NEEDTOBREATHE & Maverick City Music Debut Atop Faith-Based Album Charts

NEEDTOBREATHE adds its sixth No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, as Caves blasts in atop the survey (dated Sept. 30). In its opening week, encompassing Sept. 15-21, the set earned 10,000 equivalent album units, including 7,000 in album sales.

The rock group, which formed in 1998 in Seneca, S.C., last led the list with Into the Mystery in August 2021. All six of NEEDTOBREATHE’s No. 1s have opened on top, starting with The Reckoning in 2011.

Caves sports 11 tracks, including collaborations with country artists Old Dominion (“Wasting Time”) and Carly Pearce (“Fall on Me”). The former is being promoted to Christian radio by Capitol Christian. In its third week on Christian Airplay, it holds at its No. 29 high (536,000 in audience).

Maverick City Music ‘Way’ Up

Maverick City Music’s The Mav Way: EP Vol. 1, The Maverick Way, with Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine, begins at No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums and No. 2 on Top Christian Albums. In its first week, it earned 7,000 units, with 3,000 in album sales.

The 11-song set marks the Atlanta-based music collective’s third No. 1 on Top Gospel Albums and its seventh top 10 on Top Christian Albums.

Chandler Moore and Naomi Raine are both members of Maverick City Music. Moore notches his first No. 1 billing on Top Gospel Albums and first top 10 on Top Christian Albums. He adds his second top 10 on the former, after Feelings debuted at its No. 4 peak in 2020.

Raine likewise nets her first Top Gospel Albums chart-topping credit. She has one additional top 10, as her solo Cover the Earth: Live in New York started and peaked at No. 6 in June. On Top Christian Albums, she achieves her first top 10.