Bless the Broken Road

Last updated
"Bless the Broken Road"
Song by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
from the album Acoustic
Released1994
Genre Country, pop
Length3:50
Label Liberty
Songwriter(s) Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Producer(s) Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
"Bless the Broken Road"
Song by Marcus Hummon
from the album All in Good Time
ReleasedSeptember 5, 1995
Genre Country
Length4:09
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Producer(s) Monroe Jones

"Bless the Broken Road" is a song that has been recorded by several American country music artists. Co-written by Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd, and Jeff Hanna in 1994, it tells how the journey through relationship heartbreak and disappointment was an important series of lessons along the broken road to finding one’s true love. It was first recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1994, followed by Hummon on his 1995 album All in Good Time .

Contents

Since then, many artists have recorded the song, with Rascal Flatts' version being the highest-charting, becoming a number 1 hit on the Billboard country music charts in 2005 and earning the songwriters a Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

History

Singer-songwriter Marcus Hummon co-wrote the song with Jeff Hanna (of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and Bobby Boyd. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded it for the 1994 album Acoustic . One year later, Hummon covered the song for his debut album All in Good Time for Columbia Records. [1] His rendition includes backing vocals from Hanna and Matraca Berg. [2] Michael McCall of New Country magazine thought that Hummon's rendition was the best track on the album. [3]

Sons of the Desert recorded its own version of the song, for a planned second album on Epic Records that would have been released in 1998. This album was not released, due to a dispute between the band and its label. [4]

Since then, many artists have recorded the song including Deborah Joy Winans, Melodie Crittenden, Geoff Moore, Selah, Jamie Slocum, Carrie Underwood, Buddy Greene, Boyce Avenue, and Rascal Flatts.

Melodie Crittenden version

"Broken Road"
Single by Melodie Crittenden
from the album Melodie Crittenden
ReleasedJanuary 1998
Genre Country
Length3:52
Label Asylum #9945
Songwriter(s) Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Producer(s) Byron Gallimore
Stephony Smith [5]
Melodie Crittenden singles chronology
"Broken Road"
(1998)
"I Should've Known"
(1998)

Also in 1998, Melodie Crittenden recorded the song under the title "Broken Road" and included it on her self-titled debut album for Asylum Records. Released as the first of two singles from it, this version was a number 42 single on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. [6]

This version was featured on an episode of Dawson's Creek.

Critical reception

Billboard gave Crittenden's version a positive review in the January 17, 1998, issue, calling it "sheer poetry with a moving message." [5]

Chart positions

Chart (1998)Peak
position
Canada Country Tracks ( RPM ) [7] 48
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [8] 42

Rascal Flatts version

"Bless the Broken Road"
Bless the broken road.jpg
Single by Rascal Flatts
from the album Feels Like Today
ReleasedNovember 1, 2004
Genre
Length3:46(Album Version)
3:38 (Single Version)
Label Lyric Street
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Rascal Flatts singles chronology
"Feels Like Today"
(2004)
"Bless the Broken Road"
(2004)
"Fast Cars and Freedom"
(2005)

The highest-charting rendition is by the country music group Rascal Flatts, who cut the song for the Feels Like Today album. Released in November 2004, this version spent five weeks at number one on Hot Country Singles & Tracks. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song [9] and earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. The song topped the 2 million mark in paid downloads on September 18, 2010. It's Rascal Flatts' third song to reach that mark, following "Life Is a Highway" and "What Hurts the Most". [10] As of January 2020, the song has sold 3,719,000 copies in the US. [11]

On May 25, 2005, during a live performance on American Idol by Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts, [12] an additional version was recorded. While not in wide release, and never included on an album, the version received enough radio airplay to enter the country music charts at number 50. [9]

In 2009, an acoustic version recorded by Rascal Flatts was included in the soundtrack of Hannah Montana: The Movie .

On May 19, 2012, "Bless the Broken Road" debuted at number 76 and went to number 41 next week on the UK Singles chart (The Official Charts Company), the band's first and only appearance on the chart.

