Christian singer Lauren Daigle is making some major headlines in the music world this week after her new album “Look Up Child” debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Daigle beat out names as big as Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Drake, and Nicki Minaj. The only two artists ahead of her are Paul McCartney and Eminem, holding slots 1 and 2, respectively.
This marks the best sales week for a Christian album in nearly nine years.
Unsurprisingly, “Look Up Child” hit number 1 on the “Top Christian Albums” chart as well, selling 115,000 equivalent album units in one week.
“That’s the largest overall week for a Christian music album in 2018, and the biggest for any Christian set since the charts began ranking albums by equivalent album units in late 2014,” according to Billboard.
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Casting Crowns’ 2009 album “Until the Whole World Hears” was the last Christian album to sell more units in a single week.
“The album’s success highlights something broader, however: the deep persistence of Christian music in the U.S. audience,” according to Rolling Stone, “an aspect of music consumption that has been largely skipped over by headlines proclaiming rap as the sole driver of modern music in America.”
Part of 27-year-old Daigle’s charm is that her music has crossover appeal with the secular market, which she said her music was designed to do.
“We have this saying in my team that’s called ‘Extend the tent pegs,'” she said in an interview with the Associated Press. “And it’s not to leave behind anybody that has listened to this music so far and that has been along this journey with me because I am 100 percent grateful. So I don’t want to leave anybody behind, but how to do I also make music that people who might not listen to Christian music they can also connect to? They can also relate to? That’s super-important to me to make music that permeates all the walls and just tear all the walls down. People need love, people need hope. People need joy anywhere in life.”
“[I wanted to bring] elements where people who weren’t necessarily church people, or Christians, or whatever the title is, who don’t really dive into that kind of music can hear something and it be compelling enough and it be strong enough to where they are drawn in and feel welcomed and invited,” added Daigle.
Hear Lauren Daigle elaborate on her album “Look Up Child” in the interview below: