Toby Keith dropped his latest album Bullets In the Gun and it debuted at number one on Billboard’s 200. Any artist would be thrilled with being the man at the top but this accomplishment is tainted in that it’s the WORST #1 debut week showing in Billboard history.
Bullets sold 71,000 copies which is now the unfortunate standard bearer for the bad shape the music industry is in. Never has such a low number of units been enough to claim the top spot for a debut release. Albums have topped the chart with fewer totals but never a debut at #1. Albums lose steam and the initial week’s release is almost always the big one for album sales.
I guess you can’t blame Keith for this and hey he’s still at the top. Here is a live clip of the title track courtesy of CMT:
As Toby says, “I Ain’t As Good As I Once Was.” and this certainly is apropros for the recording industry right now.
