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 that had previously been used for several decades for Hot Country Songs. [1]
Both charts began the year with "Speechless" by Dan + Shay retaining the top spot from the final chart of 2018. [2] [3] The song remained atop the airplay chart for the first two weeks of 2019 before being replaced by "Good Girl" by Dustin Lynch, and held the top spot on Hot Country Songs for a further two weeks before Dan + Shay replaced themselves at number one with "Tequila". The latter song broke the record for the longest time taken to climb to number one on the Hot Country Songs chart, reaching the top spot in its 54th week on the listing. [4] It reached the top of the chart more than six months after it had been number one on Country Airplay, and marked the first time for five years that an act had replaced itself at number one on Hot Country Songs. [4] In early March, Luke Combs reached the top of both charts with "Beautiful Crazy" and topped both listings simultaneously for seven weeks. Industry observers reported that the track would have been replaced at number one on Hot Country Songs in early April by rapper Lil Nas X's song "Old Town Road" had Billboard not taken the decision to remove that track after its first week on the listing, contending that it did not sufficiently fit the country genre. This decision caused controversy: one former music label executive claimed that a similar track by a white artist would have been treated differently. [5]
Three songs tied for the year's longest unbroken run atop the Hot Country Songs chart. "Beautiful Crazy" held the top spot for eleven consecutive weeks, a figure matched by both "The Git Up" by Blanco Brown and the year's final number one on the listing, "10,000 Hours", on which Dan + Shay collaborated with Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber. Dan + Shay thus spent a total of 19 weeks at number one in 2019, the most by any act. "The Git Up" spent twelve weeks in total at number one but non-consecutively, being interrupted for a single week by "God's Country" by Blake Shelton. The seven-week run at number one on Country Airplay achieved by "Beautiful Crazy" was the year's longest unbroken spell atop that listing and the longest-running country number one based on radio plays since Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" in 2004. [6] Combs achieved two further airplay chart-toppers with "Beer Never Broke My Heart" in August and "Even Though I'm Leaving" in November. When the former song reached number one, Combs achieved the feat of topping Billboard's radio-based country chart with his first six singles, something which no other act had achieved since the magazine began publishing a chart using that methodology in 1990. [7] Combs tied with Thomas Rhett for the most number ones during the year, with three each. However, Rhett spent significantly less time at number one, topping the chart for three weeks compared to Combs' twelve. Dan + Shay, Jason Aldean, and Old Dominion were the only other acts to chart more than one number one song during 2019, with two each. In August, Maren Morris reached number one on the airplay chart with "Girl", the first chart-topper by a female vocalist for 17 months. [8] The under-representation of female artists on the playlists of country radio stations had become a hot topic; an academic study published earlier in the year found that between 2000 and 2018 the proportion of airplay on country stations for songs by women fell from 33% to 11%. [9]
"Nothin' Like You" is a song recorded by American country music duo Dan + Shay for their debut studio album, Where It All Began (2014). The song was written by both group members along with Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley.
Luke Albert Combs is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born and raised in North Carolina, Combs began performing as a child, most notably performing at Carnegie Hall. After dropping out of college to pursue a career in music, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he released his debut extended play, The Way She Rides, in 2014.
"Hurricane" is the debut single of American country music singer Luke Combs. The song was released through Columbia Nashville in 2016 after initially charting in 2015. It is included on his debut album This One's for You. The song was written by Combs, along with Thomas Archer and Taylor Phillips.
"One Number Away" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Luke Combs. He wrote it with Robert Williford, Sammy Mitchell, and Steven Battey. Sammy Mitchell produced the song, engineered/edited it, and performed many of the instruments. Steven Battey is listed with a co-production credit for his input on arrangement during the writing process. It was released in January 2018 as the third single from his debut studio album This One's for You (2017). The song is a country ballad about a man conflicted with not wanting to breakdown and call his ex-girlfriend. "One Number Away" reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, giving Combs his third number-one country hit overall. It also peaked at numbers three and 34 on both the Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts respectively. The song was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 316,000 copies in the US as of January 2019. It achieved similar chart success in Canada, giving Combs his second number-one hit on the Canada Country chart and reaching number 87 on the Canadian Hot 100. It garnered a Platinum certification from Music Canada, denoting sales of 80,000 units in that country. An accompanying music video for the single was created by TA Films. For promotion, Combs performed the song live on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Megyn Kelly Today and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
"When It Rains It Pours" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Luke Combs. It was released in June 2017 as the second single from his debut album This One's for You (2017). Written by Combs, Ray Fulcher and Jordan Walker, the song is about a man gaining a streak of luck after his girlfriend left him, something that Combs had similarly gone through that acted as the basis for the song's creation. "When It Rains It Pours" reached number one on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts respectively, giving Combs his second number-one country hit overall. It also charted at number 33 on the Hot 100 chart. The song was certified 8× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 8,000,000 units as of March 2023. It achieved similar chart success in Canada, giving Combs his first number-one hit on the Canada Country chart and peaking at number 54 on the Canadian Hot 100. It garnered a 2× Platinum certification from Music Canada. Although it didn't chart in Australia, it was certified 6x Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting sales of 420,000 units in that country. An accompanying music video for the single, created by TA Films, retells the song's story. It was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2018 CMT Music Awards. For promotion, Combs performed the song live on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and CMT Crossroads with Leon Bridges.
"Tequila" is a song recorded by American country music duo Dan + Shay for their self-titled third studio album. Dan Smyers co-wrote the song with Nicolle Galyon and Jordan Reynolds and co-produced the track with Scott Hendricks. It was released through Warner Bros. Nashville on January 10, 2018, as the album's lead single. "Tequila" was released to country radio on January 15, 2018. Smyers's wife, Abby Law Smyers, performs backing vocals on the song during the post-chorus "when I when I" hook. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 61st Grammy Awards as well as both Single and Song of the Year at the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards.
"10,000 Hours" is a song by American country music duo Dan + Shay and Canadian singer Justin Bieber. It was released on October 4, 2019, as the lead single from Dan + Shay's fourth studio album, Good Things (2021). Released four days after Justin and Hailey Bieber's wedding in South Carolina on September 30, the song was written by duo members Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, Justin Bieber, Poo Bear, Jessie Jo Dillon, and Jordan Reynolds, and produced solely by Smyers. The song was named Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 2021 Grammy Awards.
American country pop duo Dan + Shay have released four studio albums and 14 singles. They have achieved nine top ten hits on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, including seven number one songs. Since the release of "Tequila" in 2018, they have experienced crossover success, placing three singles, including "Tequila", in the top ten of the Adult Pop Songs chart in addition to their success in the country genre.
"Beautiful Crazy" is a song recorded by American country music singer Luke Combs. The song, which he wrote with Wyatt Durrette and Robert Williford, is a bonus track to his 2017 debut album This One's for You. The song had gained viral attention prior to its release as a single.
"Speechless" is a song recorded by American country music duo Dan + Shay for their 2018 self-titled third studio album. The song was written by Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney along with Jordan Reynolds and Laura Veltz. It was first released digitally as a promotional single on May 18, 2018. "Speechless" was serviced to country radio on August 6, 2018 as the album's second official single. A new version featuring Tori Kelly was released on June 6, 2019.
American country music singer and songwriter Luke Combs has released four studio albums, four extended plays and sixteen singles.