Tomlin's debut earns the largest sales week for any Christian or gospel set since Casting Crowns' "Come to the Well" debuted at No. 2 on the Nov. 5, 2011 chart with 99,000.
It's also Tomlin's best sales frame yet, passing up the 63,000 he moved over the Thanksgiving frame of 2010 with "Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship." While it's the best week for Tomlin, it's the smallest the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 has seen since the Sept. 15, 2012 tally, when fellow Christian act tobyMac bowed atop the list with "Eye On It" (69,000).
That said, "Burning Lights" is only the fourth Christian album to ever hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. "Eye On It" became the third just last year -- and the first in 15 years.
Aiding Tomlin's first-week are non-traditional sales generated at churches, this month's huge Passion Conference in Atlanta and via pre-orders. The annual Passion Christian gathering drew 60,000 college-aged attendees this year and, according to label sources, was watched by more than 100,000 viewers online.
Collectively, all sales from Passion-related purchases, church sales and the like amounted to 40% of "Burning Lights'" bow. Another 30% came from digital downloads.
Last week's No. 1 album, the "Les Miserables" soundtrack, slips to No. 3 with 52,000 (down 44%). Rounding out the top five is the "Pitch Perfect" soundtrack at a new high of No. 5 (up two slots) with 45,000 (down 13%).
This week marks the first time since 1999 that there have been two non-concert theatrical film soundtracks (that weren't born from a TV series) in the top five. The last time the feat occurred was on the July 17, 1999 chart, when "Wild Wild West" was at No. 4 and "Tarzan" was No. 5
