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Alabama co-founder Jeff Cook died on Tuesday (Nov. 8) at age 73, and country stars including Jason Aldean and Travis Tritt have turned to social media to honor the late guitarist.
“So sad to hear of the passing of Jeff Cook,” tweeted the “Trouble With a Heartbreak” singer along with a picture of himself and the band. “I spent a lot of my life listening to him play guitar, what an iconic sound he had. I got a chance to perform with him multiple times over the years and I will never forget it.”
Tritt tweeted, “Sending out my deepest condolences to the family, friends and band mates of Jeff Cook from @TheAlabamaBand. Such a great guy [and] one heckuva bass fisherman. He will be truly missed” while Charlie Daniels wrote, “Heaven gained another guitar/fiddle player today. Mom and I were saddened to hear about the passing of @TheAlabamaBand’s Jeff Cook after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. Prayers for his family and many fans.”
Cook’s death was also memorialized on Twitter by both the Academy of Country Music and the CMA Awards, with the former organization pointing out that the musician and his bandmates remain the “most awarded group in ACM Awards history.”
In 2021, Alabama sold the entirety of their recorded music rights catalog to Reservoir Media, including 20 albums released on RCA Nashville from 1980 to 2007.
Read more tributes to the memory of Jeff Cook below.
Sending out my deepest condolences to the family, friends and band mates of Jeff Cook from @TheAlabamaBand. Such a great guy an one heckuva bass fisherman. He will be truly missed.— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) November 8, 2022
Heaven gained another guitar/fiddle player today. Mom and I were saddened to hear about the passing of @TheAlabamaBand’s Jeff Cook after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. Prayers for his family and many fans. – CD, Jr. & Hazel Daniels pic.twitter.com/BeHgso1858— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) November 8, 2022
So sad to hear of the passing of Jeff Cook. I spent a lot of my life listening to him play guitar, what an iconic sound he had. I got a chance to perform with him multiple times over the years and I will never forget it.📸: Rick Diamond pic.twitter.com/7v4zqKpSjG— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) November 8, 2022
The Academy mourns the loss of Jeff Cook, a founding member of @TheAlabamaBand. Earning the ACM Artist of the Decade Award for the 1980s, Alabama is also the most awarded group in ACM Awards history. Join us in sending love to his fellow band members, friends, family & fans. pic.twitter.com/rcW2bPxwFD— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) November 8, 2022
Heartbreaking news … friend and brother Jeff Cook of @TheAlabamaBand has passed … goodbye Jeff .. rest easy many … the battles have ended … #RIPJeffCook— The Oak Ridge Boys (@oakridgeboys) November 8, 2022
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jeff Cook, co-founding member of legendary band Alabama and Country Music Hall of Fame member. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones during this time. pic.twitter.com/JIJJBitTLl— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 8, 2022
Guitarist Jeff Cook, who co-founded the mega-successful country group Alabama and steered them up the charts with such hits as “Song of the South” and “Dixieland Delight,” has died. He was 73.
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Cook had Parkinson’s disease and disclosed his diagnosis in 2017. He died Tuesday (Nov. 8) at his home in Destin, Florida, said Don Murry Grubbs, a representative for the band.
Tributes poured in from country stars, including Travis Tritt who called Cook “a great guy and one heckuva bass fisherman” and Charlie Daniels, who tweeted that “Heaven gained another guitar/fiddle player today.”
As a guitarist, fiddle player and vocalist, Cook — alongside cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry — landed 33 No. 1 songs on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, including the pop crossover hits “Love in the First Degree” and “Feels So Right,” as well as “Tennessee River” and “Mountain Music.”
“Jeff Cook, and all of the guys in Alabama, were so generous with wisdom and fun when I got to tour with them as a young artist,” Kenny Chesney said in a statement. “They showed a kid in a T-shirt that country music could be rock, could be real, could be someone who looked like me. Growing up in East Tennessee, that gave me the heart to chase this dream.”
The band had a three-year run as CMA entertainer of the year from 1982-85 and received five ACM Awards trophies in that same category from 1981-85. The band was the first three-time winner and the first five-time winner of that top award at the respective shows. Cook stopped touring with Alabama in 2018.
Cook released a handful of solo projects and toured with his Allstar Goodtime Band. He also released collaborations with Charlie Daniels and Star Trek star William Shatner. He entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of Alabama.
Survivors include his wife, Lisa.
