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Oliver Anthony Music is churning out the country tunes. His latest new video is a live performance of “90 Some Chevy,” a country love song that could be a classic. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The singer-songwriter — who is from Farmville, Virginia, and whose stage […]
Jimmy Buffett, the musical troubadour known for his island-tinged, rum-soaked hits including “Margaritaville,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” as well as his empire of businesses including his chain of Margaritaville cafes, died on Friday (Sept. 1) at age 76.
“Jimmy passed away on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs,” an early Saturday morning (Sept. 2) post on his official website read. “He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”
The Mississippi-born, Alabama-raised Buffett was a globally-known star, thanks to his carefree hits and colorful stage shows, but much of his musical roots ran through Nashville. In 2021, Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band played a private show at Exit/In — five decades after he made some of his first performances at the tiny club on Elliston Place in Music City. The club would serve as a launching pad for Buffett’s musical career, while Buffett and artists including Steve Martin would help Exit/In become one Nashville’s most venerable music clubs, thus helping to launch what would be known as the city’s historic “Rock Block,” alongside businesses including The End and The Gold Rush.
Buffett moved to Nashville in the late 1960s with ambitions of a career in country music. He became a Nashville reporter for Billboard from 1969-1970, where he is credited with breaking the news of the breakup of bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in 1969. His tenure at Billboard was brief, due to the release of his 1970 debut album, Down to Earth.
His follow-up, 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (the title is a twist on a Marty Robbins hit) was recorded at Tompall Glaser’s Nashville studio, which would later be dubbed “Hillbilly Central.” Though the album owed more to Nashville than the islands, listeners can hear beginnings of the Key West vibes Buffett would become known for. The album also testifies to Buffett’s impact as a songwriter; it includes the Buffett/Jerry Jeff Walker-written “Railroad Lady,” which was also recorded by artists including Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Waylon Jennings covered another of the album’s songs, “He Went to Paris,” on his 1980 album, Music Man, while Doug Supernaw recorded the track in 1994. Buffett would also co-write “Happiness Alone” with Clint Black, a song that appeared on Black’s album No Time to Kill.
The 1970s and 1980s saw several of Buffett’s songs rank on Billboard‘s country charts, including “The Great Filling Station Holdup” (1973), “Come Monday” (1974) and his star-making 1977 songs including “Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude” and “Margaritaville,” which would reach the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs chart. He also earned a top 20 country hit in 1985 with “If The Phone Doesn’t Ring, It’s Me.”
During his five-plus decades in music, Buffett earned two No. 1 hits on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, as well as three top 10 hits, in part thanks to his willingness to maintain ties within the country music community, collaborating with a range of artists.
Buffett’s 2003 collaboration with Alan Jackson — “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” about an overworked, underpaid blue collar worker who dreams of escaping to the islands — became an eight-week No. 1 Country Airplay hit. The song also reached the top 20 on the Hot 100. That same year, Kenny Chesney earned a major hit with the island-themed “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” further proving Buffett’s brand of island escapism was a key influence on the genre.
But even as far back as his 1998 hit “How Forever Feels,” Chesney paid homage to Buffett with the lyric, “Now I know how Jimmy Buffett Feels,” while the video’s tropical vibe helped cement cowboy hat-meets-puka shell necklace, “Island Kenny” persona Chesney would become known for in later songs and videos such as “When the Sun Goes Down.” Also in 1998, Garth Brooks also earned a hit with the tropical-themed “Two Pina Coladas,” a song written by Benita Hill, Shawn Camp and Sandy Mason; the writers had originally thought of pitching the song to Buffett, before it was ultimately pitched to Brooks. With songs like 2009’s “Toes,” “Jump Right In,” and their 2011 No. 1 hit collaboration with Buffett, “Knee Deep,” Zac Brown Band forged their own island jam band vibe.
“When contemporary country took it to the beach, obviously we were a big part of that,” Buffett told Billboard during a 2021 interview.
Notably, Buffett earned the sole Billboard 200-topping album of his career in 2004, with License to Chill, a collection of mostly country collaborations with artists including Chesney, George Strait, Clint Black, Martina McBride, Jackson and Toby Keith.
Chesney, who was a surprise guest during Buffett’s 2021 Exit/In show, paid tribute to Buffett on social media, stating, “So goodbye Jimmy. Thanks for your friendship and the songs I will carry in my heart forever. Sail On Sailor.” The two hitmakers previously collaborated on “Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season.”
“To me that song is true poetry, and a true reflection of Jimmy’s ability to tell a story and to capture a moment and to paint a picture of that moment,” Chesney later said in a video about the song. He added, “I’m not sure that Jimmy gets the credit that he deserves as being a poet, like a true songwriter, storyteller poet, a lot like [Ernest] Hemingway was in his time.”
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Below, we look at some of Buffett’s top country collaborations:
“Too Drunk to Karaoke” (With Toby Keith)
Jimmy Buffett ably summed up his catalog with the title of his 1992 box set — Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads. But that cuts broader, and deeper, than many realize.Buffett’s prevailing image, of course, was of floral shirts and Hawaiian leis, summer concert parties and fans with parrots on their shoulders and sharks, or at least fins, on their heads. And cheeseburgers on a paradise of tailgate grills. He also pioneered lifestyle branding, turning his tunes into an inclusive universe that includes restaurants, casinos, beer, real estate, radio and even a form of social media well before Mark Zuckerberg took the SAT. (Sadly, Buffett died at age 76 this week, as announced on his website, “surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.” His cause of death has not yet been confirmed.)
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Buffett’s signature lifestyle (and associated business ventures) sometimes eclipsed his music, and particularly to his songwriting. Before Margaritaville became a utopian state-of-mind, Buffett was an active and accomplished troubadour, writing songs in Nashville and busking in New Orleans before Jerry Jeff Walker introduced him to Key West and lit a conceptual light bulb Buffett would ride to fame and fortune. But he’s applied the same craft and literary flair from his folk club days to everything he’s recorded during the past 53 years — and the vast majority of his songs sound just as good sober as they do if you’re, well, wasting away in a grass skirt and coconut bra.
So, we put down the margaritas for a moment to consider the 20 best Jimmy Buffett songs, from across his vast, 29-album catalog.
20. Jimmy Buffett, “Gypsies in the Palace”
The spoken-word introduction wears out its welcome quickly, but this lively country rocker about the mice playing — raising hell, actually — while the cat’s away is a welcome listen most any time.
19. Jimmy Buffett, “Livingston Saturday Night”
Buffett’s in fine country rockin’ form here, pumped up by a hot brass section and Greg “Fingers” Taylor’s fiery harmonica solo.
18. Jimmy Buffett, “Oldest Surfer On The Beach”
Mark Knopfler wrote this 2013 album track for Buffett, bringing something with poignant emotional weight to the Margaritaville man’s latter-day canon.
17. Jimmy Buffett, “The Great Filling Station Holdup”
Buffett’s contribution to country’s crime songs sub-genre is honky-tonk worthy 45 years later — and also has the distinction of being the A-side of “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” which went on to even greater popularity.
16. Jimmy Buffett & Martina McBride, “Trip Around The Sun”
Country never seemed to trust Buffett enough (imagine that!) to make him one of the genre’s staples, but this 2004 duet with Martina McBride was worthy of its Top 20 status and doesn’t sound like it’s aged a minute.
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15. Jimmy Buffett, “Pencil Thin Mustache”
At the ripe age of 28 Buffett was in a nostalgic and jaunty mood, name-checking Disneyland, “American Bandstand,” “Sky King,” Ricky Ricardo and more with genuine joy.
14. Jimmy Buffett, “Boat Drinks”
A 1979 B-side (to “Survive”) that’s nothing less than a Buffett mission statement, Caribbean flavored but driven by some meaty guitars that give these “Drinks” a bit more punch.
13. Jimmy Buffett, “It’s Midnight and I’m Not Famous Yet”
A rocking co-write with Steve Goodman from 1992’s Somewhere Over China. Buffett was already famous, to a degree, but it’s something of a foreshadowing to the Margaritaville mania that would build momentum in just a few years.
12. Jimmy Buffett, “Volcano”
Buffett plays historian, as it were, on this good-humored, Caribbean-flavored ditty about the real-life — and at the time dormant — Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat, where he recorded during May of 1979. For the record, Soufriere woke up again during August of 1995.
11. Jimmy Buffett, “Nobody From Nowhere”
The existential opening track from 2009’s Buffett Hotel rides a cool, slightly country-flavored groove that slow burns into a gospel-tinged soul chorus. A gem that merits more attention and appreciation.
10. Jimmy Buffett, “Why Don’t We Get Drunk”
The songwriting debut by one Marvin Gardens (a Monopoly-inspired pseudonym for Buffett) is tongue-in-cheek country — not quite parody, but definitely acknowledging that he got the joke, too.
9. Jimmy Buffett, “Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes”
A pure Buffett travelogue that goes down as easy as a Mai Tai at sunset. Interesting fact: The “sons of b–ches” lyric has to be edited to “some bruises, some stiches” when the single came out during 1977.
8. Jimmy Buffett, “Come Monday”
The Buffett go-to ballad, cottony and gentle, was his first Hot 100 top 40 hit and top five on the old Easy Listening chart, a categorization it would take him a minute to climb away from.
7. Jimmy Buffett, “One Particular Harbor”
A buoyant, dynamic delight inspired by island travels, with an infectious chorus groove and recurring lyrics in Tahitian for authenticity. If the original 1983 production feels a bit tame, subsequent live arrangements gave the tune more lift-off.
6. Jimmy Buffett, “A Pirate Looks at Forty”
Buffett was only 28 when he released this gentle rumination for, and about, a real-life drug-smuggler, but he ably conveys a blend of world-weary resignation and still-simmering desire.
5. Jimmy Buffett, “Margaritaville”
As much a state of mind as a song, Buffett’s cinematically drawn nirvana is still an absorbing listen, even if it’s been turned into maybe the best branding device pop music has ever witnessed.
4. Jimmy Buffett, “Cheeseburger In Paradise”
A buoyant and sincere celebration of high-calorie, high-cholesterol and high-spirited goodness that even a vegan could get behind, even if they don’t consume. That’s OK — we’ll take theirs.
3. Jimmy Buffett, “He Went to Paris”
Buffett has periodically celebrated this one, about a Spanish Civil War veteran he met while he was performing in Chicago, as one of his favorite compositions. Bob Dylan apparently likes it, too — and so should any Parrothead worth his or her Margarita salt.
2. Jimmy Buffett, “Fins”
Fun, and funny, this was Buffett’s best rocker even before the Parrotheads started making the en masse dorsals above their heads at concerts.
1. Jimmy Buffett, “Son of a Son of a Sailor”
The best Jimmy Buffett song isn’t one for hoisting boat drinks; It’s more fit for sippin’ at sunset, watching the other crafts sail in after you’ve tied yours in the slip.
Luke Combs’ rolls up his 17th No. 1 – and makes history in the top two – on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Sept. 9), as “Love You Anyway” climbs 2-1 and his former five-week leader “Fast Car” rebounds 3-2.
Combs is the first artist to hold the top two positions on Country Airplay without any other billed acts since the list launched in 1990. Only one other act has taken the two ranks simultaneously at all: On the charts dated May 31 and June 7, 2014, Luke Bryan’s “Play It Again” was No. 1 and Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll” featuring Bryan placed at its No. 2 peak.
In the Aug. 25-31 tracking week, “Love You Anyway” increased by 9% to 32 million impressions, according to Luminate. Combs wrote the song with Ray Fulcher and Dan Isbell.
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Combs claims another Country Airplay record, as “Love You Anyway” reaches No. 1 after a mere four-week break since “Fast Car,” his update of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 Billboard Hot 100 hit, wrapped its reign. No artist had previously led with different songs in a lead role on both so quickly, as Combs passes Morgan Wallen, whose “You Proof” spent the last of its record 10 weeks at No. 1 this January, while he returned to the top after just a six-week gap with “Thought You Should Know” in February.
Counting featured roles, Tim McGraw wasted no time between No. 1s in March 2002: Jo Dee Messina’s “Bring On the Rain” featuring McGraw led for a week, and his “The Cowboy in Me” supplanted it at the summit the following frame.
Additionally, Combs rules Country Airplay just nine weeks after “Fast Car” topped the tally for the first time – also a record for the quickest turnaround among acts reaching No. 1 with different songs. Multiple artists led with new No. 1s 10 weeks apart (counting from their first weeks on top), most recently Shania Twain, from “You Win My Love” to “No One Needs To Know” in 1996.
Combs’ unprecedented achievements reflect the historically atypical release schedule for his two latest Country Airplay No. 1s, as “Love You Anyway” was intended to be his lone current promoted single but “Fast Car” went viral and they wound up scaling the survey in tandem.
Taste of the Top 10
Meanwhile, Lainey Wilson nets her fifth Country Airplay top 10 as “Watermelon Moonshine” rises 11-10 (19.3 million, up 22%). It follows her feature on HARDY’s “Wait in the Truck,” which peaked at No. 2 in April.
Additional reporting by Gary Trust.
Country artist Oliver Anthony is dominating the charts and political discourse right now with his Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Rich Men North of Richmond,” but one place fans likely won’t find him is among the 2023 CMA Awards nominations when they are announced next Thursday (Sept. 7).
That’s because the Virginia singer-songwriter, who records as Oliver Anthony Music, and his music either aren’t eligible for inclusion or did not come into enough prominence to be on voters’ minds, as they were marking their ballots by the deadline.
The CMA Awards eligibility period for the 2023 show, which airs live on ABC on Nov. 8, is July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023, meaning that, according to the CMA rules, “singles, albums, music videos and qualified music products for the annual show must have been released or reached peak national prominence during the eligibility period.”
RadioWV put up Anthony’s live performance of “Rich Men North of Richmond” on YouTube Aug. 7, well after the eligibility cutoff.