On February 26, 2020, the song received renewed attention after California-based artist RMR sampled the piano melody for his debut song "Rascal". The song and music video would go on to be a viral hit. [13]

Song information

Rascal Flatts' version of the song is set in the key of C major, with a vocal range from C3 to A4. [14]

Charts

Chart (2004–2012)Peak
position
Canada Country ( Radio & Records ) [15] 1
Ireland (IRMA) [16] 35
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [17] 58
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) [18] 41
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [19] 1
US Billboard Hot 100 [20] 29
US Billboard Pop 100 40
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [21] 20
Chart (2005)Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [22]
Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts version
50

Year-end charts

Chart (2005)Position
US Country Songs ( Billboard ) [23] 3

Certifications and sales

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [24] Silver200,000
United States (RIAA) [25] Platinum3,719,000 [11]

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Selah version

"Bless the Broken Road"
Single by Selah with Melodie Crittenden
from the album Bless the Broken Road: The Duets Album
ReleasedMarch 2006
Genre Contemporary Christian music
Length4:10
Label Curb
Songwriter(s) Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd
Jeff Hanna
Producer(s) Allan Hall, Jason Kyle, Todd D. Smith
Selah singles chronology
"Bless the Broken Road"
(2006)
"Hosanna"
(2009)

Selah, a contemporary Christian music band, covered the song in 2006 on the album Bless the Broken Road: The Duets Album featuring a duet vocal from Crittenden. [26] Also released as a single, Selah's version peaked at number five on the Hot Christian Songs charts.

Charts

Chart (2006)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Christian Songs [27] 5

Accolades

In 2007, this version of the song was nominated for a Dove Award for Song of the Year at the 38th GMA Dove Awards. [28]

Film adaptation

A feature film based on the song, titled God Bless the Broken Road , began filming in 2015, and was originally announced to be released in 2016. [29] The actual release was September 7, 2018. [30]

Related Research Articles

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, known as the Dirt Band from 1978 to 1983, is an American band founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Since 2018, the band has consisted of Jeff Hanna and his son Jaime Hanna, both guitarists and vocalists, along with Jimmie Fadden, Bob Carpenter, Ross Holmes, and Jim Photoglo.

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Katrina Ruth Elam is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal South Records in 2004, she released her self-titled debut album that year, charting in the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks with the No. 29 "No End in Sight" and the No. 59 "I Want a Cowboy". A third single, "Love Is", peaked at No. 47 from an unreleased second album Turn Me Up. Elam left the label in 2008.

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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2005.

"What Hurts the Most" is a song written by American songwriter Jeffrey Steele and English songwriter Steve Robson. Originally recorded by country music artist Mark Wills in 2003 on his album And the Crowd Goes Wild, it was covered by Bellefire a year later. The first version to be released as a single was by pop singer Jo O'Meara in 2005, from the album Relentless. Later that year, country band Rascal Flatts covered the song as well, releasing it as the first single from the 2006 album Me and My Gang, topping the U.S. country and adult contemporary charts with it. German band Cascada later had international chart success with the song in 2007. It was also covered by Eden in 2008.

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Marcus Spencer Hummon is an American country music singer-songwriter. Notable songs written or co-written by Hummon include "Ready to Run" and "Cowboy Take Me Away", recorded by The Chicks; "Born to Fly", recorded by Sara Evans; "Only Love", recorded by Wynonna Judd; "The Cheap Seats", recorded by Alabama; "Pilgrims on the Way", recorded by Michael Martin Murphey; "One of These Days", recorded by Tim McGraw; "Cornfields or Cadillacs", recorded by Farmer's Daughter; "Love Is the Right Place", recorded by Bryan White; and "Bless the Broken Road", recorded by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as well as Rascal Flatts. Three of these songs reached number one on the country record charts: "Cowboy Take Me Away", "Born to Fly", and the Rascal Flatts version of "Bless the Broken Road". Hummon has also scored films and written operas and musicals.

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<i>All in Good Time</i> (Marcus Hummon album) 1995 studio album by Marcus Hummon

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<i>Acoustic</i> (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album) 1994 studio album by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Acoustic is the 1994 album by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rascal (song)</span> Song by RMR

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References

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  3. McCall, New Country (November 1995). "Album reviews". New Country. 2 (14): 57–58. ISSN   1074-536X.
  4. Bjorke, Matt. "Matt's Songwriter Spotlight - Marcus Hummon". About.com . Archived from the original on 2008-05-08. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Singles". Billboard. 17 January 1998. p. 66.
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  9. 1 2 Whitburn, p. 339
  10. "Week Ending Sept. 5, 2010: Rihanna Leads The Pack". Chart Watch. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
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  12. "USA Today Underwood Wins Idol". USA Today . Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
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  28. 38th Annual GMA Awards Archived 2009-04-26 at the Wayback Machine on About.com
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