Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay are charts that rank the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based on digital downloads, streaming, and airplay not only from country stations but from stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. [1] Country Airplay, which was published for the first time in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology which had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. [1]
At the start of the year, the number one song on the Hot Country Songs listing was "Cruise" by the duo Florida Georgia Line. After falling from the top spot at the end of January, the song rebounded to the top in April, beginning a run of 19 consecutive weeks at number one. Its final total was 24 weeks at the top of the chart, breaking the record which had stood since the 1940s for the most cumulative weeks spent atop one of Billboard's country song charts. [2] [3] This revival of the song's fortunes was due to the late spring release of a remix featuring rapper Nelly, which proved extremely popular on pop music radio. [4] [5] [6] Thanks to the incorporation into the chart's methodology of airplay data from all radio formats, this support from top 40 radio allowed "Cruise" to hold the top spot throughout the summer. [5] [7] The remix did not prove as popular on country radio, however, and by the late summer, the song was in the unusual position of topping the Hot Country Songs chart but receiving so few plays on country stations that it did not appear in the 60-position airplay listing at all. [8]
"Cruise" was followed into the top spot on the Hot Country Songs chart by "That's My Kind of Night" by Luke Bryan, which spent 12 weeks at number one. Both acts were associated with bro-country, an emerging subgenre which incorporated elements from hip hop music and emphasized lyrics about partying, drinking, and attractive young women. [9] The dominance of the two songs on Hot Country Songs contributed to most of the chart-toppers on the Country Airplay chart not reaching the top of the other listing. Of the 31 songs which topped the airplay chart during 2013, only five also topped Hot Country Songs, and on only four occasions during the year was the same song at number one on both charts. Four acts who topped the airplay listing during the year achieved the first number ones of their careers. In February Randy Houser gained his first number one with "How Country Feels". [10] Pistol Annies, a supergroup composed of female singers Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley, reached number one for the first time in June when they were featured on the song "Boys 'Round Here" by Blake Shelton, [11] Lambert's then-husband. [12] Brett Eldredge was a first-time chart-topper when "Don't Ya" spent two weeks in the top spot at the end of August. [13] Finally, the band Parmalee reached number one for the first time when "Carolina" topped the chart in the issue of Billboard dated December 21. [14] Gary Allan scored his first number one in more than eight years when "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)" topped both the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts in February. [15]
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in Billboard magazine. Billboard biz, the online extension of the Billboard charts, provides additional weekly charts, as well as year-end charts. The charts may be dedicated to a specific genre such as R&B, country, or rock, or they may cover all genres. The charts can be ranked according to sales, streams, or airplay, and for main song charts such as the Hot 100 song chart, all three data are used to compile the charts. For the Billboard 200 album chart, streams and track sales are included in addition to album sales.
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.
"Cruise" is a song recorded by American country music duo Florida Georgia Line. It was first released to iTunes in April 2012 and then to radio on August 6, 2012 as the first single from their extended play It'z Just What We Do. It was written by group members Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard with Joey Moi, Chase Rice, and Jesse Rice. It is included on their first album for Republic Nashville, Here's to the Good Times, released on December 4. "Cruise" is the best-selling country digital song of all time in the United States as of January 2014. The song is considered the foremost example of the genre of country music termed "bro-country".
Florida Georgia Line was an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single "Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was downloaded over seven million times, making it the first country song ever to receive the Diamond certification, and it became the best-selling digital country song, with 24 weeks at number one, until it was surpassed in July 2017 by Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road". "Cruise" helped to pioneer a style of country music known as "bro-country", which incorporates production elements from rock and hip-hop music, and tends to cover subject matter such as partying, drinking, driving trucks and sexual attraction. Much of their subsequent music has been tagged with the "bro-country" label as well.
American country music duo Florida Georgia Line has released five studio albums, one compilation album, four extended plays, 19 singles, four featured singles, 27 other charted songs, and 29 music videos. Eighteen of their singles have reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, or Canada Country charts.
"Body Like a Back Road" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Sam Hunt. It was released to country radio, by MCA Nashville on February 2, 2017, as the lead single from his second studio album Southside. The song is written by Hunt, Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne. It was released to American hot adult contemporary radio on April 3, 2017, becoming his second crossover single promoted to a pop music format.
"Feel It Still" is a song by American rock band Portugal. The Man. The song, which interpolates the Marvelettes' 1961 hit "Please Mr. Postman", was written by the band along with John Hill and Asa Taccone, with the latter two serving as producers. It serves as the second single and first radio single off their eighth studio album, Woodstock. The song reached number one on the US Alternative Songs, Mexican and Russian Tophit airplay chart. It was also their first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a sleeper hit, as it took eight months to peak at number four in November 2017.