Well-established worship leader Chris Tomlin looks to be on his way to break into the very top of next week's Billboard 200 chart, with his new album, "Burning Lights."
If "Burning Lights" arrives atop the list, it would mark the second No. 1 debut from a Christian album in less than a year and only the fourth Christian set to ever be No. 1. Last September, tobyMac started at No. 1 with "Eye On It."
The new Billboard 200 chart's top 10 will be revealed on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 16.
"Burning Lights," released on Jan. 8, is Tomlin's eighth studio album,
but it would be his very first one to reach the top of the Billboard
200, The Associated Press reported. His last studio album, "And If Our God Is For Us . . . " debuted and peaked at No. 17 in 2010 off a start of 45,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. He's reached the top 10 once, when 2008's "Hello Love" bowed and peaked at No. 8. Tomlin's best sales week so far was registered when "Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship," moved 63,000 over Thanksgiving week in 2010.
The "Les Miserables" Motion Picture soundtrack currently holds the top spot with 92,000 copies, but not many major albums are released in the first half of January, which will give "Burning Lights" the chance to take the top spot. The album's main competition next week will be "Notes From the Underground" by Hollywood Undead and "Wretched and Divine: The Story of The Wild Ones" by the Black Veil Brides.
