Hot 100 First-Timers: Ashley Cooke Debuts With Breakup Ballad & Country Hit ‘Your Place’
Written by djfrosty on June 3, 2024
Ashley Cooke is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist.
The singer-songwriter debuts at No. 95 on the latest chart (dated June 8) with her single “Your Place.”
Released in July 2023 via Back Blocks/Big Loud, the track debuts on the Hot 100 with 23.3 million radio airplay audience impressions and 2 million official U.S. streams May 24-30, according to Luminate. It also holds at its No. 7 high on Country Airplay and climbs 25-23 on Hot Country Songs.
Cooke is just the second woman to reach the top 10 of Country Airplay in 2024, after Lainey Wilson, whose “Wildflowers and Wild Horses” hit No. 5 in May.
In a December interview with Billboard, Cooke shared her experience of dumping a boyfriend after discovering that he had cheated on her and how that inspired her current hit. “In a weird way, writing ‘Your Place’ was kind of my line in the sand of, ‘Hey, I’m going to turn a new leaf and not deal with those kinds of relationships anymore,’ ” she said. “Singing that song every night on tour, you feel that power kind of being put back into who you are and your worth and your respect for yourself. And it’s cool to see people in the crowd also responding to that.”
Cooke’s relationship experiences are further detailed on her sophomore LP and major-label debut, Shot in the Dark, which includes “Your Place.” Released in 2023, the set reached No. 14 on Heatseekers Albums (which ranks the most popular albums each week by new or developing acts) last August.
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“As a young person growing up and falling in and out of love — and what you think is love, and what actually isn’t love — I think it’s easy to get so caught up in it,” she shared. “I put up with a lot of stuff in different relationships that, if you listened to my whole debut album, it’s a lot about relationships and about toxicity.”
“Your Place” was produced by Jimmy Robbins, who earns his second Hot 100 entry in that role, following Kelsea Ballerini’s “Half of My Hometown,” featuring Kenny Chesney (No. 53, 2022).
Cooke scored her first overall Billboard chart appearance in April 2022 when “Never Til Now,” with Brett Young, debuted and peaked at No. 5 on Country Digital Song Sales, No. 14 on Digital Song Sales and No. 46 on Hot Country Songs. The track also hit No. 49 on Country Airplay that December. She followed with “It’s Been a Year,” which hit Nos. 2 and 6 on the respective sales surveys.