CROSSOVER country superstar Tim McGraw rides onto the charts with the best country debut of the year.

Mr. Faith Hill’s latest country-pop disc, “Live Like You Were Dying,” topped Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, by selling 766,000 copies its first week out, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The crooner, 37, had a summer hit with the title track, which was written after his father, Tug McGraw, the one-time star pitcher for the Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, died in January of cancer.

It was a big week for new discs in the top 10.

R. Kelly‘s “Happy People/U Saved Me” debuted at No. 2. G-Unit’s Young Buck, from Nashville, scored the No. 3 slot with his debut album, “Straight Outta Ca$hville.” And, “Welcome Back,” Mase‘s first album since the rapper became a minister, hit No. 4 its first week out. Last week’s No. 1 – Volume 16 of the hits-powered compilition series “Now That’s What I Call Music – slipped to No. 5.