The 2018 compilation The Best of Kenny Rogers: Through The Years sits atop Billboard's Top Country Albums chart for the week of April 4. It's the legendary country music singer's first No. 1 album since The Heart of the Matter reigned for six weeks between December 1985 and February 1986.
Rogers' 12th album to top the country albums chart also debuted at No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, his highest placement on that chart since 1983.
The 20 track greatest hits collection includes many of Rogers' country ("The Gambler," "Lucille," "Coward of the County" and the Dottie West duet "What Are We Doing in Love") and pop (Sheena Easton duet "We've Got Tonight" and Lionel Richie composition "Lady") standards. It's a solid compilation aside from two glaring omissions: Dolly Parton team-up "Islands in the Stream" and Mel Tillis' brightest moment as a songwriter, the First Edition's "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town."
Roger's boost in album sales catapulted him ahead of not just usual suspects like Luke Combs but also Kelsea Ballerini, whose new album Kelsea debuted at No. 2. By comparison, the last time a Rogers album reached the top of the Billboard chart, George Strait, Exile, The Forester Sisters and Lee Greenwood rounded out the top 5. A lot's changed, aside from Strait's 50 Number Ones compilation currently ranking 12th: a potential sign that the classics are getting a lot of digital spins while many fans and artists are staying home to fight the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Read More: The 15 Best Kenny Rogers Songs, Ranked
The Rogers compilation reached the top of the charts with 32,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 26, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data (as reported by Billboard). Of that sum, 10,000 were in album sales, with digital streaming accounting for the rest of its sales figures.
Rogers died from natural causes on March 20. He was 81 years old.
Now Watch: Remembering Kenny Rogers Songs Through the Years
