Kacey Musgraves is officially having her moment, and the numbers back it up. Her seventh studio album, Middle of Nowhere, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 100,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week, the best opening numbers of her entire career. It also scored the No. 1 spot on Top Album Sales out of the gate, with 64,500 in pure album sales alone.
“This album period coincided with me getting more comfortable being alone,” Musgraves told Texas Monthly. “Not as isolation, but as sovereignty.” That sense of quiet confidence is all over the record, which blends country, Western swing, bluegrass, and regional Mexican sounds, with collaborations from Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Billy Strings, and Gregory Alan Isakov.
Meanwhile, also making waves on this week’s chart are two Michael Jackson albums landing in the top 10 off the momentum of the blockbuster Michael biopic. Thriller climbed to No. 5 and the hits collection Number Ones jumped to No. 6, a testament to the film’s cultural impact at the box office.
The top spot on the Billboard 200 was held for a second week by Noah Kahan‘s The Great Divide with 163,000 units, while country music dominated the upper ranks with three of the top four slots and four total in the top 10.
For Musgraves, the chart debut is only the beginning. She’s already added five additional shows to her upcoming Middle of Nowhere arena tour after pre-sale demand surged, with the run kicking off August 21 in Chicago and wrapping October 27 in Seattle. She’ll also take the stage at the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 17.
