Eric Church Captures Top Album Spot with Desperate Man

There’s a new album champ in town — Eric Church’s Desperate Man. Besides debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s country rankings, it also bows at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 all-genres chart. It’s Church’s third studio album to achieve rare air, the predecessors being Chief(2011) and The Outsiders (2014).

Song-wise, Florida Georgia Line scores its 13th No. 1 single with “Simple.” Actually, it’s their 15th chart-topper if you count the ones on which the duo’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley were featured artists, Bebe Rexha’s “Meant to Be” and Morgan Wallen’s “Up Down.”

Church has a surge in sales farther down the country chart as well. Chief returns at No. 25 and the EP, Mr. Misunderstood: On the Rocks, Live and (Mostly) Unplugged, bounces back at No. 40.

Other albums re-entering the Top 50 this week are Rascal Flatts’ Greatest Hits, Volume 1(No. 37), Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour (No, 46) and Taylor Swift’s Speak Now (No. 50). There are no other new albums to report.

But there are two new songs — Old Dominion’s “Make It Sweet” (arriving at No. 48) and Walker Hayes’ “90’s Country” (No. 60).

The No. 2 through No. 5 albums, in that order, are Luke Combs’ This One’s for You (last week’s No. 1), Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty, the eponymous Dan + Shay and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller.

Rounding out the Top 5 songs array are Combs’ “She Got the Best of Me,” Russell Dickerson’s “Blue Tacoma” (last week’s No. 1), Cole Swindell’s “Break Up in the End” and Chris Young’s “Hangin’ On.”