Kenny Chesney's 15th album, The Big Revival, debuted at Number Two on the Billboard 200 chart this week, barely missing the top spot. Co-produced by Chesney himself and loaded with guest appearances by Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski and Grace Potter (who also teamed up with Chesney for the Grammy-nominated "You and Tequila" back in 2011), the album sold 130,000 copies during its first week of release, losing the top position by less than 1,000 in sales to Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga's collection of jazz duets, Cheek to Cheek. Also in the running for the top slot was Barbara Streisand's own duets album, Partners, which ultimately finished third with 127,000 copies.
Over on the country charts, The Big Revival reigned supreme, marking Chesney's 13th time topping his genre's album chart. Last week, Tim McGraw nabbed that position with Sundown Heaven Town, with first week sales of 71,000.
The "American Kids" singer took a year off from touring to create his latest chart-topper. "It's not as simple as everyone thinks: to find great songs, to be in a creative space where you can think about that stuff, hear new rhythms or change up lyrics," Chesney says. "I didn't want to come back with more of the same, but more of something even better... and whether it's 'Flora-Bama' or 'Wild Child' or 'Til It's Gone,' the response I'm getting says we did the right thing."
Meanwhile, the country powerhouse has been promoting Revival by making the usual TV rounds, performing on ESPN's College Gameday last weekend and hitting up Conan O'Brien's late-night show — with a band that included four guitarists, no less — on Monday evening.
