Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay are charts that rank the top-performing country songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. Hot Country Songs ranks songs based on digital downloads, streaming, and airplay from radio stations of all formats, a methodology introduced in 2012. [1] Country Airplay, which was first published in 2012, is based solely on country radio airplay, a methodology that had previously been used from 1990 to 2012 for Hot Country Songs. [1]
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The year began with "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart and Nate Smith's "World on Fire" topping the Country Airplay listing, both songs retaining that position from the last issue of 2023. [2] [3] Both songs remained at number one throughout January, with the latter retaining its position on the airplay chart throughout the entirety of February as well. In the issue dated February 24, Beyoncé, a singer primarily associated with R&B and pop music, gained her first country number one when "Texas Hold 'Em" topped Hot Country Songs, [4] making her the first African-American female artist to achieve a chart-topper in the genre. [5] [6] After ten weeks in the top spot, it was displaced by "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" by Shaboozey, who had guested on Beyoncé's 2024 album Cowboy Carter . It was his first country number one and marked the first time that two African-American artists had topped the listing back-to-back in its 66-year history. [7] In the issue dated May 25, Post Malone, another singer not traditionally associated with country music, gained his first number one in the genre when "I Had Some Help", featuring Morgan Wallen, topped Hot Country Songs; [8] it was the first of six songs by Wallen to top one or both charts during 2024. Every song to top the Hot Country Songs listing during the year also topped Billboard's all-genre multimetric songs chart, the Hot 100, [9] highlighting country music's unprecedented level of mainstream success in 2024. [10] In November, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" tied the record for the longest-running number one in the history of the Hot 100. [11]
In the issue dated February 24, "World on Fire" logged its tenth consecutive week atop Country Airplay, tying the record for the longest-running number one based solely on country radio plays held by Wallen's 2022 song "You Proof". [12] A week later, it was replaced by Warren Zeiders' debut single "Pretty Little Poison", the first of eight consecutive one-week chart-toppers. It was the first debut single to top the chart since Smith's "Whiskey on You" thirteen months earlier. [13] In April, Chayce Beckham, winner of the 2021 season of TV's American Idol , gained his first number one with "23". It was the first country radio number one to be solely written by the singer who performed it since Taylor Swift's "Ours" in 2012. [14] In July, Ernest achieved his first number one as a performer when he collaborated with Wallen on "Cowgirls"; Ernest had written nine previous number ones for other artists. The song displaced "I Had Some Help" at the top, making it the first time since 2002 that an act scored back-to-back number one singles based on country radio play, and only the second time that such a distinction had been accomplished since Billboard began publishing a chart based on airplay on country stations in 1990. [15] In December, four artists gained their first number ones by topping Country Airplay, beginning with Ella Langley, who reached the peak position for the first time with "You Look Like You Love Me", featuring Riley Green; it was the first song with a female lead artist to top the airplay listing in over a year. [16] A week later, "Cowboy Songs" gave George Birge his first chart-topper, [17] and the following week "High Road" by Koe Wetzel and Jessie Murph was the debut number one for both singers. [18] In contrast to the artists reaching number one for the first time, when Kenny Chesney topped Country Airplay with "Take Her Home" in June it extended his own record for the most number ones based on plays at country music radio to 33 over a span of 27 years. [19] Three months later, Blake Shelton scored his 29th number-one single when his collaboration with Malone, "Pour Me a Drink", reached number one, tying him with Tim McGraw for the second-most number ones based on airplay. [20]
