Billy Strings Adds Top-Selling Album To Ever-Growing Resume Thanks To ‘Highway Prayers’

Billy Strings‘ Highway Prayers has debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales and Bluegrass Albums charts. The Michigan-bred guitarist’s follow-up to 2021’s Renewal marks the first time a bluegrass record has topped the all-genre Top Album Sales survey in 22 years.

The last bluegrass release that was the top-selling album among all genres was the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, which spent two weeks at No. 1 in March 2002. Coincidentally, Billy Strings recently announced O Brother, Where Art Thou? as his 2024 Halloween theme. Strings and friends will perform a theatrical stage adaptation of the soundtrack on October 31 at the CFG Arena in Baltimore.

The Jon Brion-produced Highway Prayers sold 19,000 units in the U.S. its first week (September 27 – October 3) according to Luminate as per Billboard’s report. The 20-track LP earned Strings his biggest career sales week and first time leading the Top Album Sales chart.

The 32-year-old artist’s previous high mark was Me/And/Dad, his 2022 collaborative album with his father Terry Barber, with 16,000 sold. Renewal hit No. 7 on the Top Album Sales chart, while Live, Vol. 1 entered at its No. 5 peak back in July.

Billy Strings’ current fall tour resumes at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12. Watch livestreams of his fall shows for free with a nugs.net subscription.