Thomas Rhett’s ‘Life Changes’ Becomes First All-Genre No. 1 Country Album Of 2017

Thomas Rhett‘s third full-length release for Valory Music Co., Life Changes, has become the first country album to top Nielsen Soundscan’s all-genre Top 200 albums rankings for 2017. The album sold more than 123K units, which includes 94K in traditional album sales. The album also debuts at No. 1 on Nielsen’s country albums rankings, making it Thomas Rhett’s first album to do so.

Thomas Rhett’s previous two full-length albums Tangled Up (2015) and It Goes Like This (2013) each debuted at No. 6 on the all-genre albums rankings, and at No. 2 on the country albums rankings. Tangled Up debuted with 63K sold in its first week, while It Goes Like This debuted with 36K in 2013.

Life Changes marks the third-largest sales week for a country debut album in 2017, following Chris Stapleton‘s From A Room: Vol. 1, which logged 202K, and Zac Brown Band‘s Welcome Home, which logged 139K.

Life Changes has been propelled by the No. 1, Gold-certified single “Craving You,” featuring Maren Morris, as well as its followup “Unforgettable.”

Thomas Rhett is nominated three times at the upcoming Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, where he is up for Male Vocalist of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year (both for “Craving You” ft. Maren Morris). The video for “Craving You” has garnered more than 10 million views on Vevo.

As Thomas Rhett earns his best debut week sales to date, he has spent much of 2017 on his first headlining tour, The Home Team Tour, which has been extended through the fall. His fashion collaborations with several respected designers will be included in his LA Pop Up Store, which will be in Los Angeles Sept. 22-24, coinciding with Thomas Rhett’s first show at the Greek Theatre. The show is sold out.

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Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at jnicholson@musicrow.com.

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