Country Update

Country Update 

BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS JANUARY 9, 2017 | PAGE 1 OF 19 

INSIDE 

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE 

Tom.Roland@billboard.com 

Keith Urban 

Moves Four-ward 

On Charts 

>page 4 

Blake Shelton 

Seeing ‘Red’ 

>page 8 

Zac Brown, 

Maren Morris On 

Awards Schedule 

>page 9 

Makin’ Tracks: 

Ryan Kinder’s 

Singular ‘Close’ 

>page 13 

Stark Report: 

Why Pete Fisher 

Won ACM CEO Gig 

>page 14 

Country Coda: 

Kevin Sharp’s 

‘Nobody Knows’ 

>page 19 

Stapleton, FGL, Hunt Loom Large 

In Country’s 2016 Consumption 

Album sales were up a bit, track sales declined dramatically, 

and on-demand streaming exploded. 

When executives look back on shifts in country music in future 

years, they might well point to 2016 as the moment when 

the transition was most evident. Country streaming grew by 

57 percent while country track downloads shrunk 23 percent, 

according to Nielsen 

Music, indicating that 

the genre’s customers 

are increasingly 

comfortable with the 

music industry’s new 

paradigm of accessing 

music instead of 

owning it. 

At the same time, 

Chris Stapleton’s 

STAPLETON 

FLORIDA 

GEORGA LINE 

Traveller became the first country album in three years to sell 1 

million units from January through December, suggesting that 

consumers haven’t completely abandoned the idea of possessing 

a collection of songs. Led by Stapleton’s project, country album 

sales halted their annual downward trajectory, with the genre 

totaling 26.1 million sales, an uptick of 5 percent over 2015. It 

marked just the second time since 2005 that country sold more albums 

in a single year than it did in the previous 12-month frame. 

Country’s track sales, which for years ate away at the album 

market, dropped significantly, sinking to 87.5 million, off 

from the 2015 mark of 113.9 million. It was the first time that 

country’s track volume fell below 100 million units since genrespecific 

download data was introduced in 2011. 

Soaring streaming results, of course, offset some of that decline. 

On-demand audio and video for country rose to 22.1 

billion from 14.1 billion in 2015. 

Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.” led the way in single-track 

activity, topping both the 

download and streaming 

charts for 2016. Thomas 

Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man” 

was likewise key, finishing 

at No. 3 on the download 

list — 113,000 units behind 

Tim McGraw’s “Humble 

HUNT 

and Kind” — and No. 2 in 

on-demand streaming. 

Younger consumers have 

been quicker to move to streaming. Sam Hunt, whose brand of 

country folds in youthful elements of pop and hip-hop, landed 

four of the genre’s 10 most-streamed songs in 2016: “Break Up 

in a Small Town” (No. 3, 127.3 million streams), “Take Your 

Time” (No. 4, 95.4 million), “Make You Miss Me” (No. 6, 92.9 

million) and “House Party” (No. 9, 79.8 million). 

One other notable piece of the 2016 sales profile is the performance 

of Joey + Rory’s Hymns. Released by the Gaither Music 

Group on Feb. 12, 2016, just weeks before Joey Martin Feek’s 

March 4 death from cancer, the gospel album tallied 518,000 

sales to finish at No. 3 on the Nielsen list. That figure includes 

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE: RYAN SMITH

July 30, 2016 | billboard.com 

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 9, 2017 | PAGE 2 OF 19 

sales at Christian retail outlets. Without that volume, the project would have 

ranked at No. 5 with 410,000 sales. 

The business as a whole was in sync with country in the advance of streaming 

and the decline of track downloads, though a drop in overall album sales 

contrasted with country’s positive numbers. Total album sales across all genres 

reached 200.1 million units, a 17 percent falloff from 2015, while total track 

downloads slid 25 percent to 724.1 million. The music industry racked up 

431.7 billion on-demand streams, 39 percent more than the previous year. 

Following are the 10 best-selling country albums and tracks for 2016, as 

well as the genre’s 10 most-streamed titles: 

Top-Selling Country Albums, 2016 

1) Chris Stapleton, Traveller 1,085,000 

2) Blake Shelton, If I’m Honest 540,000 

3) Joey + Rory, Hymns 518,000 

4) Garth Brooks, The Ultimate Collection 421,000 

5) Keith Urban, Ripcord 412,000 

6) Florida Georgia Line, Dig Your Roots 325,000 

7) Jason Aldean, They Don’t Know 305,000 

8) Sam Hunt, Montevallo 284,000 

9) Thomas Rhett, Tangled Up 266,000 

10) Carrie Underwood, Storyteller 256,000 

Top-Selling Country Digital Songs, 2016 

1) Florida Georgia Line, “H.O.L.Y.” 1,379,000 

2) Tim McGraw, “Humble and Kind” 1,023,000 

3) Thomas Rhett, “Die a Happy Man” 910,000 

4) Maren Morris, “My Church” 830,000 

5) Dierks Bentley, “Somewhere on a Beach” 697,000 

6) Cole Swindell, “You Should Be Here” 681,000 

7) Keith Urban, “Blue Ain’t Your Color” 660,000 

8) Jon Pardi, “Head Over Boots” 626,000 

9) Dan + Shay, “From the Ground Up” 607,000 

10) Kelsea Ballerini, “Peter Pan” 604,000 

Most-Streamed Country Songs, 2016 

1) Florida Georgia Line, “H.O.L.Y.” 175,400,000 

2) Thomas Rhett, “Die a Happy Man” 156,400,000 

3) Sam Hunt, “Break Up in a Small Town” 127,300,000 

4) Sam Hunt, “Take Your Time” 95,400,000 

5) Chris Stapleton, “Tennessee Whiskey” 93,000,000 

6) Sam Hunt, “Make You Miss Me” 92,900,000 

7) Luke Bryan, “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day” 85,500,000 

8) Tim McGraw, “Humble and Kind” 83,800,000 

9) Sam Hunt, “House Party” 79,800,000 

10) Thomas Rhett, “T-Shirt” 78,700,000 

William Michael Morgan performed “I Met a Girl” as he made his 

national TV debut on Jan. 4 on NBC’s Today. He is flanked by Today cohost 

Hoda Kotb (left) and Today correspondent Jenna Bush Hager. 

Triple Tigers/Sony Music Entertainment recording artist Russell 

Dickerson (right) visited with WJVC Long Island, N.Y., PD Phathead 

during a radio promotion tour. 

Broken Bow recording artist Jackie Lee (right) interviewed with CMT 

After Midnite host Cody Alan for the Jan. 6 edition of the show. 

MORGAN: COURTESY WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE 

TAYLOR VS. KIMYE 

PR pros on the battle of 

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FRIENDS WITH 

(CAREER) BENEFITS 

Disney pals Jonas and Lovato pair up for an 

ambitious arena tour, as they talk tween stardom 

(‘I have PTSD,’ cracks Demi), high-profile 

Twitter feuds and, yes, the upcoming election: 

‘We’ve both evolved,’ says Nick 

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August 6, 2016 | billboard.com 


ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER jim.asker@billboard.com 

All Four One: Keith Urban’s ‘Blue’ 

Tops Quartet Of Country Charts 

For only the third time, a single reigns simultaneously on all four of Billboard’s 

Nielsen Music-powered country songs charts, as Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t 

Your Color” (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville) controls the Hot Country Songs, 

Country Airplay, Country Digital Song Sales and Country Streaming Songs 

charts dated Jan. 21. 

“Keith invents and reinvents himself like few others,” Universal Music Group 

Nashville chairman/CEO Mike Dungan tells Billboard. “ ‘Blue Ain’t Your Color’ 

is simply the latest exclamation point in his monumental career.” 

On the lists dated Jan. 14, “Blue” led Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay 

and Country Digital Song Sales; on Country Streaming 

Songs, it ranked at No. 6, blocked by a holly jolly top five 

consisting entirely of holiday songs. Now, with those carols 

stored away for another year, “Blue” returns to No. 1 

on Country Streaming Songs for a fourth total frame on 

top, bounding 6-1, up 4 percent to 4.4 million U.S. streams 

in the week ending Jan. 5. 

On Hot Country Songs, which combines airplay, sales 

and streaming data, “Blue” rules for a 10th week, marking 

Urban’s first leader of double-digit weeks among his 16 

No. 1s; before “Blue,” he led for as many as six weeks each 

with “Somebody Like You” in 2002 and “Better Life” in 

2005 (when the chart was solely airplay-driven). 

“Blue” also tops Country Digital Song Sales for a 

10th frame (32,000 downloads, down 32 percent, as all 

songs on the chart drop in sales post-Christmas). Leading 

URBAN 

Country Airplay for a second week, “Blue” increases by 3 

percent to 46.3 million audience impressions. 

With its waltz time signature and empathetic storyline, “ ‘Blue’ has been a 

consistent top tester for KKBQ [Houston], I think for good reason,” says KKBQ 

PD Johnny Chiang. “Sonically, it’s different from anything else out there. It’s 

both melodic and mysterious, and Urban can make anything sound sexy, can’t 

he? If you think about the lyrics, how many women have you known who have 

been treated poorly by men and wished there was a knight in shining armor 

like Keith Urban to rescue them?” 

“Blue” is just the third song to dominate all four of Billboard’s Nielsen-fueled 

country songs charts at the same time, dating to the launch of Country Streaming 

Songs on April 20, 2013. It’s the first since Jason Aldean’s “Burnin’ It Down,” 

which simultaneously topped the tallies on the charts dated Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, 

2014. The first song to earn the honor belonged to Urban’s Capitol Nashville 

labelmate, Luke Bryan, whose “Play It Again” led all four lists for two nonconsecutive 

weeks (May 31 and June 14, 2014). 

LBT, SWIFT BACK IN TOP 10 Little Big Town’s “Better Man” (Capitol Nashville) 

ascends to the Country Airplay top 10 (11-10), increasing 

by 11 percent to 27.2 million in audience. Taylor 

Swift wrote the song — the lead single from LBT’s eighth 

studio album, The Breaker (Feb. 24) — which becomes 

the first top 10 written by a single author since Tim Mc- 

Graw’s “Humble and Kind,” penned by Lori McKenna. 

“Humble” spent 11 weeks in the top 10, beginning April 

30, 2016, and topped the survey on June 25. On the 

current 60-position Country Airplay chart, only one 

other song was written by one person: Miranda Lambert’s 

self-penned “We Should Be Friends” (Vanner/ 

RCA Nashville), at No. 33 (6.4 million, up 16 percent). 

Little Big Town lands its eighth Country Airplay top 

10 and first since “Girl Crush,” which rose to No. 3 in 

August 2015. Meanwhile, Swift earns her milestone 20th 

Country Airplay top 10 as a writer, and first in more than 

three years, since her self-written “Red,” which peaked 

at No. 7 in December 2013. Of her prior 19 top 10s as a 

writer, Swift recorded all but one: “Best Days of Your Life” hit No. 9 in 2009 

for Kellie Pickler, with whom Swift wrote the song. (Swift has penned 11 of her 

20 top 10s by herself.) 

‘RED’ HOT: Dustin Lynch’s “Seein’ Red” (Broken Bow) becomes his fifth Hot 

Country Songs top 10 as it pushes 12-10. The song also lifts 9-8 on Country Airplay 

(30.8 million, up 9 percent). 

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Country Airplay 

AIRPLAY 

MONITORED BY 

WKS 

AUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS) 

PLAYS 

THIS LAST ON 

WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK 

l1 1 21 BLUE AIN’T YOUR COLOR Hit Red/Capitol Nashville HH No. 1 (2 weeks) HH Keith Urban 46.324 +1.532 8033 254 1 

2 3 20 DIRTY LAUNDRY 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood 42.666 +1.942 7609 343 2 

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3 4 15 A GUY WITH A GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton 42.047 +2.831 7345 405 3 

4 2 34 WANNA BE THAT SONG Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge 40.459 -3.197 6103 -526 6 

5 6 23 MAY WE ALL BMLG Florida Georgia Line Featuring Tim McGraw 35.380 -0.059 5448 -228 8 

6 5 26 HOW I’LL ALWAYS BE McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw 34.753 -3.761 6239 -469 4 

l7 7 15 STAR OF THE SHOW Valory Thomas Rhett 34.439 +3.135 6180 468 5 

8 9 29 SEEIN’ RED Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 30.810 +2.617 5631 440 7 

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9 8 31 SONG FOR ANOTHER TIME RCA Nashville Old Dominion 28.484 -0.010 4853 -2 10 

l10 11 12 BETTER MAN Capitol Nashville Little Big Town 27.183 +2.596 4674 440 11 

11 10 45 IF THE BOOT FITS Wheelhouse Granger Smith 26.962 +0.835 5253 146 9 

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12 12 31 SOBER SATURDAY NIGHT RCA Nashville Chris Young Featuring Vince Gill 25.455 +1.326 4630 347 12 

13 15 29 80S MERCEDES Columbia Nashville Maren Morris 23.222 +1.752 4537 308 13 

14 14 14 TODAY Arista Nashville Brad Paisley 22.553 +1.058 4177 250 15 

15 13 20 KILL A WORD EMI Nashville Eric Church Featuring Rhiannon Giddens 22.544 +0.874 4218 229 14 

16 16 38 THINK A LITTLE LESS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray 19.674 +1.308 3798 401 16 

17 17 16 DIRT ON MY BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi 19.150 +2.109 3730 417 17 

18 20 6 FAST Capitol Nashville HH Airpower HH Luke Bryan 18.260 +2.591 3287 498 20 

19 19 37 PARACHUTE Mercury Chris Stapleton 18.002 +1.256 3457 177 19 

20 18 21 ROAD LESS TRAVELED 19/Interscope/Mercury Lauren Alaina 17.874 +0.838 3647 255 18 

21 21 25 THE WEEKEND Valory Brantley Gilbert 15.323 +1.787 3259 313 21 

22 22 13 BABY, LET’S LAY DOWN AND DANCE Pearl Garth Brooks 13.679 +0.907 2927 246 22 

23 23 46 MAKE YOU MINE Atlantic/WEA High Valley 12.969 +0.278 2764 130 23 

24 24 14 YEAH BOY Black River Kelsea Ballerini 12.931 +0.896 2706 317 24 

25 25 32 HOMETOWN GIRL MCA Nashville Josh Turner 10.823 +0.471 2531 160 25 

26 28 7 ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Macon/Broken Bow Jason Aldean 10.803 +2.586 2173 453 28 

27 27 25 THERE’S A GIRL 19/Republic/Dot Trent Harmon 9.402 +0.890 2186 153 27 

28 26 36 HOLDIN’ HER Warner Bros./WAR Chris Janson 9.365 +0.148 2409 168 26 

29 29 9 BLACK Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 8.526 +0.947 1725 235 31 

30 30 39 OUTSKIRTS OF HEAVEN Red Bow Craig Campbell 7.490 +0.552 1867 127 29 

BILLBOARD COUNTRY AIRPLAY PANEL — 151 STATIONS 

Albany, N.Y. 

WGNA 

Albuquerque, N.M. 

KBQI 

KRST 

Allentown, Pa. 

WCTO 

Atlanta 

WKHX 

WUBL 

Augusta, Ga. 

WKXC 

Austin, Texas 

KASE 

Bakersfield, Calif. 

KUZZ 

Baltimore 

WPOC 

Baton Rouge, La. 

WYNK 

Birmingham, Ala. 

WDXB 

WZZK 

Boise, Idaho 

KAWO 

 

KIZN 

BostonWBWL 

WKLB 

Buffalo, N.Y. 

