The Raconteurs Earn First No. 1 Debut With New Album 'Help Us Stranger'

The Raconteurs‘ latest album Help Us Stranger (Third Man Records), has debuted at No. 1 on this week’s SoundScan/Billboard 200, marking the band’s first-ever No. 1 and their third trip to the top 10. The acclaimed third studio album from Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler also sits at the top of the physical albums chart, as well as the vinyl chart.

Help Us Stranger garnered the sixth-highest, first week vinyl sales in the SoundScan era (with Jack White holding the No. 1 and No. 4 spots for Lazaretto and Boarding House Reach, respectively), and is the first No. 1 for an independent record company in 2019, and the fourth consecutive Billboard No. 1 for Jack White as an artist.

During release week, the band helped usher in the new album with two appearances on CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert for two nights in a row, performing “Help Me Stranger” on June 20 and “Bored and Razed” June 21. The Raconteurs took to the streets in both New York City and Los Angeles last week playing special in-store performances and also played a series of intimate club shows in both cities including Baby’s All Right on Saturday, June 22, Coney Island Baby on Sunday, June 23, and Jewel’s Catch One in LA on Thursday, June 27.

The Raconteurs are heralding the new album with a world tour, with North American dates getting underway July 4 and 5 with a two-night-stand at Aspen, CO’s Belly Up Tavern. Due to popular demand, additional dates have been added in a number of major markets, including Detroit, Vancouver, New York, and Nashville.

In addition to its chart-topping achievements here in the United States, Help Us Stranger has also debuted at No. 1 on the album sales chart in Canada and No.2 on the overall Canadian album chart. The success continues in the UK where the album took the top spot on the UK vinyl chart, along with being the No. 3 independent album and No.8 on the Official UK Albums chart.

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Lorie Hollabaugh

Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.

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