No. 4 on the list dated April 3.
His first faith-based set starts with 3,000 equivalent album units in its first week, ending March 25, according to MRC Data.
“I wanted to record an album that would describe all of my feelings during lockdown,” Connick Jr., who grew up Catholic, tells Billboard. “My faith was such an important part of getting me through. What I wanted more than anything else was to have the music resonate with everyone else, as we were all going through a shared experience. I cannot begin to explain how happy and honored I am to have Alone With My Faith debut in the top five on the Top Christian Albums chart.”
Connick Jr. sang every part, played every instrument and arranged every song on the album, which he recorded in his home studio in Connecticut. The set includes such classic hymns as “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou Art” and “The Old Rugged Cross,” as well as originals that he wrote.
The New Orleans-based Connick Jr. first appeared on Billboard’s charts in 1989 when 20 debuted on Traditional Jazz Albums. He earned his first of 14 No. 1s on the tally later that year with the soundtrack to When Harry Met Sally. He’s tied with Tony Bennett for the most leaders on the list in the span since.
Connick Jr. boasts 10 No. 1s on the Jazz Albums chart (which encompasses traditional and contemporary jazz titles), having led both rankings most recently in 2019-20 with True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter. On the all-genre Billboard 200, he has posted two top 10s: Only You (No. 5, 2004) and Your Songs (No. 8, 2009).