WYRK 

Charleston, S.C. 

WCKN 

WEZL 

Charlotte, N.C. 

WKKT 

WSOC 

Chattanooga, Tenn. 

WUSY 

ChicagoWEBG 

WUSN 

CincinnatiWUBE 

ClevelandWGAR 

Colorado Springs, Colo. 

KATC 

Columbia, S.C. 

WCOS 

Columbus, Ohio 

WCOL 

Corpus Christi, Texas 

KRYS 

DallasKPLX 

KSCS 

DenverKWOF 

KYGO 

Des Moines, Iowa 

KHKI 

KJJY 

DetroitWYCD 

El Paso, Texas 

KHEY 

Ft. Myers, Fla. 

WCKT 

WWGR 

Ft. Wayne, Ind. 

WQHK 

Fresno, Calif. 

KSKS 

Gainesville, Fla. 

WOGK 

Grand Rapids, Mich. 

WBCT 

Greensboro, N.C. 

WPAW 

WTQR 

Greenville, S.C. 

WESC 

WSSL 

Harrisburg, Pa. 

WRBT 

Hartford, Conn. 

WWYZ 

HoustonKILT 

KKBQ 

Huntsville, Ala. 

WDRM 

IndianapolisWFMS 

WLHK 

Jacksonville, Fla. 

WGNE 

 

WQIK 

Johnson City, Tenn. 

WXBQ 

Kansas City 

KBEQ 

WDAF 

 

KFKF 

Knoxville, Tenn. 

WCYQ 

 

WIVK 

Lafayette, La. 

KMDL 

Lakeland, Fla. 

WPCV 

Las Vegas 

KCYE 

KWNR 

Lexington, Ky. 

WBUL 

Little Rock, Ark. 

KSSN 

Los Angeles 

KKGO 

Louisville, Ky. 

 

WAMZ 

WQNU 

Madison, Wis. 

McAllen, Texas 

WWQM 

KTEX 

MemphisWGKX 

WLFP 

MiamiWKIS 

MilwaukeeWMIL 

MinneapolisKEEY 

 

KMNB 

Mobile, Ala. 

WKSJ 

Monmouth/Ocean, N.J. WKMK 

Monterey, Calif.. 

KTOM 

Nashville 

WKDF 

 

WSIX 

WSM-FM 

Nassau, N.Y. 

WJVC 

New Bern, N.C. 

WRNS 

New Orleans 

WNOE 

New York 

WNSH 

Norfolk, Va. 

WGH 

 

WUSH 

Oklahoma City, Okla. 

KJKE 

KTST 

Omaha, Neb. 

KXKT 

Orlando, Fla. 

WWKA 

PhiladelphiaWXTU 

Phoenix 

KMLE 

KNIX 

PittsburghWDSY 

WOGI 

WPGB 

Portland, Maine 

WPOR 

 

WTHT 

Portland, Ore. 

KUPL 

KWJJ 

Providence, R.I. 

WCTK 

Raleigh, N.C. 

WNCB 

WQDR 

Richmond, Va. 

WKHK 

Riverside, Calif. 

Roanoke, Va. 

KFRG 

WSLC 

Rochester, N.Y. 

WBEE 

Sacramento, Calif. 

KBEB 

KNCI 

KNTY 

St. Louis 

KSD 

WIL 

Salt Lake City 

KEGA 

KSOP 

KUBL 

San Antonio, Texas 

KAJA 

KCYY 

San Diego 

KSON 

San Jose, Calif. 

KRTY 

KSJO 

Santa Rosa, Calif. 

KFGY 

Sarasota, Fla. 

WCTQ 

SeattleKKWF 

KMPS 

Shreveport, La. 

KXKS 

Spokane, Wash. 

KXLY 

Springfield, Mass. 

WRNX 

Springfield, Mo. 

KTTS 

Stockton, Calif. 

KATM 

Syracuse, N.Y. 

WBBS 

Tampa, Fla. 

WFUS 

WQYK 

Tucson, Ariz. 

KIIM 

Tulsa, Okla. 

KTGX 

KVOO 

KWEN 

Visalia, Calif. 

KJUG 

Washington, D.C. 

WMZQ 

West Palm Beach, Fla. 

WIRK 

Wichita, Kan. 

KFDI 

KZSN 

Wilkes Barre, Pa. 

WGGY 

Wilmington, Del. 

York, Pa. 

WXCY 

WGTY



AIRPLAY 

MONITORED BY 

WKS 

AUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS) 

PLAYS 

THIS LAST ON 

WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK 

l31 NEW YOURS IF YOU WANT IT Big Machine HH Hot Shot Debut/Breaker/Most Increased Audience/Most Added HH Rascal Flatts 6.781 +6.781 961 961 39 

32 31 25 IF I TOLD YOU Capitol Nashville Darius Rucker 6.541 +0.530 1807 151 30 

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33 33 8 WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS Vanner/RCA Nashville Miranda Lambert 6.360 +0.858 1345 182 34 

34 34 15 HOW NOT TO Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay 6.109 +0.810 1428 132 33 

35 32 22 LOVE TRIANGLE Warner Bros./WMNRaeLynn 5.902 +0.266 1255 48 35 

36 35 32 LIPSTICK Wheelhouse Runaway June 5.349 +0.366 1574 105 32 

37 39 4 BAR AT THE END OF THE WORLD Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney 5.277 +2.304 968 481 38 

38 36 19 DAMN DRUNK Nash Icon/Big Machine Ronnie Dunn With Kix Brooks 3.615 +0.144 633 24 46 

39 38 35 ROOTS Stoney CreekParmalee 3.348 +0.368 1147 98 36 

40 37 12 IF HE AIN’T GONNA LOVE YOU RCA Nashville Jake Owen 3.255 +0.235 861 98 42 

41 40 11 SOMEBODY ELSE WILL Valory HH Breaker HH Justin Moore 3.216 +0.294 923 141 40 

42 41 12 HURRICANE River House/Columbia Nashville Luke Combs 3.023 +0.103 714 98 44 

43 42 19 MY GIRL Curb Dylan Scott 3.000 +0.216 1016 48 37 

44 43 8 RING ON EVERY FINGER ReviverLoCash 2.870 +0.364 615 63 47 

45 45 10 YESTERDAY’S SONG Atlantic/WMN Hunter Hayes 2.335 +0.050 585 66 49 

46 46 20 ROOM TO BREATHE Red Bow Chase Bryant 2.253 +0.077 905 77 41 

47 49 7 DO I MAKE YOU WANNA Mercury Billy Currington 2.217 +0.179 640 59 45 

48 47 5 IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW BMLG Brett Young 2.214 +0.117 384 46 56 

49 50 14 FOR HER Big Loud Chris Lane 2.160 +0.149 859 21 43 

50 44 20 EVERYBODY WE KNOW DOES Dack Janiels/Columbia Nashville Chase Rice 2.082 -0.383 516 -15 50 

51 48 17 UNDONE Red Bow Joe Nichols 1.794 -0.295 394 -2 55 

l52 51 7 WITH YOU I AM CoJo Cody Johnson 1.779 +0.222 179 18 - 

53 52 11 THE WAY I TALK Big Loud Morgan Wallen 1.702 +0.325 481 80 51 

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54 54 6 MISSING Warner Bros./WMN William Michael Morgan 1.665 +0.606 418 84 54 

55 53 10 OUR TOWN Columbia Nashville Tyler Farr 1.408 +0.133 609 49 48 

56 55 3 MAKIN’ ME LOOK GOOD AGAIN Dot Drake White 1.200 +0.148 373 21 57 

57 56 2 BURN THE BED Sony Music Nashville Candi Carpenter 1.141 +0.096 312 17 59 

58 58 8 PUT A LABEL ON IT BMLG Ryan Follese 1.122 +0.108 357 30 58 

59 NEW WOKE UP IN NASHVILLE Arista Nashville Seth Ennis 1.095 +0.287 426 65 53 

60 NEW OUTTA STYLE BIG Label Aaron Watson 1.092 +0.229 105 14 - 

GOING FOR ADDS 

1/16 

BROTHERS OSBORNE 

It Ain’t My Fault 

EMI Nashville 

SHANE OWENS 

All The Beer In Alabama 

Amerimonte/Grassroots 

1/30 

GETTY IMAGES 

34 

DAN + SHAY 

How Not To 

The sophomore single from Obsessed 

follows the Country Airplay No. 1 “From the 

Ground Up.” “How Not To” bullets at No. 34 

on Country Airplay, increasing by 15 percent 

to 6.1 million audience impressions. On Hot 

Country Songs, it holds at its No. 38 high. 

1/23 

COLE SWINDELL 

Flatliner 

Warner Bros./WMN 

KRISTIAN BUSH 

Sing Along 

Wheelhouse 

MICHAEL TYLER 

They Can’t See 

Reviver 

BAILEY BRYAN 

Own It 

300/WAR 

CJ SOLAR 

Just Another Day In The 

Country 

Sea Gayle 

SADDLE BROWN 

I Didn’t Go Country! 

Not Listed



AIRPLAY 

MONITORED BY 

MOST ADDED® 

TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist ADDS 

YOURS IF YOU WANT IT Big Machine Rascal Flatts 51 

BAR AT THE END OF THE WORLD Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney 29 

ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Macon/Broken Bow Jason Aldean 24 

FAST Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan 14 

OUTSKIRTS OF HEAVEN Red Bow Craig Campbell 8 

DO I MAKE YOU WANNA Mercury Billy Currington 8 

WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS Vanner/RCA Nashville Miranda Lambert 7 

YESTERDAY’S SONG Atlantic/WMN Hunter Hayes 6 

BLACK Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 5 

HURRICANE River House/Columbia Nashville Luke Combs 5 

MOST INCREASED AUDIENCE 

GAIN 

TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist (IN MIILIONS) 

YOURS IF YOU WANT IT Big Machine Rascal Flatts +6.781 

STAR OF THE SHOW Valory Thomas Rhett +3.135 

A GUY WITH A GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton +2.831 

SEEIN’ RED Broken Bow Dustin Lynch +2.617 

BETTER MAN Capitol Nashville Little Big Town +2.596 

FAST Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +2.591 

ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Macon/Broken Bow Jason Aldean +2.586 

BAR AT THE END OF THE WORLD Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney +2.304 

DIRT ON MY BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi +2.109 

DIRTY LAUNDRY 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood +1.942 

NEW AND ACTIVE 

TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist 

RECURRENTS 

TOTAL 

AUDIENCE 

TOTAL 

STATIONS 

MOMMA AND JESUS Dot Tucker Beathard 1.017 38 1 

LIGHTS DOWN LOW Big Yellow Dog Jessie James Decker 0.606 21 0 

NOW THAT I KNOW YOUR NAME Broken Bow Jordan Rager 0.519 30 2 

HEY HEARTBREAK Big Machine Jennifer Nettles 0.467 14 0 

KISS ME Thirty Tigers Casey Donahew 0.458 5 0 

FLATLINER Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell 0.430 2 1 

THIS 

TOTAL AUD. 

WEEK TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist (IN MILLIONS) 

1 SLEEP WITHOUT YOU BMLGBrett Young 21.350 

2 MIDDLE OF A MEMORY Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell 20.513 

3 IT DON’T HURT LIKE IT USED TO MercuryBilly Currington 20.188 

4 A LITTLE MORE SUMMERTIME Macon/Broken Bow Jason Aldean 17.114 

5 MOVE Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan 16.010 

6 SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney Feat. P!nk 15.323 

7 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 14.305 

8 I KNOW SOMEBODY ReviverLoCash 13.855 

9 MAKE YOU MISS ME MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 13.693 

10 LIGHTS COME ON Broken Bow Jason Aldean 11.358 

ADDS 

MOST INCREASED PLAYS 

TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist GAIN 

YOURS IF YOU WANT IT Big Machine Rascal Flatts +961 

FAST Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +498 

BAR AT THE END OF THE WORLD Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney +481 

STAR OF THE SHOW Valory Thomas Rhett +468 

ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Macon/Broken Bow Jason Aldean +453 

SEEIN’ RED Broken Bow Dustin Lynch +440 

BETTER MAN Capitol Nashville Little Big Town +440 

DIRT ON MY BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi +417 

A GUY WITH A GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton +405 

THINK A LITTLE LESS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray +401 

BILLBOARD COUNTRY BOXSCORE 

Gross Artist Attendance 

Ticket Price(s) Venue/Date(s) Capacity Promoter(s) 

$3,089,001 REBA MCENTIRE & BROOKS & DUNN 23,813 CONCERTS WEST/AEG 

$205, $59.50 The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas/Nov. 30-Dec. 10 25,355 LIVE, CAESARS ENT. 

$159,435 KENNY ROGERS 2,288 3A 

$84.49, $37.27 Palladium, London/Nov. 10 sellout ENTERTAINMENT 

$111,316 MARTINA MCBRIDE 2,646 

$65, $31 United Wireless Arena, Dodge City, Kan./Nov. 18 3,200 

VENUWORKS 

$59,424 KIP MOORE 1,857 FRANK 

$32 U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Nov. 17 3,062 PRODUCTIONS 

$58,263 JAMEY JOHNSON 1,407 RED MOUNTAIN 

$42, $27 Von Braun Center Concert Hall, Huntsville, Ala./Nov. 10 1,955 ENTERTAINMENT 

Reported worldwide boxscore figures for Country artists. Boxscore figures should be submitted to Bob 

Allen by phone (615-891-1976), fax (615-891-2054) or email (bob.allen@billboard.com). 

TEXAS REGIONAL RADIO REPORT 

WEEK ENDING JANUARY 8, 2017 

THIS LAST WKS ON 

TW SPINS THIS LAST WKS ON 

TW SPINS 

WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE (Label)ARTIST SPINS +/– WEEK WEEK CHART TITLE (Label)ARTIST SPINS +/– 

l 10 13 22 THE RIDE (Little Red Truck) Deryl Dodd 1277 70 20 16 26 BUSTED (Hard Luck) Troy Cartwright 926 -119 

l1 3 14 BROKEN HEART (Independent) HH 1 week at 1 HH Josh Ward 1636 106 

l11 17 10 LIVE IT WHILE YOU GOT IT (Pretty Damn Tough) Josh Abbott Band 1222 191 

l2 4 14 TEXAS FOREVER (Independent) Kevin Fowler 1633 120 12 6 19 HIGH ON A COUNTRY SONG (Independent) Sam Riggs 1168 -268 

l3 5 18 FROM WHERE I’M STANDING (Independent) Curtis Grimes 1538 30 13 10 20 HOW DO YOU HONKY TONK (Independent) Jake Worthington 1123 -206 

l4 7 18 SECOND HAND SMOKE (Independent) Jamie Richards 1439 16 

l14 18 10 13 YEARS (Independent) Sundance Head 1095 118 

l5 8 16 OLD FASHIONED (Bill Grease) William Clark Green 1419 28 15 9 22 BOOTS ON A DANCE FLOOR (Fool Hearted/Tone tree) Jon Wolfe 1064 -325 

l6 11 8 OUTTA STYLE (BIG) Aaron Watson 1419 188 

l16 22 13 NEW HOMETOWN (Independent) Mike Ryan 1011 120 

7 1 19 KISS ME (Almost Country) Casey Donahew Band 1395 -398 17 14 23 WANNA WANNA BAR (Fun All Wrong) Roger Creager 958 -177 

8 2 25 BRINGIN’ COUNTRY BACK (Independent) Zane Williams 1382 -180 18 19 21 FIND ANOTHER BABY (Independent) Kaleb McIntire 945 -1 

l9 12 8 TEQUILA EYES (Independent) Randy Rogers Band 1349 128 

l19 26 8 HOMESICK CRAZY (Independent) Matt Kimbrow 927 118 

Texas Regional Radio Report Top 100 is compiled from weekly online playlist reports from 86 radio stations located in Texas and surrounding states, including reports from specialty 

shows, internet and satellite radio outlets. Songs are ranked by total plays. For tracking, complete chart methodology and more information, visit www.texasregionalradio.com, or 

contact Dave Smith at 817-283-7984. Copyright 2017, Texas Regional Radio Report


NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND 

SHELTON: CHRIS HOLLO 

Blake Shelton and Ryman Hospitality unveiled plans on Jan. 5 for a 

new entertainment complex, Ole Red, in a presentation at Nashville’s 

Ryman Auditorium. From left: WSM-AM Nashville personality Bill 

Cody, Ryman Hospitality chairman/CEO Colin Reed, Nashville Mayor 

Megan Barry and Shelton. 

