Owen Opens At No. 1 On Country Albums Chart

Jake Owen and The Band Perry, in the midst of strong sales weeks, announce nominees for "The 45th Annual CMA Awards" yesterday (9/6) live on "Good Morning America" in New York City. Pictured with ABC's Robin Roberts. Photo: ABC/Ida Mae Astute

Jake Owen’s third album Barefoot Blue Jean Night is shaping up to be his biggest yet, debuting at No. 1 on the Country Albums chart (SoundScan) this week with 55K units sold. Sales were fueled largely by the charttopping title track, which has moved over 900K downloads to date. The album scored 34% digital sales.

“I’ve never had a No. 1 anything before,” says Owen. “This is an amazing feeling that is hard to describe. I’m just so grateful that I was able to record a song like ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night’ that truly represents who I am and I’m even more grateful that people liked it.”

Yesterday (9/6), he performed “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” live on ABC’s Good Morning America following the announcement of final nominees for the CMA Awards.

Also on hand to make the announcement was The Band Perry, whose monster hit “If I Die Young” shows no signs of passing. For weeks it’s been sitting firmly at No. 1 on the Digital Country downloads chart, selling 68K this week, and heading beyond the 3 million mark next week.

Elsewhere in download-land, Lady A’s new single “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” danced away with fans to the tune of 57K units.

Country digital sales are burgeoning, with albums up 38% YTD, and tracks passing the 100 million milestone. This is part of country’s 7% YTD album sales bump.

Entering the country chart this week are releases from Glen Campbell (14K), Stoney LaRue (8K) and Robert Earl Keen (7K).

Outside the Country

By comparison, pop/rock/hip-hop albums still move more units than country. The new album from Lil Wayne almost reached the 1 million mark (964K), followed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers with 229K.

Adele offers further proof of the immediate impact of television exposure, as her track “Someone Like You” scored almost a 200% week-over-week increase (275K) after her performance on the MTV VMAs.