Congratulations to Kenny Chesney, whose new album, Life on a Rock, debuted as the number-one album in the nation this week, topping Billboard‘s all-genre album sales chart, the Billboard 200, as well as the Top Country Albums chart, with first-week sales of 153,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Life on a Rock album — ironically, a group of songs that began as something that Kenny only envisioned sharing with some of his closest friends — has now become his seventh album to debut atop the Billboard 200, as well as his 12th consecutive album to enter the country chart at number-one. “It’s a little surreal,” Kenny said in response to the news. “I did this almost as an act of faith, a belief in songwriting and capturing real life,” and Kenny says that the whole origin of the album was really born from that simple approach. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Kenny’s new Life on a Rock album includes his current smash single, “Pirate Flag.” Look for the album everywhere you find great music, and you can find it right here, on iTunes.
• And congratulations to Kenny on his three nominations this week for the 2013 CMT Music Awards! Kenny’s up for Collaborative Video of the Year — for “Feel Like a Rock Star” with Tim McGraw — as well as Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year, both for his smash, “Come Over.” Fan voting is underway now and runs through midnight, ET, June 2nd, on CMT.com, so be sure to let your voice be heard for all your favorites!
• Don’t miss Kenny on Katie Couric‘s show, Katie, in the episode set to air on Monday, May 13th. Almost the entire show is devoted to a focus on Kenny, including his Life on a Rock album and much more, with special attention to Kenny’s new Spread the Love Fund to assist victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. To check time and channel in your area, visit KatieCouric.com.

  Kenny Chesney recalls the beginnings of his chart-topping new album, Life on a Rock. (:15)
“It was just me and a pen and a paper — and over time. And I think that that was good for me ’cause I was able to really settle with a lyric and settle, and in my head, I already had the music written in my head for a lot of these songs. I just hadn’t literally done it yet.”