"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" | ||||
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Single by Kenny Chesney with The Wailers | ||||
from the album Lucky Old Sun | ||||
Released | August 11, 2008 [1] | |||
Recorded | 2008 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 4:17 (album version) 2:40 (radio edit) | |||
Label | Blue Chair/BNA | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jim Collins, Marty Dodson | |||
Producer(s) | Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney | |||
Kenny Chesneysingles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" on YouTube |
"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" is a country music song co-written by American songwriters Jim Collins and Marty Dodson. The song was initially to have been recorded by George Strait for his 2008 album Troubadour , but after Strait decided not to include the song on this album, it was recorded by Kenny Chesney instead. Released in August 2008, Chesney's rendition is his thirty-eighth Top 40 country hit and his fifteenth Number One hit. Chesney's version is the first single from his album Lucky Old Sun , which was released on his own Blue Chair label in association with BNA Records.
"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" was co-written by Marty Dodson and Jim Collins, the latter of whom has previously co-written two other singles for Chesney: "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" from late 1999-early 2000, and "The Good Stuff" from mid-2002. [2] Initially, George Strait had recorded the song for his 2008 album Troubadour . [3] Although Strait's version did not make the album's final cut, he nonetheless made his own rendition available as a digital download. [4] Chesney then recorded his own version of the song, and released it as the first single from his studio album Lucky Old Sun, his first project for his personal Blue Chair label (in association with BNA Records, the label to which he has been signed since 1995). [5]
Chesney's rendition of the song is a mid-tempo, set in a calypso orchestration [2] with a slight reggae feel, and is backed by The Wailers, who also sing the final chorus on the album version.
The song is about a man detailing his life to a preacher who has told him to forgo a lifestyle of drinking alcohol and pursuing sexual desires, in favor of a more religious-oriented style. [6] In the chorus, the narrator responds saying that "Everybody wants to go to heaven / But nobody wants to go now".
Matt C. of Engine 145 gave the song a "thumbs down" rating. Although his review makes note of the song's "carefree sentiment that characterizes standards like 'Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young'", he considered the calypso orchestration "patently offensive". [3]
Alison Bonaguro, who contributes to the blog for the television network CMT, gave the song a more positive review. Although she referred to the instrumentation as "not-so-country", she described the song's sentiment favorably, comparing it to Tim McGraw's 2004 single "Live Like You Were Dying", but without a "preachy feel". [6]
Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave it a B grade. He said that the only problem with the song was the production, and that "the calypso trimmings used to be a distinctive trademark of Kenny Chesney records, but by now, they’re a crutch." [7]
In August 2008, Chesney traveled to Jamaica to film the song's music video. The Wailers are featured in the video as well. [8]
"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" debuted at number 22 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week of August 16, 2008. [9] For the chart week of October 18, 2008, it has become his fifteenth Number One hit. The next week, its second and final week at Number One, the song was credited as "Kenny Chesney with The Wailers". Prior to this, it had been credited to Chesney alone.
Chart (2008) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [10] | 1 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [11] | 41 |
Canada Country ( Billboard ) [12] | 1 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [13] | 49 |
Chart (2008) | Position |
---|---|
US Country Songs ( Billboard ) [14] | 15 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [15] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Kenneth Arnold Chesney is an American country singer. He has recorded more than 20 albums that include more than 40 Top 10 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, 33 of which have reached number one. Many of these also have charted within the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making him one of the most successful crossover country artists. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
I Will Stand is the fourth studio album by American country music singer Kenny Chesney. It was released on July 15, 1997, on BNA Records. "She's Got It All" was the album's first single, as well as Chesney's first number 1 single on the Billboard country music charts. "A Chance", "That's Why I'm Here" and "I Will Stand" were all released as singles as well, peaking on the country charts at number 11, number 2, and number 27, respectively. Also included is an acoustic rendition of Chesney's 1996 single "When I Close My Eyes".
Everywhere We Go is the fifth studio album by American country music singer Kenny Chesney. It was released on March 2, 1999, via BNA Records. The first in his career to be certified double platinum for sales of two million copies, it produced four singles with "How Forever Feels", "You Had Me from Hello", "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy", and "What I Need to Do". The first two singles were Number One hits on the Billboard country charts and were also Kenny's first Top 40 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" was a number 11 hit on that same chart, and "What I Need to Do" a number eight. The singles "You Had Me from Hello" and "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" were both certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This was Chesney's first album to feature a crossover-friendly country-pop sound, which was a departure from his earlier neotraditional country albums.
The Wailers Band is a reggae band formed by former members of Bob Marley and the Wailers after his death in 1981, one of several spinoffs from Marley's original group.
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"Shiftwork" is a song written by Troy Jones and recorded by the American country music artist Kenny Chesney with George Strait as a duet. It was released in December 2007 as the third single from Chesney's 2007 album, Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates.
Troubadour is the twenty-fifth studio album by American country music singer George Strait. It was released on April 1, 2008 on MCA Nashville Records. The album comprises twelve tracks, including two duets. The lead-off single, "I Saw God Today", was the highest-debuting single of Strait's career, and his forty-third Number One on the Billboard country charts. The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA. At the 51st Grammy Awards, Troubadour earned the Grammy Award for Best Country Album, the first Grammy win of Strait's career. The album was intended to include the song "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven", but after Strait decided not to include it on the album, it was later recorded by Kenny Chesney, and was released as the first single from his album Lucky Old Sun. "It Was Me" was originally recorded by Jamey Johnson on his 2006 album, The Dollar.
Lucky Old Sun is the twelfth studio album by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released on October 14, 2008 as the first release for Blue Chair Records, Chesney's personal division of the BNA Records record label. The album produced two singles in "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" and "Down the Road", which were both number ones on the country charts. Chesney's versions of those two songs are duets with The Wailers and Mac McAnally respectively. This was Kenny's first album since 1997's I Will Stand to not have a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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American country music singer Kenny Chesney has released 72 singles. Of Chesney's singles, all but four have charted in the Top 40 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs and/or Country Airplay chart. Thirty-two of his singles have reached number one, beginning with "She's Got It All" in 1997. "The Good Stuff" (2002) and "There Goes My Life" (2003–04) are his longest-lasting number ones on the charts at seven weeks each. The former was also the number one country music song of 2002 according to the Billboard Year-End charts. Most of his singles from the mid-1998 "That's Why I'm Here" onwards have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 as well, with twenty-six of his singles peaking inside the Top 40. "Out Last Night" (2009) is his highest peak on that chart at number 16.