While most know Chris Stapleton for his voice, the singer showcased a wide array of talents, like songwriting. Throughout his career in music, he received the chance to write alongside Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Luke Bryan, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, and even Ed Sheeran. But in 2015, his career took a different direction when he released his debut album Traveller. And while the album helped launch his career on stage, Traveller recently brought Stapleton another major milestone when he beat Willie Nelson’s Stardust on the Top Country Albums chart.
Hitting the airwaves in 1978, Stardust was a major hit for Nelson. The outlaw legend watched as the album spent a staggering 551 weeks on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. Just a single accomplishment in the extraordinary career of Nelson, the record remained untouched until a few days ago.
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According to Billboard, Stapleton’s Traveller has spent a whopping 552 weeks on the Top Country Albums chart. Just to give a comparison, Eric Church’s Chief, Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party, and even Taylor Swift’s Fearless all landed in the Top 10 on the chart. But unlike Stapleton, the artists couldn’t break past the 400-week mark.
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Although Swift broke more than a few records in her own career, Stapleton reigned supreme in country music. But with stars like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs becoming top names in the genre, it’s only a matter of time before they close the gap. For Wallen’s debut album, If I Know Me, it has spent 391 weeks on the chart.
Among the classic songs to come from Traveller was a cover of “Tennessee Whiskey.” Over the last decade, the song brought in more than 873 million views on YouTube and included comments, “This song transcends geography, culture, color, genre… all kinds of people love this song. Played it in a bar in Miami the other night, soon as it came on this Italian guy starts belting it out. He barely spoke English, but he knew every word of this song.”
Gaining praise from fans, Stapleton received a few accolades for Traveller, including a Grammy for Country Album of the Year. He took the same award at the CMAs and the ACM Awards. Truly a voice of a generation, Stapleton continues to shape the future of country music with every milestone he reaches.
(Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage)