Jelly Roll’s ‘Need a Favor’ Makes History on Billboard Rock, Country Charts
Written by djfrosty on June 16, 2023
Jelly Roll achieves a first on Billboard’s charts as “Need a Favor” rises from No. 12 to No. 9 on the Country Airplay tally dated June 24, with 17.5 million audience impressions June 9-15 on the ranking’s panel of reporting stations, according to Luminate.
Now that it’s within Country Airplay’s top 10, the song becomes the first ever to have hit the top 10 of both Country Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay.
“Need a Favor” concurrently spends a fourth week in a row at its No. 3 high on Mainstream Rock Airplay.
The format-specific radio charts have existed simultaneously since the chart week of Jan. 20, 1990, when Country Airplay began. Mainstream Rock Airplay’s history stretches back to March 21, 1981.
Late last year, Jelly Roll became the eighth act to have scored a top 10 on both charts, albeit with separate songs. He first hit the top 10 of Mainstream Rock Airplay with “Dead Man Walking,” which led for a week in May 2022, while “Son of a Sinner” reached No. 1 on Country Airplay this January.
At the time, the list of other acts who have appeared in the top 10 of both charts included Bon Jovi, Zac Brown Band, Brantley Gilbert, Kid Rock, Dave Matthews (solo on Country Airplay and fronting Dave Matthews Band on Mainstream Rock Airplay), Sting and Travis Tritt.
Since then, a ninth has added his name to the list: HARDY, whose “Jack” reached No. 3 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in March; he has notched three top 10s on Country Airplay.
Of those nine acts, Bon Jovi, Brantley Gilbert, Jelly Roll and Zac Brown Band are the only ones with No. 1 placements on both surveys.
Unlike with the clear crossover appeal of “Need a Favor,” the artists above with top 10 ranks on both charts have largely not had individual songs make both lists. One hit previously reached the top 20 of both tallies: Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” rose to No. 4 on Country Airplay and No. 17 on Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2008.
In addition to its Mainstream Rock Airplay and Country Airplay success, “Need a Favor” concurrently bullets at its No. 6 best on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 3.3 million audience impressions. In addition to its mainstream rock radio airplay, the song is bubbling under Alternative Airplay.
On the most-recently published, June 17-dated multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Country Songs charts, “Need a Favor” placed at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively. Along with its airplay, the song earned 11.2 million official streams and sold 7,000 downloads in the United States June 2-8.
“Need a Favor” is the lead single from Whitsitt Chapel, Jelly Roll’s latest studio album, and his first country set. It debuted at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Country Albums charts dated June 17, respectively, with 90,000 equivalent album units earned.
All charts dated June 24 will update on Billboard.com Wednesday, June 21 (a day later than usual due to the Juneteenth holiday in the U.S. Monday, June 19).