Ashley Gorley Rules the Hot 100 Songwriters Chart for First Time Thanks to Morgan Wallen Hits
Written by djfrosty on March 23, 2023
Ashley Gorley rises to No. 1 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 Songwriters chart (dated March 25), leading as the top songwriter in the United States for the first time thanks to 12 writing credits on the latest Billboard Hot 100, including 10 by Morgan Wallen.
All 10 songs by Wallen are on his new LP, One Thing at a Time, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated March 18) with 501,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate. The sum marks the biggest week of 2023 for any album, in terms of units earned, and the largest week for any country album since Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) opened with 604,500 units in November 2021. One Thing at a Time spends a second week at No. 1 on the latest list (259,000 units).
Leading Gorley’s Hot 100 entries is the set’s single “Last Night,” which ranks at No. 2 after hitting No. 1 a week earlier. It earned Gorley his first leader on the chart as a songwriter.
Here’s a recap of Gorley’s songwriting credits on the March 25 Hot 100:
Rank, Artist Billing, Title
- No. 2, Morgan Wallen, “Last Night”
- No. 10, Morgan Wallen, “You Proof”
- No. 17, Morgan Wallen, “Thinkin’ Bout Me”
- No. 20, Morgan Wallen, “One Thing at a Time”
- No. 29, Morgan Wallen, “Everything I Love”
- No. 51, Morgan Wallen feat. ERNEST, “Cowgirls”
- No. 52, Carly Pearce, “What He Didn’t Do”
- No. 61, Morgan Wallen, “Whiskey Friends”
- No. 76, Morgan Wallen, “Tennessee Fan”
- No. 81, Morgan Wallen, “Me + All Your Reasons”
- No. 87, Brett Young, “You Didn’t”
- No. 96, Morgan Wallen, “180 (Lifestyle)”
Gorley has been one of the most in-demand country music songwriters since the mid-2000s. He’s written or co-written 96 Hot 100 entries, dating to his first, Carrie Underwood’s “Don’t Forget to Remember Me,” in 2006.
His country chart achievements are even more impressive. Gorley has written or co-written 51 No. 1 hits on Country Airplay and 15 No. 1s on Hot Country Songs.
Gorley has also spent 32 weeks at No. 1 on the Country Songwriters chart, the second-most after Zach Bryan (38 weeks).
On the Hot 100 Producers chart, Joey Moi tallies a 23rd week at No. 1, thanks to 29 production credits on the Hot 100 – with all but one via songs by Wallen. Only Dan Nigro has spent more weeks at No. 1 (27). As previously reported, Moi concurrently becomes the first artist to spend 100 weeks at No. 1 on the Country Producers chart.
Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic, in June 2019. (Alternative and hard rock joined in 2020, along with seasonal holiday rankings in 2022). The charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100. The genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).
The full Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.