Bucky Covington’s self-titled debut CD opened at number-one on Nielsen Soundscan’s Country Top 75 chart with 61,000 units sold.

The album also entered Nielsen Soundscan’s all genre top 200 chart at #4 and is the only new country act to open inside the top five this year. This puts him in good company as only two other country acts, including Tim McGraw and Martina McBride, have debuted inside the top four on Nielsen Soundscan’s Top 200 chart this year.

With 61,000 units sold in the first week, this gives Bucky Covington the distinction of having not only 2007’s biggest unit debut from a new country artist, but also the best first week sales and highest Top 200 debut for any new male country artist since Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992.

Bucky Covington was released April 17 on Lyric Street Records. The current single “A Different World” is poised to break into the top 20 on the country radio charts, while the video is climbing CMT and GAC’s countdown shows

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.