(8/4/00, 10 a.m. ET) - Aaron Tippin's new release, People Like Us, is the highest-selling album of Tippin's career to date. During its first week of release (July 25), it sold more than 28,000 units and debuted at Number Five on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. People Like Us also has the distinction of having the highest first-week sales of any Lyric Street record since the label's inception three years ago.

Perhaps Tippin's wife, Thea, is the magic touch on this album--she co-wrote Tippin's current single, "Kiss This," as well as a duet, "The Best Love We Ever Made," which she also recorded with her husband. Thea currently prefers to stay at home with the couple's son, Teddy, while Tippin is on the road, but the Tippins might tour together if their duet becomes a hit, as Tippin tells LAUNCH.

"Maybe we'll get to [tour] some, but one of us has to keep a firm leg on the earth at home," he explains. "That's kind of her duty. . . Course, we do that big duet thing and if everybody likes her singing better than me, I'll be glad to stay home for the next 10 years and let her come out here. I'll be Mr. Mom."

"Kiss This" sits at Number 19 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

-- Margy Holland