Tim McGraw and Kellie Pickler made country music proud this week as their new records entered onto the Billboard Top 200 albums chart with high debuts.

McGraw’s ‘Emotional Traffic’ comes in at No. 2 after selling 68,000 copies in first week sales, while Pickler’s ’100 Proof’ lands at No. 7 on the all-genre charts with 27,000 copies sold. On the country albums chart, the positions are even more impressive as McGraw tops the list, with Pickler’s disc following right behind at No. 2.

‘Emotional Traffic’ is McGraw’s 14th Top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart and his 13th chart-topping album on the country charts. “The most beautiful thing about this No. 1 debut, over the others, is that it was driven by the fans and their eagerness to finally have this music in their hands,” says McGraw of the album. He pushed for its release for well over a year, until the parting of his contract with Curb Records late last year. “The fans don’t care about the business side of things … they just want the artists they follow to keep putting out great songs, and I think we have delivered some of the best songs of my career on ‘Emotional Traffic.’ The reaction to the album makes me even more excited to get back on the road this summer on the Brothers of the Sun Tour.”

Pickler echos McGraw’s comments, stating: “I’m so proud of this album. I want to thank the fans so much for buying it and supporting country music. I know these are hard times economically and the fact that people spend their hard earned money on ’100 Proof’ is humbling.”

While Pickler will spend the remainder of the year supporting the new release, McGraw fans can eagerly await the release of even more new music from the star, as he has been hard at work putting together another new album since leaving Curb.

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