New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Interscope Records) Scotty McCreery's debut album, Clear As Day, has been certified platinum for sales of more than 1 million in just three months after its release.
In addition, he was named No. 1 on Billboard magazine's list of Top New Country Artists for 2011. He also won New Artist of the Year at the American Country Awards in December.
Scotty says the platinum certification marks a major milestone in his career.
"It means the world to me," he says. "It's one of the highest honors you can get with your album and it's a huge testament to the loyalty of country music fans and how great they have been to me this year. 2011 was absolutely an incredible, life-changing year for me. I want to say a huge thanks to the fans for this."
Clear As Day debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts, making him the youngest man in history to open at the top of the all-genre chart with a debut release. It also garnered the highest sales of any country solo album released last year. It held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for six weeks.
"Never in a million years did I dream that the album would go platinum in three months," he says. "Never in a million years did I dream that the album would go platinum. It's wild! It's going to take me a few months or years to really wrap my head around it."
On Thursday, he begins his first country music tour when he joins Brad Paisley's "Virtual Reality Tour 2012" presented by Chevrolet. The tour, which also features the Band Perry, kicks off in Grand Rapids, Mich.
"I'm looking forward to having a great time," he says. "It's going to be a fun, jam-packed set. We are including a lot of the fun songs on the album, and both of the singles are in there. It will be a good chance to see the fans and just enjoy a good show with
Brad Paisley and The Band Perry."
He is well aware of Paisley's reputation as a great prankster. "The band and I were talking about pranks yesterday in rehearsals. It has to be good pranks, but know-your-place pranks, so we are figuring out what we'll have in store for Brad. But he has to get us first. We'll wait!"
