Garth Firsts Continue Piling Up

David M Ross – 09/04/2007

Garth Brooks

Apparently, Garth Brooks is not yet finished with finding new ways to be the first. This week his “More Than A Memory” crashed through the R&R Chart to arrive with 36.3 million impressions making it the first artist to ever open at No. 1 on the Country chart. According to Wade Jessen, Nashville Director of Charts & Operations “‘Memory’ opens at a record-high No. 4 on the Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems most-played tally. The single, which arrived at radio on Aug. 20, amassed 4,349 plays. Brooks replaces Kenny Chesney as the artist with the highest debut in the 17-year-old Nielsen BDS era, following Chesney's No. 16 bow last week with "Don't Blink" (BNA). Brooks also replaces Chesney and Buck Owens as the all-time-high debut leader. Prior to Chesney's bow last week, Owens' No. 16 opener with "My Heart Skips A Beat" in March 1964 was the chart's highest since it expanded from 30 to 50 positions in January 1964.”