Lauren Alaina Debut Single

Lauren Alaina is receiving tremendous support from fans and country radio alike for her first recordings, which hit No. 9 on the Billboard Digital Albums and Country Albums charts and No. 11 on the Digital Songs chart in last week’s chart debut.

“Like My Mother Does,” which was sent to radio after she performed it on “American Idol” on May 24, debuted at No. 11 on the Digital Songs chart and No. 20 on the Hot 100 chart for sales of 121,204, making it the highest debut for a second-place finalist in six years.

“This is so awesome!” she says. “‘American Idol’ has changed my life, so I’m excited that the songs I performed on there are doing so well. I can’t believe that I have a song out on country radio, much less that so many stations started playing it right away. I can’t wait to get out and meet everybody and thank them personally for playing my song.

“Not only is ‘Like My Mother Does’ important to me professionally, but it’s also special to me personally because my mom has been beside me through this whole thing. She has been my biggest cheerleader and my biggest supporter when I was feeling down. This song is for her.”

The 16 year old from Rossville, Ga., was the runner-up on Season Ten of “American Idol” on May 25. A record-breaking 122.4 million votes were cast for winner Scotty McCreery and Lauren, and 38.6 million viewers tuned in to see the finale.

Lauren will begin recording her debut album this week in Nashville, where she will play in the annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game on Saturday, June 11 at 9am. Her Grand Ole Opry debut is on Friday, June 10.