GRAMMY-winning artist latest release is the first Christian album since 1997 to notch the top spot 

GRAMMY-winning artist TobyMac's latest release, Eye On It (ForeFront Records/EMI CMG Distribution), landed on the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart Sept. 5—marking only the third time ever that a Christian album hit No.1 on the main U.S. album chart.

Eye On It was also the first Christian album since 1997 to notch the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 after selling 69,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Released Aug. 28, the first Christian album also debuted at No. 1 on the Christian Albums chart.

Additionally, the album was No. 1 on the digital albums chart, with 35,000 downloads sold—50% of its overall debut, according to Billboard magazine. Sales for TobyMac's fifth studio album (27%) came from Christian bookstores, Nielsen SoundScan said.

TobyMac's chart-topper puts him in the company of country star LeAnn Rimes, whose inspirational record "You Light Up My Life" reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 1997, and Bob Carlisle, who notched two weeks on the top spot in the same year with "Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace)."

Eye On It is TobyMac's ninth entry and third top-10 placing on the Billboard Top 200. As part of the trio dcTalk, he claimed five more hit albums on the tally, including the No. 4 album Supernatural (Virgin Records) in 1998, according to Billboard.

Prior to TobyMac's achievement, other Christian bands had some recent close calls at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200. In 2011, Casting Crowns' Come to the Well (Beach Street Records/Provident) and Red's Until We Have Faces (Essential Records/Provident) both debuted and peaked at No. 2, while earlier this year, David Crowder Band's Give Us Rest (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG) also topped out in the runner-up slot.

In other music news, singer-songwriter Matthew West was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Original Music and Lyrics for his song “The Heart of Christmas” from the film of the same name.

Distributed by Mission Pictures International, the film debuted on GMC in December 2011 and attracted more than 3.6 million viewers, making it the highest-rated, world-premiere movie in the history of the network.

Based on real-life events, The Heart of Christmas tells the inspirational story of 2-year-old Dax Locke, whose struggle with Leukemia sparked a worldwide outpouring of support for his family. Despite treatment, the doctors tell Dax’s parents that he will not live to see Christmas Day. Driven by their faith and determined to give their son one last Christmas, Dax’s parents decide to put decorations up early and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Image Entertainment plans to release the 86-minute DVD Oct. 9.

Earlier this year, West was also nominated for two GRAMMY Awards, a GMA Dove Award and a Billboard Music Award.

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