Country
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When Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” reached No 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated July 8), it marked several firsts.
The song, a remake of Chapman’s 1988 classic, became the first remake of a pop hit to reach No. 1 on the chart in 15 years, since Blake Shelton topped Country Airplay with his version of Michael Bublé’s “Home.” It was also the first time in 24 years that a cover of a song that originally reached the top 10 of the Hot 100 — Chapman’s tune peaked at No. 6 — summitted on the Country Airplay chart. The last to do so was Mark Chesnutt’s “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” which led Country Airplay list in 1999, after Aerosmith’s original topped the Hot 100 in 1998.
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But most significantly, it becomes the first song with a Black woman as the sole writer to top the chart. In fact, it marks only the second time since Country Airplay’s debut in 1990 that a Black songwriter has reached No. 1 credited as the only writer on a track. And like with “Fast Car,” the only time it has happened before was on a cover of a previous hit: For the chart dated Aug. 4, 1990, Dan Seals’ remake of Sam Cooke’s “Good Times,” penned solely by Cooke, reached No. 1. Cooke, who released the song originally in 1964, took his version to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As Rolling Stone first noted, three Black women have reached No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart as co-writers: Allison Randall was the first to do so, as co-writer on Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s & OOO’s (An American Girl),” which hit No. 1 on the chart dated Aug. 10, 1994. In 2021, Lady A took “Champagne Night,” co-written by Ester Dean, to the summit — while later the same year, Dan + Shay reached No. 1 with “Glad You Exist,” which Tayla Parx co-wrote.
A number of Black and biracial male artists have taken songs they have co-written to No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart, including Darius Rucker, Kane Brown, BRELAND and Jimmie Allen. Additionally, a handful of Black male songwriters, including Shy Carter, Steven Battey, Anthony Smith and Jamie Moore, have co-written songs that have topped the chart.
For pure longevity on a country chart though, no one tops Ted Jarrett. In 1955, Webb Pierce’s take on the Black singer-songwriter’s “Love, Love, Love” spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Most Played by Jockeys chart, nine weeks atop the Most Played in Jukeboxes chart and eight weeks at No. 1 on Best Sellers in Stores for all “Country & Western Records.”
Assistance preparing this story provided by Tom Roland and Jim Asker.
Everyone comes back from Las Vegas with a good story, even country music superstar Carrie Underwood. In photos shared to her Instagram on Monday (July 3), the Grammy-winning star showed off the matching tattoos she got with her mom and sisters in Sin City. “When your 74-year-old mother asks you and your sisters to get […]
Jelly Roll is taking things short for summer.
The “I Need a Favor” singer/songwriter cut off his long hair and shared a video of the process via Instagram on Friday (June 30).
“You ever wake up and just feel like ‘F— it’? That’s exactly how I woke up feeling this morning,” he says, narrating footage of his haircut. In the clip, Jelly Roll enlists a friend to cut his hair and shape up his beard.
As Jelly Roll readies himself to cut off his signature long mullet, he and his wife Bunnie XO banter, with Jelly Roll calling Bunnie “hair hater No. 1.”
“Are you excited it’s leaving today?” he asks.
“Me and about 5,000 other women!” she responds. “All the ladies in the comments are talking about how beautiful you look with your hair cut, so I’m so excited.”
Bunnie even grabs some clippers to help cut a few of Jelly Roll’s locks off herself. The video shows the rest of the haircut, as locks of Jelly Roll’s curls fall to the floor.
“I can’t believe I cut my curls!” Jelly Roll says at one point in the video clip. “This clip is about acceptance; you can see that I’ve accepted that there is nothing I can do.”
The video ends with Jelly Roll heading to a bathroom to check out his newly shorn hair in the mirror. Clearly happy with his new, shorter haircut, Jelly Roll asked fans to chime in in the Instagram comments section to give their opinions.
“Freshy,” commented Miranda Lambert, who co-wrote “The Lost” with Jelly Roll and Jesse Frasure on Jelly Roll’s album Whitsitt Chapel. Bunnie commented, “We stan a clean shaven king.”
Jelly Roll was recently the cover star of Billboard’s Country Power Players issue, and opened up about his life and career so far, including time spent in jail as a teen and young adult, launching his career as a rapper, meeting his wife Bunnie, and his recent success topping both Billboard’s country and rock charts.
