Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide Debuts at No. 1 With Record Vinyl Week for Rock

Noah Kahan’s new album, The Great Divide, opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 389,000 equivalent album units, the artist’s first chart-topper and his best week to date. Released April 30, the project logged the third-biggest week for any artist this year, the biggest week for a rock album since 2014, the largest streaming week for any album in 2024, and 118,000 vinyl units — the biggest modern-era vinyl week for a rock album dating to 1991.

The album arrived after a period of rapid audience growth. Kahan’s breakout single, “Stick Season,” reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024. The title track from The Great Divide climbed to No. 6. All 21 songs from the album charted on the Hot 100, making Kahan the 13th artist to place that many tracks on the chart simultaneously.

Rollout and campaign

The release followed a Netflix documentary, Noah Kahan: Out of Body, which premiered 11 days before the album and traced the end of the Stick Season touring cycle into the making of The Great Divide. Directed by Nick Sweeney, the film was one of the campaign cornerstones. The documentary was produced over three years in partnership with Radical Films — Dave Sirulnick, Samantha Mustari and Stacey Reiss — and Noah’s operations manager, Ryan Langlois, is credited as the engine behind the process.

Manager Drew Simmons at Foundations described the pressure around the record plainly: “Expectations were otherworldly, and pressure was palpable.” Simmons, who is this week Billboard’s Executive of the Week, credited a decade of deliberate work and a tight team for the album’s performance. “Everything we do as a team filters through the question: What makes for the best fan experience?” he said.

Key campaign moves included revealing the first single just before the Grammys and debuting its video during the broadcast through a partnership with Mastercard. The team also leaned on a visual world built to match the album’s introspective lyrics, sharing songs live and on social while developing physical offerings timed for fans.

Team and collaborators

Simmons highlighted a core creative group behind the record. Producers Gabe Simon and Aaron Dessner worked on the album. Other collaborators listed in campaign materials include Carrie K, Sam Westhoff, Noah Levine, Dylan Jones, Nina Devitri, Todd Clark and Amy Allen. Ryan Hewitt mixed the project, and Mikey Laviolette at Without Contrast served as creative director.

Kahan’s label situation was noted as part of the context: after nearly a decade on Republic Records, he is now on REPUBLIC’s Mercury Records. The campaign also included a stadium headlining tour, which sold out, a rapid jump from three years earlier when Kahan was touring as an opening act.

Physical strategy and fan engagement

Vinyl sales were a major element of the release plan. The Great Divide offered eight vinyl variants. Simmons framed the variants as “extensions of the album details” and said the team prioritized longtime fans when sharing the offerings. He attributed the strong physical sales to the depth of Kahan’s relationship with his audience.

On how the team approached the album after the success of Stick Season, Simmons said the project felt like a sophomore moment. The group focused on trusting instincts, allowing creative space when needed and staying patient through studio challenges. “There were many challenging hurdles along the way, but we kept reminding ourselves that we need to trust our instincts, continue to be ourselves and pursue the songs that genuinely moved us emotionally,” he said.

Advocacy and next steps

Kahan’s public work on mental health was also spotlighted. Simmons and Kahan launched The Busyhead Project as a way to translate platform into support for care. The initiative set out to raise $1 million but has generated $6.6 million over three years, the team says. The Busyhead Project runs an annual golf tournament and concert where 100 percent of proceeds go to mental health care providers. Operations partners include Jeb Gutelius and Lindsay Rosenberg at Sailworks, and Hilary Gleason at Backline helps provide access to care within the music community.

Simmons has worked with Kahan for 12 years and described the early development period as critical. “The first eight years of development helped him gain experience on stage and navigate the trials of touring,” he said. For the immediate future, the plan is to bring The Great Divide to venues worldwide, continue growing The Busyhead Project and expand Kahan’s community.