SHELTON’S OLE RED CLUB TO OPEN IN 2018 

With country music leading Nashville’s upswing as a major tourist destination, 

Blake Shelton and Ryman Hospitality are betting they’ll generate significant 

greenbacks with Ole Red, a multilevel entertainment venue named after a 

song Shelton brands as his signature hit. 

Projected to open in April 2018, the building at 300 Broadway will include 

a bar, event site and upscale rooftop restaurant in the heart of Music City’s 

tourist district, just two blocks from the Ryman Auditorium, which hosts the 

Grand Ole Opry during portions of the winter. Ryman plans to invest $20 

million in the project, which will incorporate Shelton’s Twitter-savvy persona 

in a tech-friendly game plan that includes him occasionally checking in with 

customers at the venue via Facebook Live. 

“We want to be able to connect in real time,” said Ryman Hospitality 

chairman/CEO Colin Reed. “If you think about brands like Planet Hollywood, 

10, 12, 15 years ago, they exploded in popularity with the belief that Arnold 

Schwarzenegger was going to walk in the door. They served lousy food and 

Arnold never showed up, and the brand went in the toilet. This is not going to 

be that way. We’re going to have great food, great beverages, great retail, and 

we’re going to make sure that [Blake’s] persona is central to this business.” 

The Nashville location, named after Shelton’s 2002 single “Ol’ Red,” increases 

the artist presence in the city’s downtown venues. Dierks Bentley, 

John Rich and Alan Jackson all have branded outlets in the works or already 

open, while Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurant already operates in 

the same block where Ole Red will launch. Other artist-themed enterprises 

currently operating in the area include the Johnny Cash Museum, the George 

Jones Museum and the Sun Diner, a 24/7 eaterie that trades on the late Sam 

Phillips’ label and its association with such acts as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash 

and Jerry Lee Lewis. 

A second Ole Red is also slated to open in Tishomingo, Okla., in the fall. A 

former dentist’s office and a building next door (which had housed Miranda 

Lambert’s Pink Pistol retail store before Shelton purchased it) will be joined 

to create the venue. Shelton hopes that Ole Red will come to rival such historic 

clubs as Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Grizzly Rose in 

Denver, Colo., as notable country-themed destinations. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS 

Tim Hattrick joined Ben Campbell and Brooke Hoover on t he 

KNIX Phoenix morning team beginning Jan. 9. A former KNIX personality, 

Hattrick was most recently content creator/writer/ 

strategist for the Scared Sh!tless podcast … Cumulus/Flint, Mich., promoted 

Tim Shickles to PD for country WFBE and sports WTRX. Shickles retains his 

air shift at WFBE. Concurrently, August Wallace is upped to operations 

manager for the five-station cluster. She’ll continue to serve as urban adult 

contemporary WDZZ PD … Corey Dillon was slated to take the evening shift 

at KILT-FM Houston on Jan. 9. He arrives from top 40 XHITZ-FM San Diego, 

where he handled late nights … Marc Jason Orem joined the WQYK Tampa- 

St. Petersburg, Fla., morning show on Jan. 9. The radio vet was most recently 

part of the morning show at alternative KXTE Las Vegas … KVET Austin renewed 

its contract with morning personalities Bama Brown, Rob Mason 

and Heather White … WEBG Chicago PD Steve Stewart is the new host of 

United Stations’ weekly show The Road … Todd Nixon is the new KBEQ Kansas 

City, Mo., PD, InsideRadio.com reported. He was most recently WTQR 

Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, N.C., PD. Former KBEQ PD Mike 

Kennedy, who retired from daily activities at the end of 2016, will continue 

to consult … Bo Jaxon assumes the PD role and joins the morning team at 

KWOF Denver, according to Talkers.com. He retains PD stripes at hot adult 

contemporary sister KIMN … KYCK Grand Forks, N.D., added Rick Daniels 

as brand manager, Talkers.com reported. He previously handled afternoon 

drive at KQFC Boise, Idaho … Country Radio Seminar extends its recent health 

services efforts by offering free hearing tests, provided by Starkey Hearing 

Technologies, during the conference Feb. 22-24 in Nashville. 

’ROUND THE ROW 

Pete Fisher takes over as the Academy of Country Music CEO on Jan. 30, after 

moving to Los Angeles from Nashville, where he has served as Grand Ole Opry 

vp/GM since 1999. ACM chairman Ken Tucker discusses the appointment in 

The Stark Report on page 13 … John Zarling joined Sony Music Nashville on 

Jan. 5 as executive vp, marketing and new business. He ends an 11-year run 

at Big Machine Label Group, where he was senior vp, partnership marketing 

and promotion strategy. Reach him here … Black River made a series of staff 

changes to start 2017. The label hired Bailey White as promotion coordinator, 

replacing Taylor Weil, who leaves the firm. White had been the Country 

Music Hall of Fame and Museum social media coordinator. Mike Wilson was 

promoted to senior vp promotion from vp, Tanya Welch rose to vp marketing 

from senior director, and Dawn Delvo was upped to head of media and public 

relations from director. GM Greg McCarn left Black River … Wendy Pearl 

founded Wendy Pearl Public Relations, ending a 17-year tenure at the Country 

Music Association, where she was vp corporate communications. Reach her 

here … Curb promoted Blair Munday to vp, creative services from marketing 

and creative services coordinator … Jake Owen and Keith Gale founded 

Good Company Entertainment, with Gale taking over as Owen’s manager. 

Jon Andolina is director/tour marketing and sponsorships. Greg Fowler remains 

Owen’s tour manager. Reach Gale here and Andolina here … Rezonant 

Music Publishing added Rebekah Gordon as vp creative. She was most recently 

Warner Music Nashville director of A&R. Reach her here … Show Dog 

Nashville announced plans for an unspecified restructuring … Songwriter 

Ryan Hurd (“Lonely Tonight,” “Later On”) signed a recording deal with RCA 

Nashville … Singer-songwriter Kasey Tyndall nabbed a publishing contract 

with Sony/ATV … Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers signed a booking 

agreement with the April Potter Agency … The Marshall Tucker Band aligned 

with Red Light Management, with 

Charlie Brusco and Darren Hagen 

assigned to manage. The act also 

joined the Agency for the Performing 

Arts Nashville, where Steve Lassiter 

will handle booking … Bobby Bare 

enlisted Webster Public Relations 

for media … Dot vp promotion Kris 

Lamb started teaching a Belmont 

University course, “Music Promotion 

Strategies,” as an adjunct professor 

on Jan. 9 … Services were held 

Jan. 7 in Encino, Calif., for former Hee 

Haw producer Sam Lovullo, who died 

Jan. 3. In lieu of flowers, the family 

asks that donations in his honor be 

made to St. Jude Medical Foundation 

… Universal Music Publishing 

Nashville plans a celebration of life 

for songwriter Andrew Dorff (“Neon 

Light,” “Save It for a Rainy Day”) at 

City Winery in Nashville at 4 p.m. on 

Jan. 11. Dorff died in December. 

Owen (left) formed a new venture, 

Good Company Entertainment, 

with former Sony Music Nashville 

vp national promotion Gale, who 

becomes Owen’s manager.


NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND 

MUSIC NOTES 

Maren Morris will receive a breakthrough artist award during the Music Biz 

2017 conference on May 18 in Nashville, alongside pop band Lukas Graham. 

Previous honorees include Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, Meghan Trainor, 

John Legend and The Killers. Also on the conference circuit, Zac Brown 

Band will pick up the artist humanitarian award during the Country Radio 

Seminar in Nashville, while former Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth will 

be recognized with the Tom Rivers 

Humanitarian Award. 

Country is getting a fair amount 

of attention on the big screen with 

some new and upcoming projects. 

Hunter Hayes performed “All for 

You” on Jan. 5 on ABC’s Good Morning 

America, in advance of its appearance 

in the new Paramount movie 

Monster Trucks, in theaters Jan. 13. 

Kacey Musgraves and Northern 

Ireland’s Foy Vance created a song 

titled “Moonshine” for the Ben Affleck 

picture Live by Night, which also 

goes nationwide Jan. 13. Meanwhile, ZAC BROWN 

Trace Adkins joins Dennis Quaid 

and Cloris Leachman in the cast of 

I Can Only Imagine, a faith-based movie due in 2018. And the country ballad 

“Bless the Broken Road” provides the title for a movie that features the acting 

debut of former NFL player LaDanian Tomlinson. It hits theaters Feb. 10. 

Aaron Watson will headline the opening concert for the Houston Livestock 

Show and Rodeo on March 7. The event, which has drawn more than 70,000 

fans for a number of concerts through the years, will also feature performances 

by Old Dominion, Chris Stapleton, Alan Jackson, Sam Hunt, Luke Bryan, 

Willie Nelson, Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley and — at 

the closing show on March 26 — Zac Brown Band. 

Jon Pardi landed two titles among the top 10 country dance club hits of 2016, 

according to Marco Promotions’ annual survey. “Head Over Boots” finished 

at No. 1, and “Dirt on My Boots” came in at No. 9. Two non-country titles — 

DNCE’s “Cake by the Ocean” and Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” 

— are featured on the list along with Luke Bryan’s “Move,” Thomas 

Rhett’s “T-Shirt” and Drew Baldridge’s “Dance With Ya.” Go here for the 

full rundown. 

Top Headlines from 

Click on headlines below for more details 

.com 

ON THIS DATE IN COUNTRY MUSIC 

Jan. 9 

• 2010 — Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert and Justin Moore play 

the first concert at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan. While 

waiting for medics, Paisley’s father, Doug, performs CPR on an arena 

employee who suffered a heart attack. 

Jan. 10 

• 2015 — Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water” begins a fourweek 

reign at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country 

Songs chart. 

• 2007 — George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her 

Today” is named as a new entry in the Grammy 

Hall of Fame, along with Dolly Parton’s “I Will 

Always Love You” and Wanted: The Outlaws, by 

Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter 

JONES 

and Tompall Glaser. 

Jan. 11 

• 2016 — RCA releases “Think of You,” a Chris Young duet with 

Cassadee Pope, to radio. 

• 1967 — Johnny Cash and June Carter record the classic “Jackson” 

at the Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville. 

Jan. 12 

• 2012 — Craig Wiseman, Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson write 

the future Blake Shelton hit “Boys ’Round Here” in Nashville. 

• 1987 — MCA releases George Strait’s album Ocean Front Property. 

Jan. 13 

• 2002 — Reba McEntire wins the People’s Choice Award for favorite 

female performer in a new television series. Garth Brooks and Faith 

Hill are named favorite male and female musical performers on the 

CBS telecast, aired from the Pasadena Civic Center in California. 

Jan. 14 

• 1992 — Wynonna Judd, the “shaggy songbird of country kitsch,” 

ranks No. 2 on Mr. Blackwell’s list of the 10 worst-dressed women. 

Also cited: Delta Burke, Jodie Foster, Carly Simon and — at No. 1 

— Julia Roberts. 

Jan. 15 

• 2011 — The Zac Brown Band plays the national anthem at Atlanta’s 

Georgia Dome, where the Green Bay Packers thump the Falcons, 48- 

21, in an NFL playoff game. 

Source: RolandNote.com, the Ultimate Country Music Database 

U2 Unveils 2017 ‘Joshua Tree’ Stadium Tour, 

Will Play Bonnaroo Fest For First Time 

iPhone Turns 10: Watch Steve Jobs Introduce 

Apple’s ‘Revolutionary’ Device 

Drake’s ‘Views’ Is Nielsen Music’s 

Top Album Of 2016 In The U.S. 

Democrats Approve Of Artists Refusing To Play 

Inauguration, Republicans Not So Much 

SiriusXM Ends 2016 With 

More Than 31 Million Subscribers 

RCA Nashville announced the signing of singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd 

(“Lonely Tonight,” “Later On”) to a recording deal. Standing in the 

rear are Triple 8 Management partners George Couri (left) and Bruce 

Kalmick. Seated (from left) are Sony Music Nashville chairman/CEO 

Randy Goodman, Hurd and SMN COO Ken Robold.


Hot Country Songs 

SALES, AIRPLAY & 

STREAMING DATA 

COMPILED BY 

THIS 

WEEK 

LAST 

WEEK 

TWO 

WEEKS 

AGO 

WKS ON 

CHART 

TITLE 

Artist 

PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED 

1 1 1 22 

BLUE AIN’T YOUR COLOR HH No. 1 (10 weeks) HH Keith Urban 

D.HUFF,K.URBAN (S.L.OLSEN,H.LINDSEY,C.LAGERBERG) 

HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE 

2 2 2 25 

MAY WE ALL 

Florida Georgia Line Featuring Tim McGraw 

J.MOI (R.CLAWSON,J.MOORE) 

BMLG 

l 3 5 4 12 BETTER MAN Little Big Town 

J.JOYCE (T.SWIFT) 

CAPITOL NASHVILLE 

4 3 3 33 

WANNA BE THAT SONG 

Brett Eldredge 

R. COPPERMAN,B.ELDREDGE (B.ELDREDGE,R.COPPERMAN,SCOOTER CARUSOE) ATLANTIC/WMN 

l 5 4 5 19 DIRTY LAUNDRY Carrie Underwood 

J.JOYCE (Z.CROWELL,A.GORLEY,H.LINDSEY) 

19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 

l 6 7 6 14 A GUY WITH A GIRL Blake Shelton 

S.HENDRICKS (A.GORLEY,B.SIMPSON) 

WARNER BROS./WMN 

l 7 6 8 14 STAR OF THE SHOW HH Airplay Gainer HH Thomas Rhett 

JOE LONDON,J.BUNETTA,THOMAS RHETT (THOMAS RHETT,R.AKINS,B.HAYSLIP) 

VALORY 

l 8 8 10 16 DIRT ON MY BOOTS Jon Pardi 

B.BUTLER,J.PARDI (R.AKINS,J.FRASURE,A.GORLEY) 


SONG FOR ANOTHER TIME 

Old Dominion 

9 10 7 30 

S.MCANALLY (M.RAMSEY,T. ROSEN,B.TURSI,M.JENKINS) 

RCA NASHVILLE 

l 10 12 11 28 SEEIN’ RED Dustin Lynch 

M.J.CONES (T.KENNEDY,K.ALLISON,S.BOGARD,J.SEVER) 

BROKEN BOW 

11 9 9 26 

HOW I’LL ALWAYS BE 

Tim McGraw 

B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (J.S.STOVER,C.JANSON,J.PAULIN) 

MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE 

l 12 16 15 31 80S MERCEDES HH Streaming Gainer HH Maren Morris 

BUSBEE,M.MORRIS (M.MORRIS,BUSBEE) 

COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 

13 11 12 24 

SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE 

Kenny Chesney Featuring P!nk 

B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (R.COPPERMAN,M.JENKINS,J.OSBORNE) 

BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 

l 14 14 14 39 PARACHUTE Chris Stapleton 

D.COBB,C.STAPLETON (C.STAPLETON,J.BEAVERS) MERCURY 

0 14 

l 15 13 13 17 KILL A WORD Eric Church Featuring Rhiannon Giddens 

J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,J.HYDE,L.DICK) 

EMI NASHVILLE 

l 16 15 21 15 THINK A LITTLE LESS Michael Ray 

S.HENDRICKS (J.M.NITE,THOMAS RHETT,BARY DEAN,J.ROBBINS) 

ATLANTIC/WEA 

l 17 18 16 30 SOBER SATURDAY NIGHT Chris Young Featuring Vince Gill 

C.CROWDER,C.YOUNG (C.YOUNG,B.WARREN,B.WARREN) 

RCA NASHVILLE 

l 18 17 18 24 THE WEEKEND Brantley Gilbert 

D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,A.DEROBERTS) 

VALORY 

l 19 20 17 25 IF THE BOOT FITS Granger Smith 

G.SMITH,F.ROGERS (J.M.SCHMIDT,A.ALBERT,M.TENPENNY) 

WHEELHOUSE 

l 20 22 20 14 TODAY Brad Paisley 

L.WOOTEN (B.PAISLEY,C.DUBOIS,A.GORLEY) 

ARISTA NASHVILLE 

l 21 23 22 19 ROAD LESS TRAVELED Lauren Alaina 

BUSBEE (LAUREN ALAINA,J.FRASURE,M.TRAINOR) 

19/INTERSCOPE/MERCURY 

A LITTLE MORE SUMMERTIME 

Jason Aldean 

22 19 19 25 

M.KNOX (W.MOBLEY,T.MARTIN,J.FLOWERS) 

MACON/BROKEN BOW 

l 23 24 24 13 YEAH BOY Kelsea Ballerini 

F.G.WHITEHEAD,J.MASSEY (K.BALLERINI,F.G.WHITEHEAD,K.TIMMER) 

BLACK RIVER 

24 21 23 28 

MAKE YOU MINE 

High Valley 

S.MOSLEY (B.REMPEL,S.MOSLEY,B.STENNIS) 

ATLANTIC/WEA 

l 25 25 25 9 BLACK Dierks Bentley 

R. COPPERMAN (D.BENTLEY,R.COPPERMAN,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 

PEAK 

POSITION 

1 

2 

3 

3 

4 

6 

6 

8 

4 

10 

9 

12 

1 

13 

15 

16 

17 

17 

12 

21 

5 

23 

21 

25 

MORRIS: JOHN SHEARER; BRYAN: JIM WRIGHT 

12 

MAREN 

MORRIS 

80s 

Mercedes 

“80s Mercedes” revs to a new Hot Country 

Songs peak (16-12). It’s boosted by an 

8 percent increase to 23.2 million in audience 

as it rolls 15-13 on Country Airplay. On 

Country Streaming Songs, it re-enters at No. 

19, up 26 percent to 1.5 million U.S. streams. 

26 

LUKE BRYAN 

Fast 

Bryan wrote the sixth single from Kill the 

Lights with Rodney Clawson and Luke Laird. 

As it holds at No. 26 on Hot Country Songs, it 

rises 20-18 on Country Airplay (18.3 million 

in audience, up 17 percent). The set’s first 

five singles all topped the latter list.


Hot Country Songs 

SALES, AIRPLAY & 

STREAMING DATA 

COMPILED BY 

TWO 

WEEKS 

AGO 

THIS 

WEEK 

LAST 

WEEK 

WKS ON 

CHART 

TITLE 

PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) 

Artist 

IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED 

l 26 26 29 6 FAST HH Digital Gainer HH Luke Bryan 

J.STEVENS,J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,R.CLAWSON,L.LAIRD) 


l 27 29 32 5 ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Jason Aldean 

M.KNOX (J.THOMPSON,D.RUTTAN) 

MACON/BROKEN BOW 

l 28 27 27 18 HOMETOWN GIRL Josh Turner 

K.GREENBERG (M.BEESON,D.TASHIAN) 

MCA NASHVILLE 

l 29 28 28 19 HURRICANE Luke Combs 

S.MOFFATT (L.COMBS,T.PHILLIPS,T.ARCHER) 

RIVER HOUSE/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 

l 30 32 31 19 THERE’S A GIRL Trent Harmon 

J.ROBBINS (T.HARMON,J.ROBBINS,L.VELTZ) 

19/REPUBLIC/DOT 

l 31 30 33 20 LOVE TRIANGLE RaeLynn 

N.GALYON,J.ROBBINS (N.GALYON,J.ROBBINS,RAELYNN) 

WARNER BROS./WMN 

l 32 35 35 21 IF I TOLD YOU Darius Rucker 

R. COPPERMAN (R.COPPERMAN,J.M.NITE,S.MCANALLY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 

l 33 33 34 19 HOLDIN’ HER Chris Janson 

B.GALLIMORE (C.JANSON,J.OTTO) 

WARNER BROS./WAR 

l 34 37 37 13 BABY, LET’S LAY DOWN AND DANCE Garth Brooks 

M.A.MILLER (K.BLAZY,S.DORFF,V.SHAW,K.WILLIAMS,G.BROOKS) 

PEARL 

FOREVER COUNTRY 

Artists Of Then, Now & Forever 

35 31 40 16 

S.MCANALLY (D.PARTON,J.DENVER,T.DANOFF,W.DANOFF,W.NELSON,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE) 

CMA/MCA NASHVILLE 

l 36 36 36 8 WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS Miranda Lambert 

F.LIDDELL,G.WORF,E.MASSE (M.LAMBERT) 

VANNER/RCA NASHVILLE 

l 37 34 30 22 MY GIRL Dylan Scott 

M.ALDERMAN,J.E.NORMAN (D.SCOTT,J.KERR) 

CURB 

l 38 38 38 13 HOW NOT TO Dan + Shay 

D.SMYERS,S.HENDRICKS (A.HAMBRICK,P.DIGIOVANNI,K.BARD) 

WARNER BROS./WAR 

l 39 39 39 15 OUTSKIRTS OF HEAVEN Craig Campbell 

M.J.CONES (C.CAMPBELL,D.TURNBULL) 

RED BOW 

l 40 40 41 18 IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW Brett Young 

D.HUFF (B.YOUNG,T.REEVE,K.SCHILENGER,T.TOMLINSON) 

BMLG 

l 41 41 43 7 FOR HER Chris Lane 

J.MOI (M.DRAGSTREM,K.ARCHER,S.BUXTON) 

BIG LOUD 

l 42 44 42 7 DAMN DRUNK Ronnie Dunn With Kix Brooks 

J.DEMARCUS (L.HENGBER,A.KLINE,B.STENNIS) 

NASH ICON/BIG MACHINE 

l 43 45 48 5 WHAT IFS Kane Brown 

D.HUFF (K.BROWN,M.MCGINLEY,J.M.SCHMIDT) 

ZONE 4/RCA NASHVILLE 

l 44 49 — 2 LIPSTICK Runaway June 

M.J.CONES (J.WAYNE,N.COOKE,H.MULHOLLAND,C.HOBBY,E. HOFFMAN,R.L.HOWARD) 

WHEELHOUSE 

l 45 NEW 1 OUTLAW IN ME HH Hot Shot Debut HH Brantley Gilbert 

NOT LISTED (NOT LISTED) 

VALORY 

l 46 48 45 10 WHISKEY AND YOU Chris Stapleton 

D.COBB,C.STAPLETON (C.STAPLETON,L.T.MILLER) 

MERCURY 

EVERYBODY WE KNOW DOES 

Chase Rice 

47 46 50 7 

C. DESTEFANO (J.BUSSEY,T.DENNING) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 

l 48 NEW 1 WOKE UP IN NASHVILLE Seth Ennis 

C.CROWDER (S.ENNIS,B.DALY,D.H.HODGES) 

ARISTA NASHVILLE 

49 42 49 8 

THUNDER IN THE RAIN 

Kane Brown 

M.R.MCVANEY (K.BROWN,J.HOGE,M.R.MCVANEY) 

ZONE 4/RCA NASHVILLE 

WITH YOU I AM 

Cody Johnson 

T.W.WILLMON (D.C.LEE,C.D.JOHNSON,T.W.WILLMON) 

COJO 

l 50 RE-ENTRY 4 

The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by 

Nielsen Music. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks. 

PEAK 

POSITION 

26 

27 

27 

28 

30 

30 

25 

33 

34 

1 

36 

30 

38 

39 

39 

41 

42 

37 

44 

45 

35 

26 

48 

30 

46 

ALBUM Year-Over-Year SALES Album Sales 

’16 

’17 

DIGITAL TRACKS SALES 

’16 

’17 

0.4 million 

0.4 million 

000.0 million 2.0 million 

1.5 million 

For week ending Jan. 5, 2017. Figures are rounded. Compiled from a 

national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and 

provided by Nielsen Music. 

COUNTRY MARKET WATCH 

A Weekly National Music Sales Report 

Weekly Unit ’15 Sales 

’14 

ALBUMS 

DIGITAL 

ALBUMS* 

DIGITAL 

TRACKS 

This Week 374,000 129,000 1,484,000 

Last Week 732,000 174,000 2,016,000 

Change -48.9% -25.9% -26.4% 

This Week Last Year 404,000 157,000 2,034,000 

Change -7.4% -17.8% -27.0% 

*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales. 

YEAR-TO-DATE 

Overall Unit Sales 

2016 2017 CHANGE 

Albums 404,000 374,000 -7.4% 

Digital Tracks 2,034,000 1,484,000 -27.0% 

Sales by Album Format 

2016 2017 CHANGE 

Physical 247,000 245,000 -0.8% 

Digital 157,000 129,000 -17.8% 

For inquiries about any Nielsen Music data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or josh.bennett@nielsen.com


SALES, DATA 

COMPILED BY 

STREAMING & SALES 

DATA COMPILED BY 

THIS 

WEEK 

LAST 

WEEK 

2 WEEKS 

AGO 

WEEKS 

ON CHT 

TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS 

ARTIST 

Title 

IMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL 

CHRIS STAPLETON 

l1 3 2 88 MERCURY 019405*/UMGN 

TRAVELLER 

2 1 

MIRANDA LAMBERT 

2 2 3 7 VANNER/RCA NASHVILLE 532305*/SMN 

THE WEIGHT OF THESE WINGS 

1 

KEITH URBAN 

l3 5 5 35 HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE 023591*/UMGN (025848 AMS & WSEX) 

RIPCORD 

1 

BLAKE SHELTON 

l4 12 15 33 WARNER BROS. 555352/WMN 

IF I’M HONEST 

0 1 

JASON ALDEAN 

5 6 8 17 MACON/BROKEN BOW 2227/BBMG 

THEY DON’T KNOW 

1 

MAREN MORRIS 

l6 20 24 31 COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 516885*/SMN 

HERO 

1 

KANE BROWN 

7 7 10 5 ZONE 4/RCA NASHVILLE 530947/SMN 

KANE BROWN 

1 

COLE SWINDELL 

l8 25 31 35 WARNER BROS. 554671/WMN 

YOU SHOULD BE HERE 

2 

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE 

9 9 12 19 BMLG 0300* 

DIG YOUR ROOTS 

1 

10 13 18 63 

11 8 7 6 

12 16 19 67 

13 10 9 10 

The week’s most popular country albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. Albums are 

defined as current if they are less than 18 months old or older than 18 months but still residing in the Billboard 

200’s top 100. Charts update weekly on Tuesdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2017, Prometheus 

Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved. 

AMERICANA/ 

FOLK ALBUMS 

CERT. 

PEAK 

POS. 

CARRIE UNDERWOOD STORYTELLER 

19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 510539*/SMN 

1 1 

GARTH BROOKS GUNSLINGER 

PEARL 0015 

1 4 

THOMAS RHETT TANGLED UP 

VALORY RT0200A/BMLG 

1 2 

KENNY CHESNEY COSMIC HALLELUJAH 

BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 518037/SMN 1 

LUKE BRYAN 

14 17 23 74 CAPITOL NASHVILLE 022813/UMGN 

KILL THE LIGHTS 

1 1 

JON PARDI 

l15 28 34 29 CAPITOL NASHVILLE 024744*/UMGN 

CALIFORNIA SUNRISE 

1 

ERIC CHURCH 

16 19 26 62 EMI NASHVILLE 024200*/UMGN 

MR. MISUNDERSTOOD 

0 2 

17 26 30 86 

KELSEA BALLERINI THE FIRST TIME 

BLACK RIVER 2015 

0 4 

18 NEW 

GARTH BROOKS 

4 PEARL 6001 TGEX 

THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION 

1 

STURGILL SIMPSON 

l19 33 41 35 ATLANTIC 551380*/AG (551380) 

A SAILOR’S GUIDE TO EARTH 

1 

VARIOUS ARTISTS NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL COUNTRY #1’S 

20 18 21 9 SONY MUSIC/UNIVERSAL 025806/UME 5 

21 14 11 7 

22 27 39 32 

23 4 4 8 

24 32 25 47 

25 35 35 63 

GEORGE STRAIT STRAIT OUT OF THE BOX: PART 2 

MCA NASHVILLE 025678 WMEX/UMGN 3 

DIERKS BENTLEY BLACK 

CAPITOL NASHVILLE 024745*/UMGN 1 

GARTH BROOKS & TRISHA YEARWOOD CHRISTMAS TOGETHER 

GWENDOLYN 60013/PEARL 1 

JOEY + RORY HYMNS 

FARMHOUSE/GAITHER 49134*/CAPITOL CMG 

0 1 

BLAKE SHELTON RELOADED: 20 #1 HITS 

WARNER BROS. 551788/WMN 2 

SALES DATA 

COMPILED BY 

COUNTRY 

STREAMING SONGS 

THIS 

WEEK 

LAST 

WEEK 

WKS ON 

CHART 

TITLE 

ARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL) 

l1 6 16 

BLUE AIN’T YOUR COLOR 

KEITH URBAN 

l2 7 36 

H.O.L.Y. 


l 3 11 67 

DIE A HAPPY MAN 

THOMAS RHETT 

l 4 10 19 

MAY WE ALL 

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. TIM MCGRAW 

l 5 12 62 

TENNESSEE WHISKEY 


l 6 14 23 

MIDDLE OF A MEMORY 

COLE SWINDELL 

l 7 13 10 

BETTER MAN 

LITTLE BIG TOWN 

l 8 15 40 

HUNTIN’, FISHIN’ & LOVIN’ EVERY DAY 

LUKE BRYAN 

l9 17 5 

DIRT ON MY BOOTS 

JON PARDI 

l10 16 15 


BRETT ELDREDGE 

l 11 18 75 

BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN 

SAM HUNT 

l12 21 43 

HUMBLE AND KIND 

TIM MCGRAW 

l13 20 106 

TAKE YOUR TIME 

SAM HUNT 

l14 22 13 

PARACHUTE 


DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS 

l15 RE-ENTRY 

DIERKS BENTLEY FEAT. ELLE KING 

l16 24 24 

VICE 

MIRANDA LAMBERT 

DIRTY LAUNDRY 

l17 RE-ENTRY 

CARRIE UNDERWOOD 

l18 23 10 

SONG FOR ANOTHER TIME 

OLD DOMINION 

80S MERCEDES 

l19 RE-ENTRY 

MAREN MORRIS 

PLAY IT AGAIN 

l20 RE-ENTRY 

LUKE BRYAN 

RECORD YEAR 

l21 RE-ENTRY 

ERIC CHURCH 

PETER PAN 

l22 RE-ENTRY 

KELSEA BALLERINI 

WAGON WHEEL 

l23 RE-ENTRY 

DARIUS RUCKER 

l24 RE-ENTRY 

l25 RE-ENTRY 

HOUSE PARTY 

SAM HUNT 

SLEEP WITHOUT YOU 

BRETT YOUNG 

COUNTRY 

DIGITAL SONG SALES 

Top-streamed and top-selling paid download country songs, respectively, from sales reports collected 

and provided by Nielsen Music. Charts update weekly on Tuesdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 

2017, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved. 

THIS 

WEEK 

LAST 

WEEK 

WKS ON 

CHART 

TITLE 

ARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL) 

l1 1 25 

BLUE AIN’T YOUR COLOR 

KEITH URBAN 

l2 6 12 

BETTER MAN 


l3 5 15 

DIRT ON MY BOOTS 

JON PARDI 

4 2 25 

5 3 85 

MAY WE ALL 

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. TIM MCGRAW 

GIRL CRUSH 


6 7 35 H.O.L.Y. 


7 4 30 

SLEEP WITHOUT YOU 

BRETT YOUNG 

l8 8 3 

THINK A LITTLE LESS 

MICHAEL RAY 

l 9 

15 12 

A GUY WITH A GIRL 

BLAKE SHELTON 

10 10 31 

l 11 


BRETT ELDREDGE 

11 17 

PICTURE 

KID ROCK FEAT. SHERYL CROW 

12 9 14 

STAR OF THE SHOW 

THOMAS RHETT 

13 12 18 

DIRTY LAUNDRY 

CARRIE UNDERWOOD 

l14 20 64 

DIE A HAPPY MAN 

THOMAS RHETT 

15 13 23 

SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE 

KENNY CHESNEY FEAT. P!NK 

l16 16 50 

HUMBLE AND KIND 

TIM MCGRAW 

l 17 18 15 

THE WEEKEND 

BRANTLEY GILBERT 

l18 21 31 

PARACHUTE 


l19 22 14 

FOREVER COUNTRY 

ARTISTS OF THEN, NOW & FOREVER 

l20 25 42 

MY CHURCH 

MAREN MORRIS 

TENNESSEE WHISKEY 

l21 RE-ENTRY 


22 19 33 

MIDDLE OF A MEMORY 

COLE SWINDELL 

l23 23 14 

SEEIN’ RED 

DUSTIN LYNCH 

24 14 16 

25 17 13 

MAKE YOU MINE 

HIGH VALLEY 

KILL A WORD 

ERIC CHURCH FEAT. RHIANNON GIDDENS 

THIS 

WEEK 

LAST 

WEEK 

2 WEEKS 

AGO 

WEEKS 

ON CHT 

1 1 1 34 

2 2 3 39 

3 3 2 11 

ARTIST 

IMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL 

The week’s most popular Americana/Folk Albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. Albums are 

defined as current if they are less than 18 months old or older than 18 months but still residing in the Billboard 200’s 

top 100. Charts update weekly on Tuesdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2017, Prometheus Global Media, 

LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Title 

CERT. 

PEAK 

POS. 

CHRIS STAPLETON TRAVELLER 

MERCURY NASHVILLE 019405*/UMGN () 

2 1 

THE LUMINEERS CLEOPATRA 

DUALTONE 1738* () 1 

LEONARD COHEN YOU WANT IT DARKER 

COLUMBIA 536507* () 1 

BON IVER 

4 4 6 14 JAGJAGUWAR 300* () 

22, A MILLION 

1 

KALEO 

l5 8 12 30 ELEKTRA/ATLANTIC 555202*/AG () 

A / B 

3 

STURGILL SIMPSON 

6 7 11 37 ATLANTIC 551380*/AG (551380) 

A SAILOR’S GUIDE TO EARTH 

1 

NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS 

7 9 8 72 STAX 37215*/CONCORD () 

NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS 

1 

ANGEL OLSEN 

l8 14 18 9 JAGJAGUWAR 284* () 

MY WOMAN 

2 

NEIL YOUNG 

9 6 4 4 REPRISE 558314*/WARNER BROS. () 

PEACE TRAIL 

3 

10 5 5 20 

DOLLY PARTON PURE & SIMPLE 

DOLLY/RCA NASHVILLE 535123/SMN () 1 

9 

JON PARDI 

Dirt on My 

Boots 

Pardi earns his second top 10 on 

Country Streaming Songs, following the 

No. 2-peaking “Head Over Boots,” as “Dirt” 

darts 17-9 (2 million U.S. streams, up 13 

percent). On Country Digital Song Sales, it 

pushes 5-3 (21,000 sold). Since its release, 

“Dirt” has shifted 197,000 downloads. 

GETTY IMAGES


MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND tom.roland@billboard.com 

Ryan Kinder Chases Risky Business 

With Soulful Single ‘Close’ 

Most successful people can point to at least one or two moments in their lives 

that led to their winning stature, and invariably, those moments required 

them to jump off a proverbial cliff, not knowing how their future would unfold. 

Taking risks is one of the most important actions in a life well lived, particularly 

for creative people. Those who complain their life has grown stale 

often admit that they have stopped taking chances. 

“Now,” says Warner Bros. recording artist Ryan Kinder, “is the best time 

to start.” 

Risk is central to “Close,” a new Kinder single that shipped to radio via 

PlayMPE on Nov. 11, 2016. In this instance, 

it’s about taking a shot at the next level in a potential 

romance. There’s only way to find out 

if it will result in a relationship, and that’s for 

one of the parties to suggest moving forward. 

“I didn’t want it to sound like a hookup song, 

because it’s not,” says Kinder. “It’s more about 

enjoying the moment and enjoying each other. 

We don’t have to put a label on it — let’s just have 

a good time together.” 

Chasing the unknown is how “Close” became 

a song in the first place. Kinder and 

songwriter-producers Jeremy Stover (Justin 

Moore, Drake White) and Lindsay Rimes (Lo- 

Cash) had never written as a trio before meeting 

up on May 31, 2016, in Room 2 at the Sony ATV 

Fire Hall in Nashville. None of them walked into 

the room with a specific idea about what they 

might create, but there was a possibility something 

might emerge if they gave it a chance. 

“Close” began from an alternating 

two-chord progression — a one-major and twominor, 

as they’re known in Nashville studio 

parlance — that mixed a little Memphis soul 

with a Hootie & The Blowfish, ’90s pop/rock 

guitar tone. 

“I get a very distinct Rob Thomas character 

KINDER 

from Ryan’s vocal, so I thought a guitar-driven, 

rock/country song in the vein of Matchbox 

Twenty would suit him really well,” says Rimes. “I think that’s where he can 

place himself, vocally and stylistically, in country, because I don’t think anyone 

else is really doing that.” 

Kinder and Stover had a conversation going against that sonic backdrop 

that bred both the hook line and the crucial setup phrase “We might not fall 

in love, but we can sure come close.” 

“Once we had that, and we had the guitar-hooky thing, the song wrote itself 

pretty fast,” notes Stover. 

They attacked the chorus first, establishing the risk/reward theme with an 

Olympic sports analogy: “Baby, we can chance it/First kiss, land it/Diving 

off the edge/Baby, going all in.” 

After that section was completed, they returned to the starting line, knowing 

where the verse was headed. They established the one-word title, “Close,” 

as Kinder sang the opening word, leading to a series of descriptions that supported 

it: “Close, like a little strap to your shoulder/Close, like you’ve been 

since you slid over.” 

“We kind of played with the word ‘close,’ going back and forth with every 

iteration of the word,” says Kinder. “It wasn’t necessarily about word play, but 

just having some fun with the word.” 

In the process, they found the sweet spot in Kinder’s voice. The key points 

in the chorus all coincided with the best part of his range, and words that he 

sang with a bite — such as “fly,” “might,” “now” and “down” — came at the 

ends of phrases, emphasizing his uniqueness. 

“I’ve learned in the past couple of years that people gravitate toward certain 

words that I happen to sing, probably because of my lack of enunciation,” 

says Kinder with a laugh. “I don’t know what it is, but I’ve kind of tailored and 

gravitated toward the vowels in certain words that really sit in the pocket at 

the right time in a song.” 

That unique enunciation is a potential asset. Jason Aldean, Elton John, 

Reba McEntire and REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin are but a handful 

of the vocalists who owe some of their identifiability 

to their unusual phrasing. Florida 

Georgia Line’s “Cruise” was a hit, in part, because 

of the way Tyler Hubbard sings “Baby, 

you a sowng.” 

“I haven’t really heard anyone like Ryan,” 

says producer Ross Copperman (Dierks 

Bentley, Brett Eldredge). 

During the writing session, Kinder came 

up with a guitar solo for the demo that Rimes 

produced, leading with a sort of shriek, followed 

by a revolving melody. 

“It’s got a real stylized kind of vibe to it,” 

says Rimes. “It’s not just a standard kind of 

Nashville solo. It’s got a little pitch-shifting 

on it. It’s very Ryan.” 

And Kinder perfected that solo for the final 

product, using an Electro-Harmonix POG2 

guitar effect that he associated with Kenny 

Wayne Shepherd. 

“I’ve always wanted to use that on a record,” 

says Kinder, “so I put that on there and stacked 

some weird reverb on it, and it came up with 

that sound.” 

Copperman dropped the tempo down just 

a hair for the tracking session at Black River 

Studios and pared back on some of the intricacy 

of Rimes’ demo, giving one rhythm guitar 

particular prominence in the mix. The twochord 

format also provided a minor stumbling block. 

“We had to really make sure when we were mixing that each section has its 

own little deal and keep changing it,” says Copperman. 

Some of the changes were built in during the writing session. The phrasing 

morphs from drawn-out, airy lines in the verses to more wordiness in the 

chorus, which also hits a higher part of Kinder’s range. But they also changed 

the chord progression a bit in the middle and end of the song, altering the 

original chords by one note each after the first verse. It helped advance the 

sound, even if it’s imperceptible to most ears. 

“It made it feel bigger than sitting on the same two chords the whole time,” 

says Kinder. 

Between its groove, the unorthodox guitar solo and Kinder’s singular vocal 

sound, “Close” stood out as a song worth betting on as a single. And if its embrace 

of risk inspires listeners to take some chances in their own lives, so much 

the better, though there are some limits. The writers are not, for example, 

necessarily advocating for people to quit their jobs without a plan. 

“Just chase the girl,” deadpans Rimes. “That might be the simpler option.” 

They are, however, supporting taking a risk on Kinder himself. 

“It’s exciting being on something that could help me move Ryan forward,” 

says Stover. “He’s such a talented guy. I’m looking forward to hearing it on 

the radio.” 

ROBBY KLEIN


THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK phyllis.stark@billboard.com 

ACM Chairman Ken Tucker Looks Ahead To The 

Group’s Future Under New CEO Pete Fisher 

The Academy of Country Music may have been founded more than 50 years 

ago, but the Encino, Calif.-based trade organization has never been afraid to 

embrace change. That has rarely been more true than in 2017, when it will welcome 

a dynamic new CEO (it was announced Jan. 9 that longtime Grand Ole 

Opry vp/GM Pete Fisher will join the Academy in that role at the end of the 

month) and a move to a larger venue (the new location still has not been revealed) 

for its annual spring awards show in Las Vegas. Also fresh to his role is board 

of directors chairman Ken Tucker, who is enthusiastically helping usher in a 

new era for the venerable group. “It’s an exciting time at the Academy,” he says. 

Tucker, a member of the ACM board since 2010, has embraced change 

in his own career as well. Initially a public 

school speech and hearing therapist in 

West Virginia, Tucker switched to a job as 

a country radio DJ, which in turn led to a 

move to Nashville and stints as a reporter 

(and, later, salesman) for trade publication 

Radio & Records, followed by an almost 

nine-year run as a record promoter 

with Warner Music Nashville before he returned 

to journalism as a writer for Country 

Airplay Monitor and its parent publication, 

Billboard, and later the managing 

editor position at Country Weekly. Tucker, 

FISHER 

who is still based in Nashville, currently 

heads up country and Christian music programming 

for iTunes and Apple Music. 

Why did the board choose Pete Fisher as CEO? 

He’s so well respected in [Nashville] by artists, managers and pretty much 

anyone else that he’s dealt with … He’s artist-centric and genre-centric. 

Throughout his career he’s taken a forward-looking view at growing and 

exposing our format in a positive manner. He’s a great strategist and brandplanner, 

a great communicator within the industry, a team-builder, [and he] 

believes in solid partnerships. 

One of the cool things that a lot of people who know Pete know is that he’s 

very charitably driven. He spends time regularly down in Haiti. He’s on the MusiCares 

board and our [own] Lifting Lives board. [At] the Academy, the profits 

that we generate we, in turn, donate to Lifting Lives. That Pete has such a great 

heart for charity was just another reason that we thought he was a perfect fit. 

I’ve always been impressed with him, with the class that he exudes, with 

what he’s done for the genre and for the artists and what he’s done for the 

Grand Ole Opry. I’m so thrilled and so excited about what this means for the 

Academy of Country Music. He’s going to take this organization to a whole 

new level. We’ve never had a leader like Pete Fisher. 

What did the candidate pool look like for the job? 

We were blown away by the people that came forward, interested in this job 

… We really did have a great crop of candidates. I don’t know that we could 

have necessarily gone wrong. But I think we got the right guy. The process 

took a little longer than we hoped it would, but in the end the result is worth 

the time we took. 

How many applicants were there? 

Dozens. 

ACM’s former longtime CEO, Bob Romeo, left abruptly in May 2016. 

What happened there? 

Bob did an amazing job for us, and we were all very appreciative of what he 

did for the ACM. He felt like it was time to move on, so we thank him for all 

he’s done. This is one of many things [he initiated], but it was his decision to 

take us to Dallas for the 50th [ACM Awards at AT&T Stadium], and what an 

event that turned out to be. So we’ll always appreciate what he did, and now 

it’s a new day. 

What are your top priorities during your one-year term as chairman? 

[It’s] a very exciting time to be a part of this board because there is change coming 

and we need to embrace it. We’re planning a board retreat [for] strategic 

planning this year. We’re getting ready for our 52nd annual awards. We’re 

moving to a new venue, which is going to 

be exciting. It won’t be nearly the challenge 

that we had when we went to Dallas two 

years ago, but it will be exciting. Rather 

than doing [the annual] Party for a Cause, 

we’re doing parties for a cause, multiple 

events, multiple venues around Las Vegas 

in the days leading up to the awards to raise 

money for Lifting Lives. We’ll have some 

venues that are a couple thousand people, 

some that are a couple hundred people. 

We’re still in talks about what all that’s 

going to look like. 

TUCKER 

There’s just so much excitement, so 

much that I’m looking forward to. What 

I’ve tried to impart to the board is, “Don’t be afraid of change.” Change is 

going to happen, we embrace it, and then we move forward. 

I’ve also said I felt it was healthy for an organization to periodically pause 

and reassess if it’s on the path that it needs to be on. We may very well be, but 

as we name a new CEO and we move into this new board year, I just felt it was 

appropriate that we pause and look at making sure we’re doing the things we 

want to do and pursuing the path that we want to push to. 

You haven’t yet announced the new awards show date or venue, but 

why make the change from the MGM Grand Garden Arena? 

There’s an increase in some of the seating opportunities … We still have a great 

relationship with MGM, and that will still be our host hotel. [The new venue 

will] be easily accessible to folks staying at the MGM. 

How do you think the ACM is perceived in the industry? Is there anything 

you hope to change about that during your term? 

No matter how we’re perceived in relation to the Country Music Association 

or the Grammys or any other organization, there’s always room for growth, 

always room to do better. One of the reasons I can’t completely answer that 

question is that I think part of what we’ll do as a board in the coming months 

is look at a strategic plan, look at our strengths, our weaknesses, what we are 

doing well, what we are doing not so well and what we are not doing that we 

want to do. This is a great time to look at all that and then put together a strategic 

plan to accomplish whatever it is. 

At our last board retreat many years ago, [the idea for] Lifting Lives came 

out of that. Lifting Lives has continued to grow, is a great representation of 

the ACM and does a lot of great work out in the community, whether it’s the 

Vanderbilt camp that we do every summer [for people with Williams syndrome] 

or the stuff we’re now doing with Ryan Seacrest, [building] his studios at 

various children’s hospitals around the world. 

I don’t know what’s next per se. I just know we’ve got a great team, a great 

group of officers that are united in wanting to do whatever’s right for the Academy 

and a board that is right there with them. 

FISHER, TUCKER: COURTESY ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC/BRANDON CAMPBELL


THIS 

WEEK 

LAST 

WEEK 

WKS 

ON 

CHART 

Country Indicator 

TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist 

PLAYS 

AUDIENCE 

(IN MILLIONS) 

THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK 

1 1 20 DIRTY LAUNDRY 19/Arista Nashville HH No. 1 (2 weeks) HHCarrie Underwood 4662 -180 8.481 

l2 4 15 A GUY WITH A GIRL Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton 4575 +158 7.926 

3 2 22 BLUE AIN’T YOUR COLOR Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban 4309 -273 7.723 

l4 6 15 STAR OF THE SHOW Valory Thomas Rhett 4205 +295 7.251 

5 3 28 HOW I’LL ALWAYS BE McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw 4008 -447 6.855 

l6 9 12 BETTER MAN Capitol Nashville Little Big Town 3673 +365 6.285 

7 8 45 IF THE BOOT FITS Wheelhouse Granger Smith 3670 +137 6.236 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

8 7 20 KILL A WORD EMI Nashville Eric Church Feat. Rhiannon Giddens 3581 +3 5.986 

9 12 26 SEEIN’ RED Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 3531 +426 5.959 

10 11 32 SOBER SATURDAY NIGHT RCA Nashville Chris Young Feat. Vince Gill 3450 +227 5.982 

11 10 29 80S MERCEDES Columbia Nashville Maren Morris 3367 +114 5.558 

12 13 14 TODAY Arista Nashville Brad Paisley 3243 +146 5.608 

13 16 17 DIRT ON MY BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi 2881 +301 4.666 

14 15 22 ROAD LESS TRAVELED 19/Interscope/Mercury Lauren Alaina 2758 +101 4.451 

15 14 37 PARACHUTE Mercury Chris Stapleton 2694 +7 4.411 

16 18 23 THINK A LITTLE LESS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray 2586 +232 4.373 

17 17 13 BABY, LET’S LAY DOWN AND DANCE Pearl Garth Brooks 2475 +75 3.983 

18 22 6 FAST Capitol Nashville HH Most Increased Plays HHLuke Bryan 2234 +509 3.936 

19 20 23 THE WEEKEND Valory Brantley Gilbert 2212 +201 3.365 

20 19 15 YEAH BOY Black River Kelsea Ballerini 2168 +88 3.369 

21 21 32 HOMETOWN GIRL MCA Nashville Josh Turner 1937 +115 3.136 

22 23 10 BLACK Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 1832 +116 2.863 

23 24 41 MAKE YOU MINE Atlantic/WEA High Valley 1735 +58 2.851 

24 25 8 WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS Vanner/RCA Nashville Miranda Lambert 1664 +84 2.614 

25 27 7 ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Macon/Broken Bow Jason Aldean 1629 +258 2.933 

26 26 33 HOLDIN’ HER Warner Bros./WAR Chris Janson 1561 +128 2.666 

27 28 27 IF I TOLD YOU Capitol Nashville Darius Rucker 1282 +17 1.758 

28 29 23 THERE’S A GIRL 19/Republic/Dot Trent Harmon 1191 +196 1.733 

29 37 2 BAR AT THE END OF THE WORLD Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville HH Most Added HHKenny Chesney 987 +447 1.623 

30 31 15 HOW NOT TO Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay 883 +55 1.184 

BILLBOARD COUNTRY INDICATOR PANEL — 106 STATIONS 

Abilene, Texas 

KEAN 

Alexandria, La. 

KRRV 

Amarillo, Texas 

KGNC 

Asheville, N.C. 

WKSF 

Atlantic City, N.J. 

WPUR 

Beaumont, Texas 

KYKR 

Beckley, W. Va. 

WJLS 

Biloxi, Miss. 

WZKX 

Bloomington, Ill. 

WIBL 

Bluefield, W. Va. 

WHKX 

Burlington, Vt. 

WOKO 

Cape Girardeau, Mo. 

KEZS 

Charleston, W. Va 

WKWS 

 

WQBE 

College Station, Texas KAGG 

Columbia, Mo. 

KCLR 

Columbus, Ga. 

WKCN 

WSTH 

Cookeville, Tenn. 

WGSQ 

Dothan, Ala. 

WTVY 

Duluth, Minn. 

KKCB 

Eau Claire, Wis. 

WAXX 

Elizabeth City, N.C. 

WRSF 

Erie, Pa. 

WTWF 

Eugene, Ore. 

KKNU 

Evansville, Ind. 

WKDQ 

Fargo, N.D. 

KBVB 

WSTH 

Fayetteville, N.C. 

WKML 

Flagstaff, Ariz. 

KAFF 

Flint, Mich. 

WFBE 

Florence, Ala. 

WXFL 

Florence, S.C. 

WEGX 

Ft. Collins, Colo. 

KUAD 

Ft. Smith, Ark. 

KTCS 

Frederick, Md. 

WFRE 

Fredericksburg, Va. 

WFLS 

Green Bay, Wis. 

WNCY 

Hagerstown, Md. 

WAYZ 

Hot Springs, Ark. 

KQUS 

Huntington, Ky. 

WDGG 

Huntington, W. Va. 

WTCR 

Idaho Falls, Idaho 

KTHK 

Jackson, Miss. 

WMSI 

WUSJ 

Janesville, Wis. 

WJVL 

Jonesboro, Ark. 

KDXY 

Joplin, Mo. 

KIXQ 

Kalamazoo, Mich. 

WNWN 

Kalispell, Mont. 

KDBR 

Kingmah, Ariz. 

KFLG 

Lafayette, Ind. 

WKOA 

Laredo, Texas 

KRRG 

Lansing, Mich. 

WITL 

Laurel, Miss. 

WBBN 

Lebanon, N.H. 

Lincoln, Neb 

Longview, Texas 

Lubbock, Texas 

Lufkin, Texas 

Mason City, Iowa 

Medford, Ore. 

Meridian, Miss. 

Montgomery, Ala. 

Morgantown, W. Va. 

Muskegon, Mich. 

New London, Conn. 

Odessa, Texas 

Palm Springs, Calif. 

Pensacola, Fla. 

Peoria, Ill. 

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 

Rapid City, S.D. 

Rockford, Ill. 

Rocky Mount, N.C. 

Saginaw, Mich. 

St. Cloud, Minn. 

Salina, Kan. 

Salisbury, Md. 

San Angelo, Texas 

San Luis Obispo, Calif. 

WXXK 

KFGE 

KYKX 

KLLL 

KYKS 

KIAI 

KRWQ 

WOKK 

WLWI 

WKKW 

WMUS 

WCTY 

KHKX 

KPLM 

WXBM 

WXCL 

WRWD 

KOUT 

WXXQ 

WDWG 

WCEN 

KZPK 

KYEZ 

WKTT 

KGKL 

KKJG 

Santa Barbara, Calif. 

KRAZ 

Santa Maria, Calif. 

KSNI 

Sheboygan, Wis. 

WBFM 

Savannah, Ga. 

WJCL 

WUBB 

Shreveport, La. 

KXKS 

Sioux Cty, Iowa 

KSUX 

South Bend, Ind. 

WBYT 

Springfield, Ill. 

WFMB 

Springfield, Mo. 

KTTS 

Terre Haute, Ind. 

WTHI 

Topeka, Kan. 

WIBW 

Traverse City, Mich. 

WTCM 

Tupelo, Miss. 

WWZD 

Utica, N.Y. 

WFRG 

Victor Valley, CA.KATJ 

Waco, Texas 

WACO 

Wausau, Wis. 

WDEZ 

Wheeling, W. Va. 

WOVK 

Williamsport, Pa. 

WILQ 

Yakima, Wash. 

KXDD 

Youngstown, Ohio 

WQXK 

WWGY 

Westwood One HOT COUNTRY 

 

MAINSTREAM COUNTRY 

Music Choice TODAY’S COUNTRY 

Sirius XM 

THE HIGHWAY


WKS 

ON 

CHART 

Country Indicator 

PLAYS 

AUDIENCE 

(IN MILLIONS) 

THIS LAST 

WEEK WEEK TITLE Imprint/LabelArtist THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK 

l31 32 18 HURRICANE River House/Columbia Nashville Luke Combs 816 +37 1.260 

32 33 26 LIPSTICK Wheelhouse Runaway June 807 +112 1.116 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

33 34 38 OUTSKIRTS OF HEAVEN Red Bow Craig Campbell 740 +86 1.234 

34 35 7 DO I MAKE YOU WANNA Mercury Billy Currington 712 +63 1.080 

35 36 11 SOMEBODY ELSE WILL Valory Justin Moore 661 +38 1.096 

36 40 12 IF HE AIN’T GONNA LOVE YOU RCA Nashville Jake Owen 632 +125 0.995 

37 39 8 OUTTA STYLE BIG Label Aaron Watson 560 +38 0.776 

38 41 16 FOR HER Big Loud Chris Lane 506 +28 0.689 

39 30 27 WITH YOU I AM CoJo Cody Johnson 495 -341 0.698 

l40 42 21 DAMN DRUNK Nash Icon Ronnie Dunn With Kix Brooks 487 +11 0.703 

41 44 15 MY GIRL Curb Dylan Scott 431 +11 0.513 

l 

l 

l 

42 45 20 LOVE TRIANGLE Warner Bros./WMN RaeLynn 416 +27 0.586 

43 46 7 RING ON EVERY FINGER Reviver LoCash 406 +29 0.590 

44 43 16 GOIN’ GOIN’ GONE MCA Nashville George Strait 397 -25 0.507 

l45 47 17 LOAD IT UP Lila Alex Smith 371 +5 0.497 

46 48 14 OUR TOWN Columbia Nashville Tyler Farr 362 +10 0.567 

l 

47 38 17 GOOD AT TONIGHT MCA Nashville David Nail Feat. Brothers Osborne 346 -177 0.464 

l48 49 12 I’M NOT THE DEVIL Cody Jinks/Thirty Tigers Cody Jinks 335 +15 0.381 

49 50 9 PUT A LABEL ON IT BMLG Ryan Follese 325 +5 0.394 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

l 

50 NEW YOURS IF YOU WANT IT Big Machine HH Hot Shot Debut HHRascal Flatts 258 +258 0.507 

51 52 9 ROOM TO BREATHE Red Bow Chase Bryant 243 +8 0.272 

52 53 7 ME TOO Keith Walker Keith Walker 239 +14 0.290 

53 NEW IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW BMLG Brett Young 230 +133 0.376 

54 59 4 REBOUND Cold River/New Revolution Drew Baldridge Feat. Emily Weisband 219 +40 0.257 

55 57 20 ROOTS Stoney Creek Parmalee 210 +23 0.320 

56 56 6 THE WAY I TALK Big Loud Morgan Wallen 209 +20 0.253 

57 55 3 YOU’VE GOT THAT SOMETHIN’ Terra Bella/DAX Terra Bella 209 +19 0.266 

58 58 2 DRINKING WITH DOLLY Rebel Engine/Star Farm Stephanie Quayle 200 +19 0.229 

59 54 12 OUGHTA MISS ME BY NOW Row Mark Chesnutt 183 -8 0.236 

l60 NEW THIS TOWN Steel Music Group Tyler Steel 170 +24 0.234 

RANKINGS 

Country Airplay is ranked by 

total audience impressions 

for the week ending Sunday 

based on monitored airplay of 

151 stations by Nielsen BDS. 

Audience totals on the chart are 

derived, in part, using certain 

Arbitron Inc. copyrighted 

Persons 12+ audience 

estimates (under license © 

2017, Arbitron Inc.) Country 

Indicator is tabulated using 

reported playlists and Nielsen 

BDS-monitored airplay at 106 

stations, ranked by total plays. 

BULLETS 

l Awarded on Country Airplay 

to titles gaining audience or 

remaining flat from the previous 

week. A song will also receive 

a bullet if its percentage loss 

in audience does not exceed 

the percentage of monitored 

station downtime for the format. 

Titles that decline in audience 

but increase in detections will 

also receive a bullet if the total 

audience erosion for the week 

does not exceed 3%. Bullets are 

awarded on Country Indicator to 

titles gaining plays or remaining 

flat from the previous week. 

TIES 

On Country Airplay, if two songs 

are tied in total audience, the song 

with the larger increase in audience 

is placed first. On Country Indicator, 

if two songs are tied in total plays, 

the song with the larger increase in 

plays is placed first. 

RECURRENTS 

On Country Airplay, descending 

titles below No. 10 in either 

audience or detections are moved 

to recurrent after 20 weeks, 

provided that they are not still 

CHARTS LEGEND 

gaining enough audience points 

to bullet or if they rank below No. 

10 and post a third consecutive 

week of (non-bulleted) audience 

decline, regardless of total chart 

weeks. On Country Indicator, 

descending, non-bulleted titles 

below No. 10 are moved to 

recurrent after 20 weeks or if they 

post a third consecutive week of 

decline in plays after 10 weeks. 

HOT SHOT DEBUT 

Awarded to the highest-ranking 

new entry on Country Airplay and 

Country Indicator, respectively. 

MOST ADDED 

The total number of new adds 

officially reported to Billboard by 

each reporting station, or by an 

automatic-add threshold (seven plays 

for the first time in a chart tracking 

week, according to Nielsen BDS) for 

stations that do not report adds. 

MOST INCREASED AUDIENCE/ 

PLAYS 

Most Increased Audience on 

Country Airplay and Most 

Increased Plays on Country 

Indicator list the songs with the 

greatest week-to-week increases 

in total audience or plays, 

respectively. 

AIRPOWER 

Awarded on Country Airplay to 

titles ranking inside top 20 in 

plays and audience rankings for 

the first time, with increases in 

both plays and audience. 

BREAKER 

Awarded on Country Airplay 

to titles achieving airplay (at 

least one detection) at 60% of 

reporting stations for the first 

time. 

© 2017 Prometheus Global Media, LLC


Country Airplay Index 

TITLE Publishing-Licensing Org. 

(Songwriter) Chart Position 

80S MERCEDES International Dog Music, BMI/BMG 

Platinum Songs, BMI/7189 Music Publishing, BMI (M.Morris, 

busbee) 13 

A 

ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Big Music Machine, BMI/Two 

Laine Collections, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Doc And Maggie 

Music, SOCAN/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP (J.Thompson, 

D.Ruttan) 26 

B 

BABY, LET’S LAY DOWN AND DANCE I 

Want To Hold Your Songs, BMI/Dorffmeister Music, BMI/Victoria 

Shaw Songs, SESAC/All My Soul Music, SESAC/Major Bob Music, 

Inc., ASCAP/No Fences Music, ASCAP (K.Blazy, S.Dorff, V.Shaw, 

K.Williams, G.Brooks) 22 

BAR AT THE END OF THE WORLD Songs 

Of SMP, ASCAP/Mighty Seven Music Publishing LLC, ASCAP/ 

Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/The Queen Of Dot Dot 

Dot, BMI/Old Desperados, LLC, ASCAP/N2D Publishing Company, 

Inc., ASCAP (J.T.Harding, A.Mayo, D.L.Murphy) 37 

BETTER MAN Taylor Swift Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree 

Publishing, BMI (T.Swift) 10 

BLACK Big White Tracks, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., 

BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/Combustion Engine Music, 

ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP 

(D.Bentley, R.Copperman, A.Gorley) 29 

BLUE AIN’T YOUR COLOR WB Music Corp., 

ASCAP/Music Of The Corn, ASCAP/HillarodyRathbone Music, 

ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, 

ASCAP/Spirit Catalog Holdings, S.a.r.l./Spirit Two Nashville, 

ASCAP (S.L.Olsen, H.Lindsey, C.Lagerberg) 1 

BURN THE BED Not Listed/CTK Publishing, BMI/Songs 

Of DRV, BMI/Sawyer House Publishing, ASCAP/Alden Witt 

Publishing, SESAC (C.Carpenter, J.Sawyer, A.Witt) 57 

D 

DAMN DRUNK Starstruck Writers Group, ASCAP/Giving 

Out Wings Music, ASACP/Songs Of Starstruck, SESAC/Vision 

Board Songs, SESAC/Airplanes For Stars Music, SESAC/The 

Stennis Mightier Music, BMI/Dead Aim Music, BMI/Songs Of 

Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (L.Hengber, A.Kline, 

B.Stennis) 38 

DIRT ON MY BOOTS EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/ 

Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing 

Corp., BMI/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Telemitry Productions, 

BMI/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, 

ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (R.Akins, J.Frasure, A.Gorley) 17 

DIRTY LAUNDRY Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/ 

External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside 

Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/HillarodyRathbone 

Music, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP 

(Z.Crowell, A.Gorley, H.Lindsey) 2 

DO I MAKE YOU WANNA External Combustion 

Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music 

Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Atlas Music 

Publishing, ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP 

(A.Gorley, Z.Crowell, M.Jenkins, J.Flowers) 47 

E 

EVERYBODY WE KNOW DOES Universal 

Tunes, SESAC/Buzzcutt Music, SESAC/I’m About To Go RED On 

Ya Music, BMI/ole, BMI (J.Bussey, T.Denning) 50 

F 

FAST Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Peanut Mill Songs, BMI/ 

Round Hill Works, BMI/Big Loud Proud Crowd, BMI/Farm Town 

Songs, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, 

BMI (L.Bryan, R.Clawson, L.Laird) 18 

FOR HER Round Hill Songs BLS JV, ASCAP/Big Loud Proud 

Songs, ASCAP/Downtown DMP Songs, BMI/Stars And Stripes 

And Maple Leaf Music, BMI/Bux Tone Music, BMI (M.Dragstrem, 

K.Archer, S.Buxton) 49 

G 

A GUY WITH A GIRL Combustion Engine Music, 

ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/ 

Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, BMI/Spirit Of Nashville One, BMI/ 

Spirit Catalog Holdings, S.a.r.l. (A.Gorley, B.Simpson) 3 

H 

HOLDIN’ HER Red Vinyl Music, BMI/Buckkilla Music, BMI/ 

Eldorotto Music Publishing, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing 

Corp., BMI (C.Janson, J.Otto) 28 

HOMETOWN GIRL Downtown DLJ Songs, ASCAP/Son 

Of Ron Songs, ASCAP/Diver Dann Music, ASCAP/International 

Dog Music, BMI (M.Beeson, D.Tashian) 25 

HOW I’LL ALWAYS BE Ole Red Cape Songs, 

ASCAP/Real Big Red Tunes, ASCAP/Red Vinyl Music, BMI/Songs 

Of Universal, Inc., BMI (J.S.Stover, C.Janson, J.Paulin) 6 

HOW NOT TO Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Red Like The 

Sunset Music, ASCAP/Universal Music Corp., ASCAP/Paulywood 

Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, ASCAP/Kevin Bard Music, 

ASCAP (A.Hambrick, P.DiGiovanni, K.Bard) 34 

HURRICANE 50 Egg, BMI/Straight Dimes, BMI/Big 

Machine Music, BMI/Intune Publishing, BMI/BMG Platinum 

Songs, BMI (L.Combs, T.Phillips, T.Archer) 42 

I 

IF HE AIN’T GONNA LOVE YOU Songs Of 

Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI/Universal Music 

Corp., ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/House 

Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP (L.Laird, S.McAnally, C.Stapleton) 40 

IF I TOLD YOU EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs 

By Red Room, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite 

Music, ASCAP/Smack Hits, GMR/Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR 

(R.Copperman, J.M.Nite, S.McAnally) 32 

IF THE BOOT FITS Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI/Major 

Bob Music, Inc., ASCAP/We-Volve Music, ASCAP/Downtown DLJ 

Songs, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI (J.M.Schmidt, A.Albert, 

M.Tenpenny) 11 

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW Super Big Music, 

ASCAP/Caliville Publishing, ASCAP/Brown Hound Publishing, 

BMI/Kyle Schlienger Productions, ASCAP/Big Spaces Music, 

BMI/Bootheel Music, BMI/Big Mosquito Music, BMI/Amplified 

Admin., BMI (B.Young, T.Reeve, K.Schilenger, T.Tomlinson) 48 

K 

KILL A WORD Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Longer 

And Louder Music, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMI/Mammaw’s 

Fried Okra Music, BMI/Emileon Songs, BMI (E.Church, J.Hyde, 

L.Dick) 15 

L 

LIPSTICK Magic Mustang Music Inc., BMI/Warner- 

Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Little Duchess Music, BMI/ 

Songwriters of Platinum Pen Publishing, BMI/Legends Of Magic 

Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/Thunder 

Cookie, SESAC/Hatchoo Music, SESAC/Music Of Platinum Pen, 

SESAC/Hannah Mulholland Publishing, BMI/Hyper Hobby 

Music, SESAC/Tri Star Sports and Enterainment Group, SESAC/ 

Fabulicious Music, SESAC/Do Write Music, LLC, BMI/Round Hill 

Works, BMI/Music From Riding Songs, BMI/Songs of Colton 

Entertainment, BMI (J.Wayne, N.Cooke, H.Mulholland, C.Hobby, E. 

Hoffman, R.L.Howard) 36 

LOVE TRIANGLE Warner-Tamerlane Publishing 

Corp., BMI/A Girl Named Charlie, BMI/Round Hill Songs Jimmy 

Robbins, ASCAP/Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP/Super 

Big Music, ASCAP/Prescription Songs, LLC., ASCAP/I Take The 

Bull By The Horns, ASCAP (N.Galyon, J.Robbins, RaeLynn) 35 

M 

MAKE YOU MINE Centricity Music Publishing, ASCAP/ 

Bluenort Records, SOCAN/CentricSongs, SESAC/2 Hour Songs, 

SESAC/Pickin Publishing, BMI/Songs Of Kickingbird, BMI (B. 

Rempel, S.Mosley, B.Stennis) 23 

MAKIN’ ME LOOK GOOD AGAIN EMI April 

Music, Inc., ASCAP/Reverend Jack Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tree 

Publishing, BMI/Dixey Bar Music, BMI/Code Six Charles Music, 

BMI (D.White, M.Criswell, S.Minor) 56 

MAY WE ALL Round Hill Works, BMI/Farm Town Songs, 

BMI/Big Loud Proud Crowd, BMI/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Team 

Destiny, ASCAP (R.Clawson, J.Moore) 5 

MISSING EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Warner-Tamerlane 

Publishing Corp., BMI/The Good The Bad The Ugly Publishing, 

BMI (R.Akins, M.Green) 54 

MY GIRL Curb Songs, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP 

(D.Scott, J.Kerr) 43 

O 

OUR TOWN Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/ 

Songs Of Crazy Girl Music, BMI/Eighty Nine 89 Music, BMI/Songs 

From The Rose Hotel, ASCAP (L.Rose, N.Chapman, S.Ennis) 55 

OUTSKIRTS OF HEAVEN Legends Of Magic 

Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/Ole Red 

Cape Songs, ASCAP/Full Of Bulls Music, ASCAP/Ole Ole, ASCAP/ 

Skabetti Bowl Of Songs, SESAC (C.Campbell, D.Turnbull) 30 

OUTTA STYLE Tunes From HTK, BMI (A.Watson) 60 

P 

PARACHUTE WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Ken Tucky Music, 

ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Dontcallmebrett Musicm, 

BMI (C.Stapleton, J.Beavers) 19 

PUT A LABEL ON IT Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, 

BMI/Doing The Write Thing, BMI/3 In The Key, SESAC/Jamie’s 

Jamz, ASCAP/The Family Business, BMI/Cam I Am Music, BMI 

(R.K.Follese, A.Follese, J.Follese, K.Follese, C.Montgomery) 58 

R 

RING ON EVERY FINGER Big Machine Music, 

BMI/Big Yellow Dog Music, ASCAP/Major Bob Music, Inc., ASCAP/ 

EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI (Thomas 

Rhett, J.Kear, J.Frasure) 44 

ROAD LESS TRAVELED Warner-Tamerlane 

Publishing Corp., BMI/Lylas Music, BMI/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., 

BMI/Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP/MTrain Music, ASCAP (Lauren 

Alaina, J.Frasure, M.Trainor) 20 

ROOM TO BREATHE BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/ 

SWMBMGBMI, BMI/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/WB Music 

Corp., ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/Funky Friar Music, 

ASCAP (C.Bryant, A.Gorley, D.George) 46 

ROOTS Big Deal Beats, BMI/The Stennis Mightier Music, 

BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Dead 

Aim Music, BMI/Young Guns Publishing, LLC, BMI/Parallel Music 

Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/The Wizard of Ahhs, ASCAP/Songs Of 

Parallel Music, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Publishing America, Inc., 

ASCAP (J.Mullins, B.Stennis, W.B.Bollinger) 39 

S 

SEEIN’ RED Magic Mustang Music Inc., BMI/Warner- 

Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/This Is Magic Mustang Music, 

ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Legends Of Magic Mustang 

Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/Casa Del Amour Music, 

SESAC/Little Champion Music, ASCAP/Leighalu Music, ASCAP (T. 

Kennedy, K.Allison, S.Bogard, J.Sever) 8 

SOBER SATURDAY NIGHT EMI Blackwood Music 

Inc., BMI/Famlove Songs, BMI/Goodbye Pants Music, BMI/ 

Sagequinnjude Music, BMI (C.Young, B.Warren, B.Warren) 12 

SOMEBODY ELSE WILL Stars And Stripes And 

Maple Leaf Music, BMI/Downtown DMP Songs, BMI/Ole Red 

Cape Songs, ASCAP/Red Like The Sunset Music, ASCAP/BMG 

Platinum Songs, BMI/Songs For Elle, BMI (K.Archer, A.Hambrick, 

T.Ottoh) 41 

SONG FOR ANOTHER TIME Carrot Seed 

Songs, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/ 

Smackville Music, ASCAP/ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown 

Music, ASCAP/Unfair Entertainment, ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, 

ASCAP/Wooden Ships, ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/ 

Highly Combustible Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/ 

Jenkalenk Tunes, ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, 

ASCAP (M.Ramsey, T. Rosen, B.Tursi, M.Jenkins) 9 

STAR OF THE SHOW EMI Blackwood Music Inc., 

BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/ 

Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Thankful For This 

Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (Thomas Rhett, R.Akins, 

B.Hayslip) 7 

T 

THERE’S A GIRL Big Music Machine, BMI/19 Music 

Publishing Worldwide, BMI/Trent Harmon Publishing, BMI/ 

Round Hill Songs Jimmy Robbins, ASCAP/Extraordinary Alien 

Publishing, ASCAP/Jammy Rabbins Music, ASCAP/Warner- 

Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Oh Denise Publishing, BMI (T. 

Harmon, J.Robbins, L.Veltz) 27 

THINK A LITTLE LESS EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/ 

Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/ 

Cricket On The Line, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative 

Nation Music, BMI/Country Paper, BMI/Pulse Nation, BMI/ 

Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP/Universal Music Corp., 

ASCAP (J.M.Nite, Thomas Rhett, Bary Dean, J.Robbins) 16 

TODAY New Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Spirit Two Nashville, 

ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, 

ASCAP/Music Of Windswept, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP 

(B.Paisley, C.DuBois, A.Gorley) 14 

U 

UNDONE ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/MeGusta Music, ASCAP/ 

Smack Ink, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/Spirit Two 

Nashville, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red 

Room, BMI (T. Rosen, J.Osborne, R.Copperman) 51 

W 

WANNA BE THAT SONG Sony/ATV Countryside, 

BMI/Paris Not France Music, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/ 

Songs By Red Room, BMI/Scrambler Music, ASCAP/Abbott’s 

Creek Music, ASCAP (B.Eldredge, R.Copperman, Scooter Carusoe) 4 

THE WAY I TALK WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Damn 

Country Music, ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/ 

Pinetucky Road Publishing, ASCAP/Universal Music Corp., 

ASCAP/Round Room Recoreds, ASCAP (J.L.Alexander, B.Hayslip, 

C.McGill) 53 

THE WEEKEND Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., 

BMI/Indiana Angel Music, BMI/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/ 

Lanercost Publishing, ASCAP (B.Gilbert, A.DeRoberts) 21 

WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS Sony/ATV Tree 

Publishing, BMI (M.Lambert) 33 

WITH YOU I AM Mood Merchant Music, BMI/4 Cow 

Ranch Songs, BMI/Cojo Country Publishing, ASCAP/ASCAMP, 

ASCAP/Barns And No Bull Music, ASCAP (D.C.Lee, C.D.Johnson, 

T.W.Willmon) 52 

WOKE UP IN NASHVILLE WB Music Corp., 

ASCAP/Charged Kitsune Music, ASCAP/Songs From The Rose 

Hotel, ASCAP/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Skull Town Sounds, 

BMI/Weddings Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing 

America, Inc., BMI (S.Ennis, B.Daly, D.H.Hodges) 59 

Y 

YEAH BOY Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/KNB Music, 

ASCAP/Songs Of Blue Guitar, BMI (K.Ballerini, F.G.Whitehead, 

K.Timmer) 24 

YESTERDAY’S SONG Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/ 

Ogden Avenue Publishing, BMI/Creative Pulse Music, BMI/Pulse 

Nation, BMI/Be Barry Quiet, BMI/These Are Pulse Songs, BMI/ 

EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Martin Music, Inc., ASCAP (H.Hayes, 

Bary Dean, M.Johnson) 45 

YOURS IF YOU WANT IT Not Listed (Not Listed) 31


Hot Country Songs Index 

TITLE Publishing-Licensing Org. 