Luke Combs notches his 16th No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated July 8) as “Fast Car” pulls into the most coveted spot. In the tracking week ending June 29, it gained by 7% to 33.4 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
The song is an update of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 classic, which hit No. 6 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Combs’ cover is the first take on a pop hit to top Country Airplay since Blake Shelton’s version of Michael Bublé’s “Home” led in 2008, after Bublé’s ruled Adult Contemporary in 2005.
Meanwhile, Combs’ “Fast Car” is the first remake of a Hot 100 top 10 to crown Country Airplay since Mark Chesnutt’s “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing” led the latter list in 1999, after Aerosmith’s original topped the Hot 100 in 1998.
Plus, as Chapman solely-wrote “Fast Car,” it’s the first Country Airplay No. 1 authored by one writer since December 2017, when the Mitch Rossell-penned “Ask Me How I Know” became Garth Brooks’ 19th leader.
Additionally, Combs’ “Fast Car” completes an 11-week cruise to No. 1 on Country Airplay, marking his quickest, besting the 12-week climb for “Lovin’ on You” in 2020.
“Fast Car” follows Combs’ “Going, Going, Gone,” which ruled Country Airplay for two weeks in March. He owns another place in the top 10, as “Love You Anyway” rises to No. 9 (18.3 million, up 5%). Further, Riley Green’s “Different ‘Round Here,” on which he’s featured, holds at its No. 36 high (2.8 million, up 1%).
A crossover hit, “Fast Car” also hits the top 10 (12-10) on the Adult Pop Airplay chart, becoming Combs’ first song to reach the tier on the tally (in his first visit to the list).
‘Georgia’ Goes Top 10
Elsewhere, Kane Brown banks his 11th Country Airplay top 10 as “Bury Me in Georgia” lifts 11-10 (18.3 million, up 12%). It follows “Thank God,” with wife Katelyn Brown, which became his ninth No. 1 in February.
Country singer Megan Moroney reveals five things you didn’t know about her at the Billboard Country Live event. Megan Moroney:What’s up, y’all? I’m Meghan Moroney, and here are five things you probably don’t know about me. I still drive my high school car. It’s a 2010 white Mustang, and she’s very well loved. So right […]
Big Machine Music has promoted Mike Molinar to president of the publishing company, effective immediately. Molinar will continue to report to Big Machine Label Group chairman and CEO Scott Borchetta.
BMM, a division of HYBE America, also announced the advancement of Alex Heddle to senior vp of publishing and Grayson Stephens to vice president, overseeing royalties and finance.
“I’m so proud to announce that Mike Molinar has been appointed President of Big Machine Music. His leadership, vision, artist relations and song sense are unmatched,” Borchetta said in a press release. “We are also acknowledging the outstanding work and accomplishments of BMM’s Alex Heddle and Grayson Stephens as they continue to power the Machine to new heights.”
Molinar has nearly three decades of experience as a music publisher and advocate for creatives. He has led Big Machine Music since its inception in 2011, overseeing the company’s ongoing growth of a diverse roster and dynamic catalog of over 14,000 songs (including the RIAA Diamond-certified “Beautiful Crazy” (recorded by Luke Combs), “In Case You Didn’t Know (Brett Young) and “Speechless” (Dan+Shay), while also leading the company’s impact beyond its Nashville base with the addition of a West Coast division based in Los Angeles. Molinar has been named a Billboard Country Power Player for four consecutive years, and was selected for the Nashville Cohort of the Harvard Young American Leaders Program in 2021. Molinar currently serves as a board member on the National Music Publishers Association, Mechanical Licensing Collective designated by the U.S. Copyright Office, Music Health Alliance, Academy of Country Music and Country Music Hall of Fame Education Council.
Heddle recently celebrated a decade at BMM and represents songwriters Jessie Jo Dillon, Ryan Hurd, Matt Dragstrem, Geoff Warburton and Sara Davis, who recently earned her first Grammy Award nomination with “abcdefu” (GAYLE) for song of the year. A graduate of Leadership Music’s class of 2022, Heddle currently serves on the AIMP Nashville board and as a Music Row Ambassador for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The Belmont University alum’s career includes time at Love Monkey Music, Writer’s Den Music, Propoel Music Publishing and Ash Street Music.
A graduate of Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, Stephens brings nearly 14 years of publishing administration experience to the vice president role, having previously held positions at Sony Music Publishing prior to joining Big Machine Music in 2017.
