Chris Stapleton’s ‘Traveller’ Is the Best-Selling Country Album of the 2010s
Ever since Chris Stapleton became a household name and his version of “Tennessee Whiskey” first reigned as a jukebox and cover band standard, his 2015 album Traveller has consistently sold well. As we head toward 2020, Stapleton’s mainstream debut sits atop Billboard’s list of the current decade’s top-selling albums.
Many of Billboard's Top 10 selling country music albums of the 2010s, including Eric Church's Chief (2011), Lady Antebellum's Need You Now (2010) and Luke Bryan's Tailgates & Tanlines (2011), sold fewer copies than Stapleton's Traveller, despite being released earlier in the decade. The decade-end Top 10 list's two newer albums — Kane Brown's self-titled 2016 debut and Luke Combs’ 2017 arrival This One’s for You — got a much stronger mainstream push than Stapleton’s first solo flight as a country artist.
Toss in Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean as artists who records lost out to Traveller for the decade-end list's top spot, and it’s hard to deny that with a little awards show guidance, listeners will seek out great music by less-likely stars. The full Billboard Top Country Albums Top 10 for the 2010s is below.
Speaking of awards shows, Stapleton’s success since Traveller’s May 5, 2015 release has earned him more 40 industry awards, including four CMA Male Vocalist of the Year honors and five Grammys. In fact, Stapleton’s won so much in the past five years that he wasn’t even the sentimental favorite for this year’s CMA Entertainer of the Year trophy.
The Best-Selling Country Albums of the 2010s Revealed: