Move over, Jason Aldean, because Eric Church is joining the platinum party. The singer recently became the second country artist to reach the 1-million mark for albums sold in 2014 with The Outsiders. Church is only the fifth artist this year to hit the milestone. Aldean, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Sam Smith were all certified platinum previously and the soundtrack for Disney's Frozen received the honor as well.
As Church's website notes, The Outsiders, released Feb. 11, sold 288,000 copies in its first week. It went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. Church received four Grammy nods, including Country Album of the Year, Country Song of the Year, Country Solo Performance of the Year and Country Group/Duo of the Year.
The Outsiders also won the Album of the Year honor at the inaugural American Country Countdown Awards recently. He stressed the importance of albums during his acceptance speech.
"There's a lot of people that think that albums are a thing of the past in the world of a $0.99 soundbite," Church said. "I will say that albums matter more now than ever." The singer beat out efforts by Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Florida Georgia Line in the category.
"Some of the best rock 'n' roll comes out of Nashville and is called 'country,'" Spin wrote. "Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, The Band Perry, Keith Urban — they can stomp Slade-sized riffs to shake a pickup off the lawn, then get downright Bon Jovial. But Eric Church might be the first contemporary country act to remind you of Black Sabbath."
The singer recently dropped a video for his single "Talladega" as well.
Eric's album The Outsiders reaches Platinum status! Thank you Church Choir! https://t.co/xy1eiIZeE1
— Eric Church (@ericchurch) December 16, 2014
