Upon its release, the song was added to the playlists of 133 radio stations surveyed by Billboard, breaking a record set by Tracy Lawrence for the most adds in one week.[2]
The song was later included as the B-side to Herndon's early-1996 single "In Your Face," which peaked at 63 on the country charts.[1]
Critical reception
Deborah Evans Price of Billboard magazine reviewed the song unfavorably saying that while Herndon turns in a "credible vocal performance", it is "a shame that this formulaic, by-the-numbers song, written by two Nashville pros, doesn't make much of an impression."[3] Michael McCall of New Country was more positive, calling it "a powerful, sensitive song about a man who realizes, too late, that he noticed everything about his lover except what was in her heart."[4]
On June 4, 2019, Herndon re-released the song for Pride Month. For this version, Herndon swapped the gender pronouns to reflect his status as an openly gay man. The single is the first released from his Got It Covered record, released in August. Its release marks Herndon's return to his standard country pop after the release of four dance singles. Herndon revealed in an interview with NPR that he was in a closeted relationship with a man at the time of the song's original release in 1995. That relationship and that of his parents inspired his performance of the track. After coming out of closet, Herndon began performing the song with mixed genders, beginning the song with its traditional lyrics and switching to male pronouns before the end.[11]
Music video
The music video for the updated version of What Mattered Most features Herndon singing in a studio and surrounded by sound engineers and producers. He introduces the video by saying that he is now "brave enough" to record the song the way it should have been recorded.[12]
References
1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p.187. ISBN978-0-89820-177-2.
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