(Songwriter) Chart Position 

80S MERCEDES International Dog Music, BMI/ 

BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/7189 Music Publishing, BMI 

(M.Morris, busbee) 12 

A 

ANY OL’ BARSTOOL Big Music Machine, BMI/ 

Two Laine Collections, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/ 

Doc And Maggie Music, SOCAN/Thankful For This 

Music, ASCAP (J.Thompson, D.Ruttan) 27 

B 

BABY, LET’S LAY DOWN AND 

DANCE I Want To Hold Your Songs, BMI/ 

Dorffmeister Music, BMI/Victoria Shaw Songs, SESAC/ 

All My Soul Music, SESAC/Major Bob Music, Inc., 

ASCAP/No Fences Music, ASCAP (K.Blazy, S.Dorff, V.Shaw, 

K.Williams, G.Brooks) 34 

BETTER MAN Taylor Swift Music, BMI/Sony/ATV 

Tree Publishing, BMI (T.Swift) 3 

BLACK Big White Tracks, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood 

Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/Combustion 

Engine Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/ 

WB Music Corp., ASCAP (D.Bentley, R.Copperman, 

A.Gorley) 25 

BLUE AIN’T YOUR COLOR WB 

Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of The Corn, ASCAP/ 

HillarodyRathbone Music, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, 

ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Spirit 

Catalog Holdings, S.a.r.l./Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP 

(S.L.Olsen, H.Lindsey, C.Lagerberg) 1 

D 

DAMN DRUNK Starstruck Writers Group, ASCAP/ 

Giving Out Wings Music, ASACP/Songs Of Starstruck, 

SESAC/Vision Board Songs, SESAC/Airplanes For Stars 

Music, SESAC/The Stennis Mightier Music, BMI/Dead 

Aim Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing 

America, Inc., BMI (L.Hengber, A.Kline, B.Stennis) 42 

DIRT ON MY BOOTS EMI Blackwood Music 

Inc., BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/Warner- 

Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Rio Bravo Music, 

Inc., BMI/Telemitry Productions, BMI/Combustion 

Engine Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/ 

WB Music Corp., ASCAP (R.Akins, J.Frasure, A.Gorley) 8 

DIRTY LAUNDRY Atlas Music Publishing, 

ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of 

Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/ 

HillarodyRathbone Music, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, 

ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (Z.Crowell, A.Gorley, 

H.Lindsey) 5 

E 

EVERYBODY WE KNOW DOES 

Universal Tunes, SESAC/Buzzcutt Music, SESAC/I’m 

About To Go RED On Ya Music, BMI/ole, BMI (J.Bussey, 

T.Denning) 47 

F 

FAST Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Peanut 

Mill Songs, BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/Big Loud 

Proud Crowd, BMI/Farm Town Songs, BMI/Songs Of 

Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI (L. 

Bryan, R.Clawson, L.Laird) 26 

FOREVER COUNTRY Velvet Apple Music, 

BMI/Reservior Media Music, ASCAP/BMG Ruby Songs, 

ASCAP/Full Nelson Music Inc., BMI (D.Parton, J.Denver, 

T.Danoff, W.Danoff, W.Nelson, S.McAnally, J.Osborne) 35 

FOR HER Round Hill Songs BLS JV, ASCAP/Big 

Loud Proud Songs, ASCAP/Downtown DMP Songs, 

BMI/Stars And Stripes And Maple Leaf Music, BMI/Bux 

Tone Music, BMI (M.Dragstrem, K.Archer, S.Buxton) 41 

G 

A GUY WITH A GIRL Combustion Engine 

Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/WB 

Music Corp., ASCAP/Writers Of Sea Gayle Music, BMI/ 

Spirit Of Nashville One, BMI/Spirit Catalog Holdings, 

S.a.r.l. (A.Gorley, B.Simpson) 6 

H 

HOLDIN’ HER Red Vinyl Music, BMI/Buckkilla 

Music, BMI/Eldorotto Music Publishing, BMI/Warner- 

Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI (C.Janson, J.Otto) 33 

HOMETOWN GIRL Downtown DLJ Songs, 

ASCAP/Son Of Ron Songs, ASCAP/Diver Dann Music, 

ASCAP/International Dog Music, BMI (M.Beeson, 

D.Tashian) 28 

HOW I’LL ALWAYS BE Ole Red Cape Songs, 

ASCAP/Real Big Red Tunes, ASCAP/Red Vinyl Music, 

BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI (J.S.Stover, C.Janson, 

J.Paulin) 11 

HOW NOT TO Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Red 

Like The Sunset Music, ASCAP/Universal Music Corp., 

ASCAP/Paulywood Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tunes 

LLC, ASCAP/Kevin Bard Music, ASCAP (A.Hambrick, 

P.DiGiovanni, K.Bard) 38 

HURRICANE 50 Egg, BMI/Straight Dimes, BMI/ 

Big Machine Music, BMI/Intune Publishing, BMI/BMG 

Platinum Songs, BMI (L.Combs, T.Phillips, T.Archer) 29 

I 

IF I TOLD YOU EMI Blackwood Music Inc., 

BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., 

ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/Smack Hits, GMR/ 

Kobalt Music Group Ltd., GMR (R.Copperman, J.M.Nite, 

S.McAnally) 32 

IF THE BOOT FITS Tree Vibez Music, LLC, BMI/ 

Major Bob Music, Inc., ASCAP/We-Volve Music, ASCAP/ 

Downtown DLJ Songs, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Countryside, 

BMI (J.M.Schmidt, A.Albert, M.Tenpenny) 19 

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T KNOW Super 

Big Music, ASCAP/Caliville Publishing, ASCAP/Brown 

Hound Publishing, BMI/Kyle Schlienger Productions, 

ASCAP/Big Spaces Music, BMI/Bootheel Music, BMI/Big 

Mosquito Music, BMI/Amplified Admin., BMI (B.Young, 

T.Reeve, K.Schilenger, T.Tomlinson) 40 

K 

KILL A WORD Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/ 

Longer And Louder Music, BMI/Little Louder Songs, 

BMI/Mammaw’s Fried Okra Music, BMI/Emileon 

Songs, BMI (E.Church, J.Hyde, L.Dick) 15 

L 

LIPSTICK Magic Mustang Music Inc., BMI/Warner- 

Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Little Duchess Music, 

BMI/Songwriters of Platinum Pen Publishing, BMI/ 

Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. 

Music Corp., SESAC/Thunder Cookie, SESAC/Hatchoo 

Music, SESAC/Music Of Platinum Pen, SESAC/Hannah 

Mulholland Publishing, BMI/Hyper Hobby Music, 

SESAC/Tri Star Sports and Enterainment Group, 

SESAC/Fabulicious Music, SESAC/Do Write Music, LLC, 

BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/Music From Riding Songs, 

BMI/Songs of Colton Entertainment, BMI (J.Wayne, 

N.Cooke, H.Mulholland, C.Hobby, E. Hoffman, R.L.Howard) 44 

A LITTLE MORE SUMMERTIME Warner- 

Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Fonde Moutian 

Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Casa 

Jaco Music, BMI/ole, BMI/Who Wants To Buy My 

Publishing, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Atlas Music 

Publishing, ASCAP/Highly Combustible Music, ASCAP 

(W.Mobley, T.Martin, J.Flowers) 22 

LOVE TRIANGLE Warner-Tamerlane Publishing 

Corp., BMI/A Girl Named Charlie, BMI/Round Hill 

Songs Jimmy Robbins, ASCAP/Extraordinary 

Alien Publishing, ASCAP/Super Big Music, ASCAP/ 

Prescription Songs, LLC., ASCAP/I Take The Bull By The 

Horns, ASCAP (N.Galyon, J.Robbins, RaeLynn) 31 

M 

MAKE YOU MINE Centricity Music Publishing, 

ASCAP/Bluenort Records, SOCAN/CentricSongs, 

SESAC/2 Hour Songs, SESAC/Pickin Publishing, 

BMI/Songs Of Kickingbird, BMI (B.Rempel, S.Mosley, 

B.Stennis) 24 

MAY WE ALL Round Hill Works, BMI/Farm 

Town Songs, BMI/Big Loud Proud Crowd, BMI/BMG 

Gold Songs, ASCAP/Team Destiny, ASCAP (R.Clawson, 

J.Moore) 2 

MY GIRL Curb Songs, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, 

ASCAP (D.Scott, J.Kerr) 37 

O 

OUTLAW IN ME Not Listed (Not Listed) 45 

OUTSKIRTS OF HEAVEN Legends Of Magic 

Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/Ole 

Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Full Of Bulls Music, ASCAP/ 

Ole Ole, ASCAP/Skabetti Bowl Of Songs, SESAC (C. 

Campbell, D.Turnbull) 39 

P 

PARACHUTE WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Ken 

Tucky Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/ 

Dontcallmebrett Musicm, BMI (C.Stapleton, J.Beavers) 14 

R 

ROAD LESS TRAVELED Warner-Tamerlane 

Publishing Corp., BMI/Lylas Music, BMI/Rio Bravo 

Music, Inc., BMI/Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP/MTrain 

Music, ASCAP (Lauren Alaina, J.Frasure, M.Trainor) 21 

S 

SEEIN’ RED Magic Mustang Music Inc., BMI/ 

Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/This Is 

Magic Mustang Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/ 

Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music 

Corp., SESAC/Casa Del Amour Music, SESAC/Little 

Champion Music, ASCAP/Leighalu Music, ASCAP (T. 

Kennedy, K.Allison, S.Bogard, J.Sever) 10 

SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE EMI 

Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/ 

Highly Combustible Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., 

ASCAP/Jenkalenk Tunes, ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy 

My Publishing, ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/ 

Smackville Music, ASCAP/Anderson Fork In The Road 

Music, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Publishing America, Inc., 

ASCAP (R.Copperman, M.Jenkins, J.Osborne) 13 

SOBER SATURDAY NIGHT EMI Blackwood 

Music Inc., BMI/Famlove Songs, BMI/Goodbye Pants 

Music, BMI/Sagequinnjude Music, BMI (C.Young, 

B.Warren, B.Warren) 17 

SONG FOR ANOTHER TIME Carrot Seed 

Songs, ASCAP/Kobalt Songs Publishing America, 

Inc., ASCAP/Smackville Music, ASCAP/ReHits Music, 

Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/Unfair 

Entertainment, ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, ASCAP/ 

Wooden Ships, ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/ 

Highly Combustible Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., 

ASCAP/Jenkalenk Tunes, ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy 

My Publishing, ASCAP (M.Ramsey, T. Rosen, B.Tursi, 

M.Jenkins) 9 

STAR OF THE SHOW EMI Blackwood Music 

Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI/Brooks County 

Boy Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., 

BMI/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., 

ASCAP (Thomas Rhett, R.Akins, B.Hayslip) 7 

T 

THERE’S A GIRL Big Music Machine, BMI/19 

Music Publishing Worldwide, BMI/Trent Harmon 

Publishing, BMI/Round Hill Songs Jimmy Robbins, 

ASCAP/Extraordinary Alien Publishing, ASCAP/Jammy 

Rabbins Music, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing 

Corp., BMI/Oh Denise Publishing, BMI (T.Harmon, 

J.Robbins, L.Veltz) 30 

THINK A LITTLE LESS EMI April Music, Inc., 

ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood 

Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI/Songs Of 

Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI/ 

Country Paper, BMI/Pulse Nation, BMI/Extraordinary 

Alien Publishing, ASCAP/Universal Music Corp., ASCAP 

(J.M.Nite, Thomas Rhett, Bary Dean, J.Robbins) 16 

THUNDER IN THE RAIN Songs Of Universal, 

Inc., BMI/Kane Brown Music, BMI/EMI Foray Music, 

SESAC/Write 2 Be Free Music, SESAC/B Frank 

Entertainment, BMI/Song House Publishing, BMI/ 

Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI 

(K.Brown, J.Hoge, M.R.McVaney) 49 

TODAY New Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Spirit Two 

Nashville, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent 

Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/Music Of Windswept, 

ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP (B.Paisley, C.DuBois, 

A.Gorley) 20 

W 

WANNA BE THAT SONG Sony/ATV 

Countryside, BMI/Paris Not France Music, BMI/EMI 

Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/ 

Scrambler Music, ASCAP/Abbott’s Creek Music, ASCAP 

(B.Eldredge, R.Copperman, Scooter Carusoe) 4 

THE WEEKEND Warner-Tamerlane Publishing 

Corp., BMI/Indiana Angel Music, BMI/BMG Gold 

Songs, ASCAP/Lanercost Publishing, ASCAP (B.Gilbert, 

A.DeRoberts) 18 

WE SHOULD BE FRIENDS Sony/ATV Tree 

Publishing, BMI (M.Lambert) 36 

WHAT IFS Not Listed (K.Brown, M.McGinley, 

J.M.Schmidt) 43 

WHISKEY AND YOU WB Music Corp., ASCAP/ 

New Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane 

Publishing Corp., BMI/New Songs Of Sea Gayle, BMI/ 

Spirit Two Nashville, ASCAP (C.Stapleton, L.T.Miller) 46 

WITH YOU I AM Mood Merchant Music, BMI/4 

Cow Ranch Songs, BMI/Cojo Country Publishing, 

ASCAP/ASCAMP, ASCAP/Barns And No Bull Music, 

ASCAP (D.C.Lee, C.D.Johnson, T.W.Willmon) 50 

WOKE UP IN NASHVILLE WB Music Corp., 

ASCAP/Charged Kitsune Music, ASCAP/Songs From 

The Rose Hotel, ASCAP/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/ 

Skull Town Sounds, BMI/Weddings Music, BMI/Songs 

Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI (S.Ennis, 

B.Daly, D.H.Hodges) 48 

Y 

YEAH BOY Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/KNB 

Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Blue Guitar, BMI (K.Ballerini, 

F.G.Whitehead, K.Timmer) 23


CODA 

20 Years Ago 

Everybody 

Knew 

Kevin Sharp 

The Tony Rich Project’s take on 

“Nobody Knows” pushed it to 

become Sharp’s sole No. 1 hit 

On Jan. 11, 1997, Kevin Sharp 

began a four-week reign on 

Billboard’s Hot Country Songs 

chart with “Nobody Knows.” Prior 

to Sharp’s country version, the ballad 

had become a No. 2 Billboard 

Hot 100 pop/R&B hit a year earlier 

for The Tony Rich Project. 

Sharp also collected two more top 

10s — “She’s Sure Taking It Well” 

(No. 3) and “If You Love Somebody” 

(No. 4) — in 1997. All three 

songs were from his debut LP, Measure 

of a Man, which peaked at No. 4 

on Top Country Albums. It has sold 

762,000 copies in the United States 

to date, according to Nielsen Music. 

In the 1980s, while Sharp was in 

high school, he was diagnosed with 

Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone 

cancer. He entered remission after 

receiving two years of chemotherapy 

and radiation. Producer David Foster 

later became a friend and mentor 

to Sharp after they met through 

the Make-a-Wish Foundation; Sharp 

eventually served as a spokesman 

for the charity and wrote the inspirational 

book Tragedy’s Gift (2004). 

Sharp died on April 19, 2014, at age 

43, due to complications from past 

surgeries and other issues stemming 

from his aggressive cancer treatment. 

—JIM ASKER 

REWINDING 

THE 

COUNTRY 

CHARTS 

Sharp poses during an 

interview in Nashville, 

Sept. 25, 1996. 

AP PHOTO/ MARK HUMPHREY

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