Background
The song was written by Brown with Matt McGinn and Jordan Schmidt. The song is about a couple where the question "what if" is asked repeatedly about what would happen in their relationship. [2] It features a duet with Lauren Alaina,a school friend from Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School when he was living in Fort Oglethorpe,Georgia. [3] According to Brown,the song was initially not intended to be a duet,he said:"Once we decided on adding a woman to "What Ifs," I knew that I wanted Lauren to sing it,and,of course,she killed it." [4] According to Brown,another song was going to be used in the album,however,he was asked so much about "What Ifs" on social media that it was then decided that the song should be included in the album. [2]
"What Ifs" sold 6,000 downloads in the US the week the album was released on December 2,2016,allowing it to chart at number 37 on the US Hot Country Songs chart. [6] The song first entered the US Country Airplay chart for the week of March 4,2017 at number 60. [7] It reached number one on Hot Country Songs in October 2017,ending the record breaking 34-week reign of Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road". The song is the first number one on the chart for both Brown and Alaina. [8] The following week,for the chart dated October 28,2017,"What Ifs" stayed at number one,as well as topped the Country Airplay and Country Streaming Songs charts,becoming Alaina's second number one on the former chart after her solo single,"Road Less Traveled",topped the chart earlier in the year. Together with the release of the deluxe edition of the album which also reached number on Top Country Albums,and another number one for a new track "Heaven" on digital sales, [9] Brown became the first artist to have simultaneous number ones on all five main country charts. [4]
The single became the third most-consumed country song of 2017,with 1,551,000 units including streams (599,000 in pure sales) sold in the year. [10] [11] As of January 2019,the single has sold 889,000 copies in the US. [12] On February 26,2025,the single was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over ten million units in the United States. [13]
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