The Civil Wars Debut at No. 1 With Sophomore Album

The Civil Wars may not be speaking, but they are sure selling records. The duo's self-titled sophomore album bowed at the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart in its debut week.

Billboard reports that 'The Civil Wars' sold 116,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's by far the largest sales week ever for the duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Their previous one-week sales high came after their appearance on the Grammy Awards in 2012, when their debut album, 'Barton Hollow,' sold 36,000 units.

Their new success is all the more surprising, given the fact that the duo have not engaged in any promotional activities for the new release, and in fact may no longer even exist, other than on paper. They abruptly canceled a European tour last November, citing irreconcilable professional differences, and have not appeared together in public since.

It is unclear whether a tour or any public activities will eventually take place to support the new album. Williams revealed in July that she and White are still not speaking. “To me that doesn’t determine the outcome of the band," she said, "because if we’re not speaking we can’t determine the outcome of the band at this moment.”

She added, “The reality is I’m not even quite sure.”

John Paul White has not commented publicly on the matter.