Australia’s Hillsong United scored its first #1 album by landing atop the Billboard Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart with the release of their eighth CD All of the Above. The CD is also #1 on iTunes’ chart of Christian music digital album sales and sits at #60 on the Billboard Top 200.
All of the Above (www.unitedalloftheabove.com) released on May 22 in the United States and sold 10,505 units in the first week, putting it not only at the top of the Billboard Christian/Gospel Albums chart, but also #1 on the Nielsen Christian SoundScan chart, the first time Hillsong United has topped that chart. By comparison, the group’s last record, United We Stand, opened at #14 on the Billboard Christian/Gospel chart in April 2006.
All of the Above’s sales have most certainly benefited from United’s recent slate of concert appearances throughout the U.S. in April and May. The energetic praise rockers crisscrossed the country with stops in Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Minnesota and sold-out shows in Chicago and Los Angeles. After several shows in Canada this weekend, United returns to the states for a few more dates. By the end of the summer, the band will have played to more than 150,000 in North America.
Hillsong United’s goal for All of the Above is to more than just sell CDs. The band hopes that CD and the live appearances will clearly communicate United’s desire to inspire young people to do more than sing about their relationship with God, but to live out their faith in their communities. And, that message also underlines The I Heart Revolution (www.theiheartrevolution.com) recently launched by Hillsong United.
