New album Weather with The News debuts on several charts
BMG recording artist Huey Lewis and The News have officially scored their highest debut chart position in 25 years with the release of their new album Weather, released BMG. Weather debuts on the Billboard charts (chart week dated February 28th) at No. 7 on the Independent Albums, Top Album Sales, and Top Current Album Sales, at No. 11 on Tastemaker Albums, their debut appearance on the Artist 100 chart at No. 65, and No. 71 on the Billboard 200. The group last held their highest US chart position in 1994 with Four Chords & Several Years Ago, an album of cover songs, that reached No. 55 on the Billboard 200. Before then, the group’s highest chart debut was in 1991 with the all-originals album Hard At Play debuting at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. The group’s first new collection of original music since 2001’s Plan B, Weather features six new songs and a cover of Eugene Church’s “Pretty Girls Everywhere.”
Internationally, the group’s new album debuted at No. 13 in Switzerland, No. 21 in Germany, and No. 40 in Scotland.
Forty years into a Grammy-winning, chart-topping, and Academy Award-nominated career, Huey Lewis and The News – featuring Johnny Colla (keyboards/saxophone/vocals), Bill Gibson (drums/vocals), Sean Hopper (keyboards/vocals), John Pierce (bass), Stef Burns (guitar/vocals), James Harrah (guitar/vocals), Marvin McFadden (trumpet), Rob Sudduth (tenor saxophone), Johnnie Bamont (baritone saxophone) – have never sounded better.
The groups’ recent release, a new music video for the single “Her Love Is Killin’ Me,” features an amazing cast of friends including Jimmy Kimmel, Brandon Flowers, Cedric the Entertainer, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jimmy Buffett, Sean Hayes, Wendie Malick, Brad Paisley, Joe Montana, Michael Keaton, Topher Grace, Andy García, and more.
Lewis was nearly forced to retire from music following a diagnosis of Meniere’s disease. The group was forced to cancel much of their tour plans in 2018 after Lewis shared news that “lower frequencies distort violently making it impossible to find pitch” and “I can’t perform until I improve.”