For King & Country’s ‘Joy to the World’ Jumps to No. 1 on Christian Airplay Chart

For King & Country, the duo of siblings Joel and Luke Smallbone, notches its 12th No. 1 on Billboard‘s Christian Airplay chart (dated Dec. 24), as the pair’s version of “Joy to the World” dashes from No. 7 to the summit.

In the tracking week ending Dec. 18, “Joy” drew 1.8 million audience impressions among the chart’s panel of reporters, according to Luminate.

Here’s a recap of For King & Country’s nine Christian Airplay No. 1s: “Joy to the World” (for one week, to-date); “For God Is With Us” (three weeks, July); “Relate” (three, beginning in December 2021); “Amen” (one, July 2021); “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” featuring NEEDTOBREATHE (two, starting in December 2020); “Together,” with Kirk Franklin and Tori Kelly (five, beginning in August 2020); “Burn the Ships” (five, starting in January 2020); “God Only Knows” (10, beginning in April 2019); “joy.” (four, starting in August 2018); “Priceless” (three, October 2016); “Shoulders” (two, June 2015); and “Fix My Eyes” (one, September 2014).

Meanwhile, For King & Country’s current non-seasonal single, “Love Me Like I Am” with Jordin Sparks, also resides in the Christian Airplay top 10 — at No. 9 (1.3 million) — after reaching No. 6 the past two weeks.

With 12 Christian Airplay No. 1s, For King & Country ties Jeremy Camp and Matthew West for the second-most leaders since the chart launched in 2003. MercyMe leads all acts with 17 No. 1s.

“Joy to the World” concurrently becomes For King & Country’s milestone 20th top 10 on the multi-metric Hot Christian Songs chart, where it vaults 28-9. The act is the eighth to have notched at least 20 top 10s, with Casting Crowns, MercyMe and Chris Tomlin sharing the record with 29 each.