RiverHouse Artists/Columbia Nashville
Luke Combs not only has the #1 country album this week with The Prequel, his EP is also the highest-ranking country record on the all-genre Billboard 200, coming in at #4.
All five songs in the collection are also in the top 25 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart — a feat that hasn’t been equaled since Johnny Cash did it in 1959.
Luke titled the EP The Prequel because the North Carolina native wanted his fans to know there’s more on the way.
“I didn’t want people to think it was the only thing we were gonna do for a long time,” he explains. “I didn’t want to say, ‘We’re just gonna put out these five songs and that’s kinda it.'”
“I wanted them to know it’s I guess kind of a jumping off point for the next part of the career,” Luke continues, “whatever that may be as far as whether it’s a new album or a new tour or whatever. I just wanted to say the This One’s for You era is kind of coming to an end.”
Luke’s debut is still going strong, however, hanging on to the #2 spot on the album chart. But if you’ve been anxious for new music, Luke says he can relate.
“To me, I mean, it’s really been like five years, from writing the songs to making the album to releasing the album,” he points out. “And then the deluxe, and now — I mean, I put the album out two years ago, which is crazy to think that we didn’t even have an album out two years ago.”
The Prequel also broke another record, achieving the biggest streaming week ever for a country artist. Meanwhile, its lead single, “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” is currently in country’s top ten.
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