Lefty Cris Slater and Geoff Mau
Stella Lefty’s new EP, Is This Heaven?, arrives at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated May 30) with 20,000 equivalent album units May 15-21, according to Luminate. With the launch, she becomes the first woman to earn an initial top 10 on the chart this year.
Two of the EP’s tracks are scaling Hot Country Songs, led by “Boston,” which rises 5-4 in its seventh week on 14.3 million official streams (up 16%), 4.2 million in radio audience (up 20%) and 2,000 sold. The climb makes her just the fifth solo-billed woman in the chart’s multimetric era, which began in 2012, to reach the top four within seven weeks of her first entry, joining Beyoncé, Chappell Roan, Dasha and Cassadee Pope. “Boston” concurrently rises 36-32 on Country Airplay in its fifth week with 4.1 million audience impressions (up 19%; it’s also drawing early pop play).
The EP’s other Hot Country Songs entry, “Something to Lose,” Lefty’s duet with Vincent Mason, debuts at No. 28 with 3.7 million streams. The pairing carries a bit of extra backstory, as Mason is also the real-life inspiration behind “Boston.”
Lefty first found her audience online. The 23-year-old Los Angeles-based, Chicago-born singer-songwriter built early momentum by teasing songs directly to fans, with “Thinking ’bout You” helping set up her breakthrough with “Boston.” As her profile grows, she cites artists who have paired country, pop and personal storytelling, including Taylor Swift and Ella Langley.
“Taylor was the first introduction that I had to country and pop being this blended thing,” Lefty told Billboard as “Boston” first charted. “But now I’m super inspired by Ella Langley, and the women in country right now are amazing, like Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney. They’re all crushing, so it’s crazy to even be anywhere near them.”
Recently asked about her new proximity to Langley on Hot Country Songs, Lefty tells Billboard, “It’s an indescribable feeling to see my song on the chart, and what an honor to be next to names like the incomparable Ella Langley. I really just make music that I want to listen to, and to see it resonate with so many other people is wild.”
Lefty will bring that momentum to the two-day Billboard Country Live during CMA Fest, performing Friday, June 5, at Category 10 in Nashville. Tucker Wetmore headlines that night, with Alana Springsteen, Alexandra Kay, Ashley Cooke, Braxton Keith, Kaitlin Butts, Something Out West and Priscilla Block also on the bill. The Red Clay Strays headline June 4, alongside Chase Rice, Corey Kent, Drew Baldridge, Hunter Hayes, Lanie Gardner, The Band Perry, The Grimm and Ty Myers. Fans can RSVP for free admission at Billboard Country Live’s website.
