Kacey Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere Opens at No. 1 on Three Billboard Album Charts

Kacey Musgraves is having a major chart week. Her new album Middle of Nowhere arrives with No. 1 debuts on three Billboard rankings dated May 16: Top Album Sales, Vinyl Albums, and Indie Store Album Sales. The sixth studio album also lands in the top 10 across seven charts total, including No. 2 on Top Country Albums and Americana/Folk Albums, No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and No. 10 on Top Streaming Albums.

Those placements come with a big commercial marker attached. Middle of Nowhere earned 100,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending May 7, which gives Musgraves her best week ever by units. Vinyl helped drive a huge slice of that total: more than 37,000 copies sold on wax, also her best vinyl sales week to date.

Released on May 1 after being announced in early March, the album features collaborations with Gregory Alan Isakov, Miranda Lambert, Willie Nelson and Billy Strings. It was introduced by “Dry Spell,” which reached No. 15 on Hot Country Songs in March. Musgraves is also taking the record on the road with the Middle of Nowhere arena tour, set to begin Aug. 21 in Chicago and run through the end of October.

On Top Album Sales, this is Musgraves’ third No. 1, and each one has come in succession. She previously led the chart with Deeper Well in 2024 and Star-Crossed in 2021.

The Top Album Sales chart is crowded elsewhere, too. Five more albums debut in the top 10 this week: ILLIT’s MAMIHLAPINATAPAI at No. 3, The Black Keys’ PEACHES! at No. 6, Isaiah Rashad’s It’s Been Awful at No. 7, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live) at No. 9, and Tori Amos’ In Times of Dragons at No. 10. Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide slips to No. 2 after debuting at No. 1 last week, BTS’ former leader ARIRANG holds at No. 4, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Number Ones both rise, moving 7-5 and 12-8, respectively.