“I’m honored by Scott Borchetta’s continued faith and partnership. Big Machine Music is my home; our incredible team and world-class songwriters are my family. I’m proud to continue our journey together,” Molinar added in a press release. “In that spirit, I can’t understate how important Alex Heddle and Grayson Stephens have been through these past several years of transition and growth. I’m so happy to see their efforts recognized with such well-deserved promotions.”
BMM’s current roster includes Billboard’s 2022 Songwriter of the Year Laura Veltz, Brett Young, Ryan Hurd, Jessie Jo Dillon, Matt Dragstrem, Geoff Warburton, Sara Davis, Eric Paslay, Justin Moore, Maddie & Tae, Anna Vaus, Matt Roy, Mike Eli, Daniel Ross, Callista Clark, Tyler Rich, Laci Kaye Booth, Troy Cartwright, Ayron Jones, Dalton Mauldin and Teddy Reimer. Catalog writers include Luke Combs, Brandy Clark, Jonathan Singleton and Josh Thompson.
Universal Music Group Nashville has named Charlene Bryant as senior vp of business development & strategy.
Bryant brings with her a track record of experience and success in genres including country, Christian and hip-hop. The Ohio native and Belmont University graduate previously spent five years leading artist management company Riveter Management, which she founded in 2018. Bryant was named one of Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players in 2020 and 2021 and was part of CMT and mtheory’s inaugural equal access development program.
“Charlene has spent her career in artist development and learning to merge cultures of Christian, R&B, Hip-Hop and Country music,” says UMG Nashville chair & CEO Cindy Mabe. “She’s had success at major labels and independents, as well as success as an entrepreneur. As Universal Nashville is investing deeper to expand our growth in partnering in innovation with entrepreneurs, the independent label sector as well as our sister labels, Charlene is the perfect person to help merge those worlds and cultures to help build the next era of Universal Music Group Nashville. I could not be more excited to have Charlene Bryant help build our vision.”
UMG Nashville’s latest hire comes under the leadership of Mabe, who officially took the chair/CEO reins of the label in April. In a memo to UMG Nashville staffers at the time, Mabe laid out a vision for the company going forward. Among her plans are to “dramatically expand our partnerships with independent labels and entrepreneurs.” Mabe added, “Inspiration and new ideas are coming from everywhere. Much of that innovation is coming from the independent sector, but by the same token there is so much more they could do if they partnered with us in key areas. Universal Nashville will actively take a role to position ourselves as the best partners to expand their growth and help develop and support these artists.”
As Mabe continues to build the leadership team at UMG Nashville, the company is also pulling from other industry sectors. In May, Chelsea Blythe was appointed as executive vp of A&R for UMG Nashville. Blythe previously served as senior vp of A&R at Def Jam, leading A&R efforts for artists including Armani White and 26AR. Blythe also worked at Columbia Records, signing artists including Baby Keem and developing artists including The Kid LAROI.
In the memo to UMG Nashville staffers in April, Mabe said the company also aims to “collaborate even closer (and more creatively) with our label colleagues around the world where we can leverage each other’s strengths to break artists who are either signed to their rosters or ours. There’s so much more we can do together.”
As part of that work with UMG Nashville’s sister labels, the label also recently announced its partnership with Capitol Christian Music Group to release new music from Grammy-nominated artist Anne Wilson (“My Jesus,” “Sunday Sermons”).
Sure, proper country songs had been absent from the top of the Hot 100 for quite sometime prior to Wallen’s reign, but that doesn’t mean the genre’s sound and aesthetics weren’t present in mainstream music and pop culture, especially when it comes to the work of Black and queer artists.
Obviously, “Old Town Road” is the lightning rod moment — its fusion of country and trap helped keep country sonic motifs present on top 40 radio, and the Billy Ray Cyrus remix gave it an extra dose of country legitimacy — but there were other moments and artists doing similar work. Megan Thee Stallion, a Houston, Texas native, has consistently employed Southern aesthetics in her artistry and music. The Grammy Award-winning rapper frequently sports cowboy hats, she teamed up with Fashion Nova for a 100-piece cowboy-themed collection, and she recently presented Shania Twain the Equal Pay Award at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.
Beyoncé, another Houston native, made a big splash at the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards back in 2016 with the live performance of her The Chicks-assisted “Daddy Lessons” remix. Lizzo, a Detroit native who moved to Houston with her family when she was a child, similarly flaunts her Texas pride with tons of fringe and cowboy hats. She even gave her own spin on country-pop with “If You Love Me,” a deep cut from her Grammy-nominated Special album.
