Kenny Chesney Beats Drake, Earns 9th Top 200 Album No.1 Debut with ‘Here And Now’

Kenny Chesney earned his 9th Top 200 album No.1 debut with his just-released 19th studio album, Here And Now. With…

Lauren Jo Black

| Posted on

May 10, 2020

9:01 pm

Kenny Chesney; Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for dcp

Kenny Chesney earned his 9th Top 200 album No.1 debut with his just-released 19th studio album, Here And Now. With 233,841 in sales, Here And Now beat out Drake’s Dark Lane Demo Tapes, and according to Billboard, became the third biggest sales week for an album in 2020.

Here And Now earned the largest week in sales for any country album since the release of Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty in September of 2018. It’s also the first country album to top the Billboard 200 in almost six months, since the debut of Luke Combs’ latest album, What You See Is What You Get.

The superstar credits his fans as well as the creatives working by his side for the album’s immense success.

“I say it every day: There is no group of people like No Shoes Nation,” Chesney says. “The heart. The soul. The passion. They are always there, and they are always loud, proud and inside the music in the same way I was growing up! It matters to them, the same way it matters to me.”

“This No. 1 is so gratifying,” he adds. “It says so much about the players and the songwriters, everyone working in a creative capacity in Nashville, as well as all the people working to get this music into the hands of the people who love and want it.”

Here And Now features 12 tracks, including the Top 10 and rising title track, the anthemic “We Do,” and the buzzed-about “Knowing You.”

Written by

Lauren Jo Black

Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.