However, Anthony has been releasing videos on YouTube for nearly a year, so he technically is eligible for several other categories, including male artist and new artist of the year. Practically, though, few were aware of Anthony until after “Rich Men” went viral in mid-August, and the first round of ballots closed July 16. Though the second round, which narrows the initial round of nominees down to the five finalists for each category, ran Aug. 2-Aug. 16, it’s unlikely that Anthony made it onto the first round. Also, unlike the Grammy Awards where artists or their representatives can submit them for contention, the CMA Awards’ first round ballot is based on voters writing in their selections based on the criteria.
Anthony’s early material also would have not been eligible for single of the year even though it was released during the eligibility period. For consideration, the track must have reached the top 10 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, Hot Country Songs chart or Country Aircheck’s chart for the first time within the eligibility period.
In addition to debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart, “Rich Men” also bowed at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, but it was after the eligibility period closed. “Rich Men” is currently holding on top of both of those charts for a second week. “Rich Men” debuted at No. 45 on the Country Airplay chart last week.
In other words, though Anthony likely missed out for this year’s CMA Awards, he could be a big nominee for the 2024 show.
A brawl broke out over the use of porta potties during a Morgan Wallen concert on Aug. 30 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Penn. But no arrests were made, the city’s department of public safety said. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news A now-viral clip shows two […]
Jelly Roll and wife Bunnie XO revisited the scene of their Las Vegas wedding on Thursday (Aug. 31) to renew their vows at the same chapel where the “Son of a Sinner” and the Dumb Blonde podcast host got married in 2016. The couple both posted about the renewal in TikToks, with the country star […]
On Aug. 15, Luke Combs and wife Nicole welcomed their second baby boy into the world, the couple announced Thursday (Aug. 31). “8.15.2023 – Beau Lee Combs,” the country star and his wife captioned a co-post on Instagram. “Welcome to the world. We couldn’t love you more.” In the Instagram video — soundtracked by Cory […]
Country music is well-known for its affiliation with trucks, often classic Chevy or Ford pickup trucks, or the slate of songs such as C.W. McCoy’s “Convoy,” Jerry Reed’s “Eastbound and Down,” and Alabama’s “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler),” that were dedicated to long-haul truckers and big rigs. But currently, it’s a song about car — Luke […]
Country music is having a moment; whether it’s a short blip or an enduring bonanza remains to be seen.
In a Country Radio Broadcasters CRS360 webinar, “Moment Us: Leveraging Country Music’s Growth,” executives from three different industry sectors — radio, streaming and touring — grappled with the genre’s precedent-setting achievements, which raise serious questions about why country is popular and how to harness the current momentum.
Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” gave country the top three titles on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 dated Aug. 5 for the first time in history. Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” joined Wallen and Combs to repeat the feat on the Aug. 26 chart.
There is no single reason for the trend — panelists cited the genre’s sonic expansion, its increasing acceptance among younger fans, better data that allows gatekeepers to respond quickly to consumers’ habits and streaming’s blurring of stylistic lines.
Fans and country platforms “seem to be embracing the fringes of the format a little bit more now, whether it’s sort of the Americana country that Zach Bryan represents or the rock-leaning country that a Jelly Roll represents,” CAA Nashville co-head Marc Dennis said. “Artists like that — that you wouldn’t necessarily have called mainstream country five, six years ago — those artists are bringing fans into the format.”
As country’s face is changing in the marketplace, some of the accepted norms are changing, too. Where country devotees were once reliable followers of all artists in the genre, individual acts increasingly have specific fan bases, and Dennis said he is no longer concerned about keeping 30 days’ distance between competing country concerts in the same market, though he does try to keep separation between on-sale dates for different shows. And with radio listeners tuning in stations for shorter spans, programmers are less concerned about the gap between repeat spins from the same act.
“If the average tune-in is 11 to 15 minutes, the idea that we’re going to artificially say, ‘Well, we’re only going to play X artist every hour and 15 minutes,’ that seems very shortsighted,” WIRK West Palm Beach, Fla., operations manager/PD Bruce Logan said.
Artists are bubbling up from more sources — including TikTok, YouTube and a variety of playlists — and they also have more corporate opportunities, with fashion and food brands courting their endorsements alongside the prototypical trucks, boots and beers.
But the popularity is accompanied by concerns. Aldean’s “Small Town” video and a Wallen incident from 2021 put a spotlight on racism. Far-right media and conspiracy theorists quickly championed Anthony, though he has claimed political neutrality. Executives have privately lamented the possibility that country’s short-term popularity may feed long-term negative perceptions about it at a time when the industry is trying to diversify.
“We’re going to see more of these hot-button moments in country music,” Spotify Nashville head of editorial Rachel Whitney said. “There’s a lot of questionable history in the genre, and it’s really important that we all kind of do our homework, in a way, and make sure that what we do going forward is creating a welcoming space.”
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