Hardy’s ‘the mockingbird & THE CROW’ Debuts At #4 On Billboard 200 All-Genre Chart

Hardy country music

It’s already pretty apparent that this is a career-changing album for Hardy.

His new half rock, half country record called the mockingbird & THE CROW was released a little over a week ago, which means all the early data is flowing in from the first week of sales.

And it they were MASSIVE.

According to Billboard, Hardy moved over 55,000 equivalent album units (his best numbers ever), which put him at #4 on the Billboard 200 All-Genre Chart, making it his first-ever top 10 record.

To say this is a huge accomplishment would be an understatement.

He’s competing with the biggest names in all of music for a spot on that chart, like Sza and Taylor Swift, and it’s clear to me that this project is resonating with a wide range of listeners, which I guess was the whole point of the split-genre album.

I’ll be honest, I loved the concept and idea of it, but wasn’t sure how it would translate outside of country, seeing as Hardy’s mostly been known as a songwriter, friend and frequent collaborator of Morgan Wallen.

I’m happy to say it looks like the risk has paid off, at least judging just by very early numbers, and the record is also:

“The highest-debuting rock album since Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen entered at #3 (Oct. 29, 2022) and highest-bowing country album since Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up started at #2 (July 9, 2022).”

Not bad company at all…

From my interpretation of the album, it sounds like Hardy set out to prove that he’s both the mockingbird and the crow he sings about in the title track, and it has obviously clicked with tons of people.

Meaning, he’s both the country-lovin’ boy from Mississippi who came to Nashville with a dream to change the game, and also, a rock-lovin’ guy who doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about his style of music or how he’s gonna do things.

If there’s someone out there who can’t relate to the concept of being torn between different aspects of who you are and what you’re expected to be, I haven’t met ’em yet… and I think this new feat makes that abundantly clear.

Check out some of my favorites and dive into the whole album if you haven’t already:

“.30-06”

“the mockingbird & THE CROW”

“SOLD OUT”

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A RIFF ON WHAT COUNTRY IS REALLY ABOUT

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