Just this year, the Broadway musical Shucked! — which features original music and lyrics from award-winning country music songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally — earned star Alex Newell a history-making Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Album cuts from R&B stars Chlöe (“Cheatback”) and 6LACK (“Testify”), two artists with roots in Atlanta, Georgia, feature obvious nods to the guitar-based production and narrative-centric songwriting of country music.
The past decade has also seen pop stars like Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and P!nk dip their toes into country music, as well as a handful of country songs (Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Backroad,” Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey,” etc.) that proved to be sizable and enduring cultural moments. Nonetheless, the increased visibility of country music and Southern aesthetics across a diverse collection of Black and queer artists has helped mainstream ears and minds become a bit more open to the sounds and styles of country music, hence the genre’s recent rebound in popularity amongst a general public that might have been less tuned-in to Nashville happenings in decades prior.
For the first time, country songs occupy the top two spots on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart.
Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” crowns the July 1-dated survey, leading for a 14th week. But it’s Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” that rises 4-2 to complete the distinction.
“Last Night” earned 29.8 million official U.S. streams in the June 16-22 tracking week, up 1%, while “Fast Car” racked up 21.2 million streams, a 4% boost, according to Luminate.
It’s the first time that the top two of Streaming Songs, which began in 2013, is made up of country songs. Previously, the genre claimed two of the top three multiple times over the holidays, most recently via this year’s Jan. 7 survey when Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” crowned the tally and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” ranked at No. 3.
Removing holiday songs, this week marks the first in which country songs have infused two of the top three on Streaming Songs, let alone the top two.
“Fast Car” becomes Combs’ second track to reach a career-best No. 2 on Streaming Songs, following “Forever After All,” which debuted at the spot in November 2020. In between the two songs, Combs’ hit a No. 5 high with “Love You Anyway” this February.
In all, the country genre claims four of the top 10 on the July 1-dated list. Below the top two are Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” (No. 7; 15.6 million streams) and Wallen’s “Thinkin’ Bout Me” (No. 8; 14.4 million). Country last had a higher share of the top 10 on the March 25 survey thanks to five Wallen titles, led by “Last Night.”
“Last Night” and “Fast Car” concurrently rank at Nos. 1 and 2 on Country Streaming Songs for a 10th straight week, dating back to the April 29 tally.
As previously reported, the songs also rank at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, marking the first time that country songs have held the top two simultaneously in over 42 years.
While the country music music industry is still working toward equality and inclusion on several fronts, the onslaught of music streaming and maturation of social media have opened doors for artists in the LGBTQIA+ community to connect with music fans and build audiences.
While country music artist Lavender Country was a pioneer in the space, releasing a queer-themed country music album in 1973, it has a been a largely uphill battle for LGBTQIA+ artists in the genre.
Chely Wright, known for her 1997 top 20 Country Airplay hit “Shut Up and Drive” and her 1999 No. 1, “Single White Female,” came out publicly in 2007. Ty Herndon came out as gay in 2014, having previously earned a handful of No. 1 Country Airplay hits in the 1990s, including “What Matters Most” and “Living in a Moment.” That same year, Billy Gilman (who found success in country music as a child with songs including “One Voice”) also came out publicly as gay.
Since then, the country music industry has slowly seen more openly gay artists and songwriters find success. And certainly, there have been and are many within the LGBTQIA+ community who are creatives, songwriters, producers and music industry execs working behind the scenes within the industry.
In the 2000s and 2010s, songwriters Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, who are both openly gay, began having success as writers. McAnally earned No. 1 Country Airplay hits for artists including Lee Ann Womack (“Last Call”) and Kenny Chesney (“Somewhere With You”), and rose to prominence as a writer and producer working with Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves and more. Meanwhile, Clark wrote hits including Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart” and The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two.”
The year 2014 brought a moment of public recognition, when Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow” — which Musgraves wrote with Clark and McAnally and which famously featured the line “Kiss lots of boys/ or kiss lots of girls, if that’s what your into” — was named song of the year by the Country Music Association’s music industry voters.
Then 2021 saw two more country artists — Brooke Eden and Brothers Osborne’s T.J. Osborne — speak publicly about their sexuality. Additionally, more artists in country and Americana circles have been forthright about their sexual identities, including Lily Rose, Joy Oladokun, Orville Peck, Amythyst Kiah, Adeem the Artist and more.
We take a look at a set of songs from LGBTQIA+ artists and allies — songs which run the gamut from celebratory to reflective, from joyous to mournful — as we continue to celebrate Pride Month.
Miranda Lambert, “Y’all Means All”