Eric Church, who landed his ninth Top 10 album on the country chart last week, has immediately secured his tenth.
Soul, the final part of his elaborate three-record release on EMI Nashville/UMG Nashville, Heart & Soul, enters Billboard’s Top Country Albums at No.2, a week after Heart debuted at No.3. The shorter, six-track release titled &, available only to members of his Church Choir fan club, makes that chart at No.12, listed as an EP. The entire 24-song project was produced by Jay Joyce.
Billboard reports that Soul had first-week equivalent album units of 53,000 in the US, of which 42,000 came in album sales. That compares to the 49,000 opening units for Heart, of which 40,000 were in album sales, according to MRC data. The first of the titles landed on the all-genre Billboard 200 at No.5, followed on the new chart by Soul at No.4, to take Church’s total of Top 10 albums on that listing to seven.
Notably, both the Heart and Soul titles were the top sellers of the week across all genres, giving him two No.1s in consecutive weeks on the Top Album Sales chart (which does not factor in streaming data). In the UK, where the titles are released via Spinefarm, Heart debuted at No.2, where it stays in its second week as Soul starts at No.3, per Official Charts Company data.
Back in the US, 2020 CMA Entertainer of the Year Church also stays strong on the singles chart scene. He climbs 3-2 on Hot Country Songs with “Hell of a View,” which features on Soul and is in its 27th chart week. It’s second only to Gabby Barrett’s “The Good Ones,” which is into its fourth week at No.1. “Hell of a View” is also up 9-6 on Country Airplay. Church begins his Gather Again tour on June 4 in Durant, OK.
Heart & Soul is out now across three releases and can be bought here.