Kenny Rogers hits No. 1 on Top Country Albums chart for the first time since 1986
The late Kenny Rogers has hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart for the first time since 1986 for his 2018 LP 'The Best of Kenny Rogers: Through the Years', released via Capitol Records Nashville. The American country singer was last on the lead of the tally for 'The Heart of the Matter', which peaked for six weeks between the charts dated December 28, 1985 and February 1, 1986. 'The Heart of the Matter' is the seventh studio album by Rogers and released in 1985.
Rogers sadly passed away recently on March 20 at age 81. 'The Best of Kenny Rogers: Through the Years' has placed at No. 1 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned in the US in the week ending March 26, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, as Billboard reports. Of that total, 10,000 units were achieved through album sales. Following the death of country music icon, fans flocked to various streaming and sales outlets to pay tribute to the singer. On-demand US streams of Rogers’ catalog of songs surged 1,687% on March 21 and 22 (versus the two previous days), according to initial reports to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
The album tallied at 32,000 units, 13,000 of which achieved in streaming equivalent albums (SEA) - equaling 18.3 million on-demand streams for the sets 20 songs in the tracking week - 10,000 in album sales and 8,000 in track equivalent albums (TEA) units. 'The Best of Kenny Rogers: Through the Years' also debuted at No. 9 on Billboard 200 chart which encompasses all genres, his first top 10 and highest-charting effort on that tally since 1983.
The album consists of 16 of Rogers's 21 No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs chart, which includes hits 'The Gambler', 'Lucille' and 'Lady', although it does not include one of his most popular hits, the No. 1 'Islands in the Stream' which he sang with Dolly Parton. 'Islands in the Stream' released in 1983 via RCA records and reigned for two weeks at No. 1 on both Hot Country Songs and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart. His first debut in the charts was when he achieved No. 1 for two weeks in 1997 for the Top Country Albums chart for his self-titled debut LP. In total Rogers has now tallied 12 No. 1s on the same chart.
The Top Country Albums chart ranks the most popular country albums of the week in the US based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, which comprise album sales, TEA and SEA.