Jason Kelce may be best known as one of the top football players in the country, but this week, he succeeds in another way.
The athlete debuts not one, but two albums on a handful of Billboard charts, and he owes at least part of this new windfall to his brother, Travis.
The Philly Specials is a band with three members–Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata–who are all pro NFL players. They have been coming together to release Christmas music for at least two years now, with the proceeds going to charity. This year, they storm the Billboard charts, thanks in part to the inclusion of Jason’s brother Travis, who has become a superstar nearly overnight.
The latest album from The Philly Specials includes the tune “Fairytale of Philadelphia.” The song is a reworking of the classic “Fairytale of New York” from the Pogues, which is a favorite holiday tune in the U.K. The fun and local-focused remix features Jason’s brother Travis, crediting him officially. His mere presence helped make the track a smash hit, as it rose to No. 1 on a handful of Billboard charts.
Travis’ inclusion hugely benefited The Philly Specials, as he brought some additional star power to the project. Now that he’s dating Taylor Swift, Travis is a major star, and anything he touches–even a Christmas single–turns to gold. Simply by being named on one song, he has helped both the album it’s featured on and a box set featuring it to perform well upon their release.
This week, The Philly Specials occupy a pair of spaces on three different Billboard rankings. On the Billboard 200, the all-encompassing ranking of the top-consumed albums in the U.S., the band debuts highest with A Philly Special Christmas Special, which opens at No. 25. That new release starts with more than 30,100 equivalent units shifted, according to Luminate.
A few spaces further down on the Billboard 200 comes another title from The Philly Specials. Named A Philly Special Christmas Special (The Deluxe Album 2022 & 2023), the set includes the two charity projects the band has released thus far. That box set of sorts opens at No. 55. Luminate notes that the project moved 19,500 equivalent units.
These same two titles also appear on both the Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums charts, where they rank much higher. On the Top Album Sales tally, A Philly Special Christmas Special and A Philly Special Christmas Special (The Deluxe Album 2022 & 2023) debut at Nos. 3 and 6 respectively. Those sets sold 27,600 copies and 19,500 units, respectively.
The two Philly Specials releases almost conquer the Vinyl Albums chart as well. A Philly Special Christmas Special opens at No. 2 on the vinyl-only ranking, while A Philly Special Christmas Special (The Deluxe Album 2022 & 2023) launches at No. 3.
