Lionel Richie Shares Inspiration Behind Album 'Tuskegee' Topping Charts Worldwide!

Lionie Richie is getting richer by the day from his hit his album Tuskegee that is already the best selling album of the year so far for 2012. Tuskegee features some of our favorite hits and favorite artists, including Shania Twain, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts and Jennifer Nettles.

Richie has sold an astounding 912,000 copies as of July 1 according to CMIL and we’re only halfway through this year! Second to Richie in country sales for the year so far is Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” which has sold just over 600,000 copies since its debut according to The Boot, making her album the sixth best overall for the year.

Aside from high sales, Richie claimed the number one spot on the overall Billboard Top 200 albums chart for two consecutive weeks and the number one spot in country for four weeks. With this success, Richie is making history, joining Ray Charles in the record books as the only artists to have albums become number one on the charts for country and R&B/Hip-hop.

The popularity of this album isn’t just US based either. Tuskegee has climbed to number one in Canada and made it to the top ten albums chart in the UK, Denmark, Holland, Australia, Hong Kong and Sweden, reaching the top twenty in ten countries.

“What a year!” said Richie. “This album has taken me on an unforgettable journey filled with new friends, new jokes and new musical inspirations. I am overwhelmed and humbled by the success of Tuskegee and am thrilled by how it has been embraced by music lovers of all ages and backgrounds around the world.”

Tuskegee became platinum-certified after just five weeks for a reason and will likely continue to soar to the finish line for this year.

Watch as Lionel Richie shares his inspiration behind Tuskegee:

-Ashley Quadros, CBS Local Sacramento