GRAMMY-winning artist’s latest release is only the fourth Christian album on the national chart

GRAMMY-winning and multi-Platinum recording artist Chris Tomlin’s latest album, Burning Lights (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG Distribution), landed on the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart Jan. 16.

The achievement marked only the fourth time ever that a Christian album hit No. 1 on the main U.S. album chart, but the second time in a six-month period as TobyMac’s Eye On It (ForeFront Records/EMI CMG) debuted at No. 1
in September.

With more than 72,000 units sold, Burning Lights marks the biggest first-week sales of Tomlin’s two-decade career, reflecting a 60% increase compared to first-week sales of Tomlin’s last studio album, 2011’s And If Our God Is For Us (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG), which sold 45,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Released Jan. 8, Burning Lights also claimed the No. 1 spot on the iTunes Christian & Gospel Albums chart. The album’s first single, “Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies],” also claimed the No. 5 spot the Top 5 on Billboard’s Christian AC, No. 6 on the National Christian Audience, No. 7 on the AC Indicator and No. 16 on the Hot Christian Songs charts the week of Jan. 14.

Tomlin’s Burning Lights Tour began Feb. 19 in Charleston, W.Va., visiting 34 cities, including New York, Seattle and Dallas, before wrapping at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver on May 4.

Besides TobyMac, Tomlin’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).

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