Tim McGraw has been one of the biggest stars in the music industry for three decades, and throughout his time in the spotlight, he’s made himself into one of the top country acts of all time. He remains incredibly popular to this day, but somehow, his latest album has faltered. In fact, as it arrives on the Billboard charts, it has quickly become something of a flop, which is very surprising for the country titan.
McGraw’s new album, Standing Room Only, arrives on this week’s Billboard 200 at a lowly No. 75. The 200-spot ranking lists the most-consumed albums and EPs in America, combining streaming and sales data. This entrance position is an unexpected failure from the star, and it’s certainly disappointing to him and his team.
Standing Room Only, McGraw’s sixteenth album of original material, marks just the third time in his career he’s failed to reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with a new title. He missed the ranking entirely with his debut back in 1993, but many artists do so on their way to superstardom. The following year, he released his sophomore set, Not a Moment Too Soon, which worked its way to No. 1 and went on to move at least six million copies in the U.S. alone.
In 2020, McGraw returned with Here on Earth, which narrowly missed out on the highest tier on the Billboard 200. The country set peaked at No. 14 on the ranking, marking his lowest charter at the time. Now, he’s come in even lower, and it’s not close. Several of his compilations have also failed to reach the upper half of the Billboard 200, but that type of chart performance isn’t unusual for those kinds of releases.
The underwhelming performance of Standing Room Only is surprising for several reasons, and not just because McGraw still commands a sizable audience. Country music is doing exceptionally well in 2023, with consumption of the genre up more than 20% from last year, according to Luminate’s mid-year report. Four country singles have hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in rapid succession, which has never happened in U.S. history.
It’s a big year for country music, but somehow, that doesn’t seem to include McGraw and his latest offering.
It’s also worth noting that the lead single from Standing Room Only was a semi-hit, so it’s not as if people aren’t listening and interested. The title’s first cut, which is also the title track, has peaked at No. 61 on the Hot 100 and inside the top 20 on the Hot Country Songs chart. One might expect that if an album from a star is going to fail on the Billboard 200, any tracks pushed from the set would also seriously underperform. “Standing Room Only” doesn’t rank among McGraw’s biggest hits, but it certainly wasn’t a total flop.
While he may be suffering a setback at the moment, McGraw remains a huge star in the country field. He might be entering a phase of his career when it’s tougher for him to compete with newer names on the Billboard charts, but his legacy remains intact and at this point, he has nothing left to prove. Times are changing and what the masses listen to—and how they listen to it—is very different from when McGraw started his career, but there will likely always be a place for him and his music, especially for die-hard country fans.
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