Chris Young’s Famous Friends bounds in at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart dated Aug. 21. Released Aug. 6, the set earned 24,000 equivalent album units, with 14,000 in album sales, in its first week (ending Aug. 12), according to MRC Data.
Says Young, “This album was such a process … four years, 14 tracks, a global pandemic … It’s just so amazing to be at the end of that process and see genuine excitement from people once I got to reveal it to everyone. I’m so proud that Famous Friends is finally out.”
Famous Friends is the eighth full-length (including holiday fare) for the 36-year-old from Murfreesboro, Tenn. Lead single “Raised on Country” peaked at No. 5 on Country Airplay in August 2019; “Drowning” reached No. 25 in April 2020; and the title track with Kane Brown led the list dated July 17, granting Young his 10th No. 1 (and Brown his sixth). On Hot Country Songs, the tracks hit Nos. 10, 18 and 2, respectively.
On the Aug. 21-dated Country Airplay chart, “Friends” ranks at No. 5 with 27.2 million in audience. On Hot Country Songs, it returns to the top five (7-5) with 6 million streams (up 6%) and 2,400 sold (up 10%).
Young achieves his eighth Top Country Albums top 10 in as many visits, following Losing Sleep, which became his second No. 1 for a week upon its bow in November 2017. All his entries have started at their peaks, beginning with his self-titled first album (No. 3, October 2006). Next came The Man I Want to Be (No. 6, September 2009); Neon (No. 2, July 2011); A.M. (No. 2, October 2013); I’m Comin Over (No. 1 for a week in December 2015); and It Must Be Christmas (No. 4, December 2016).
Young will headline the Famous Friends Tour, which is set to start Oct. 21 in Little Rock, Ark., and visit 13 cities. It features supporting acts Callista Clark and Matt Stell and Mitchell Tenpenny.