Singer-songwriter Devin Dawson — known as a co-writer on Blake Shelton’s Grammy-nominated hit “God’s Country” and a featured artist on HARDY’s song “One Beer” — has been largely absent from the spotlight over the past year.
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This week, he appeared on SiriusXM’s The Highway and discussed with host Storme Warren what his life has been like over the past year. Dawson revealed he has been struggling with dysphonia, a muscle and voice disorder which makes his voice sound different than usual.
He told Warren, “It’s not common but it definitely happens to people and no one really talks about it. I’ve never had an issue being vulnerable or honest or authentic or whatever but it just felt like time to kind of just open up.”
Dawson also shared that he first realized there was a change in his voice while he was on tour with Zac Brown Band in late 2021.
“There were certain notes in the middle of my range to the lower part of my range where it was like, ‘Why does this not feel the same?” Dawson said.
On Instagram, Dawson also opened up to fans, saying that he has been battling the disorder for about 10 months.
“Although I’m way better than I was a few months ago I’m still not where I need to be to give y’all 100%…which is what y’all deserve,” he said, adding, “I told myself from the beginning that I wasn’t going to hide from it or be ashamed of it.”
He said while his voice has been negatively impacted, he has also been “sharpening other swords” by writing songs every day. He also says he has strong ambitions to make another album, following his 2018 album Dark Horse (which contained the top 5 Billboard Country Airplay hit “All on Me”) and his 2021 EP The Pink Slip.
“NOBODY wants me to make another record more than I do,” he said. “I promise you that. And I will. As far as when that will be, I’m not so sure. But I am sure it will be a damn good one!”
The 56th annual CMA Awards will be held Wednesday, Nov. 9 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, airing live on ABC. This year’s show will be co-hosted by two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Luke Bryan, alongside NFL luminary Peyton Manning.
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Will leading nominee Lainey Wilson, who has six nominations in her first year as a nominee, take home her first CMA Awards wins? Will five-time entertainer of the year nominee Carrie Underwood or six-time entertainer of the year nominee Miranda Lambert finally end the 11-year drought of a female in the marquee award’s winner’s circle? (Taylor Swift was the most recent female to take home the CMA’s most coveted honor, in 2011.) Or will reigning CMA entertainer of the year Combs take it for a second straight year — or sales and touring juggernaut Morgan Wallen for the first time? (Combs and Wallen go head-to-head in the male vocalist category as well, while five-time male vocalist winner Chris Stapleton will also be a factor in both races.)
Cody Johnson saw a major breakthrough this year with “’Til You Can’t.” Could he pull off the male vocalist win, or a single of the year win for the track? Meanwhile, Johnson and Lainey Wilson face off in the new artist of the year category, both with chart-topping hits and strong touring years under their belts.
Here are Billboard’s winners predictions (in select categories) from Melinda Newman (executive editor, West Coast and Nashville), and Jessica Nicholson (staff writer, Nashville). So they wouldn’t influence each other, the two did not compare notes on their picks.
Entertainer of the year
Luke CombsMiranda LambertChris StapletonCarrie UnderwoodMorgan Wallen
Newman: All the nominees had strong touring years coming out of COVID. Combs, the reigning entertainer of the year, has moved up to stadiums. Both Lambert and Underwood not only went on national tours, but opened highly acclaimed residencies in Las Vegas. But Wallen seems to have the wind under his wings after his arena tour was one of the year’s hottest tickets, and Nashville has embraced him again with fervor.
Will Win: Morgan Wallen
Nicholson: Since taking home the entertainer of the year honor for the first time last year, Combs has continued selling out headlining arena and stadium shows, earned chart-toppers on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (“Doin’ This”) and Hot Country Songs (the four-week leader “The Kind of Love We Make”) and notched another Billboard Top Country Albums chart-topper with his latest project, Growin’ Up. Meanwhile, Lambert, Underwood and Stapleton have all had stellar years that between them have included album releases, tours and Las Vegas residencies. It’s Wallen who poses the toughest competition, notching his first EOY nomination this year on the strength of multiple chart-leaders on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts in 2022, in addition to selling out arenas and stadium shows on his Dangerous Tour. But with Combs already set to take his touring international next year, he could very well pull off another win here.
Will win: Luke Combs
Single of the year:
Award goes to artist(s), producer(s) and mix engineer
“Buy Dirt” – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan; producer: Paul DiGiovanni; mix engineer: Jim Cooley
“half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney); producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins; mix engineer: Dan Grech-Marguerat
“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde; producers: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne; mix engineer: Ryan Gore
“’Til You Can’t” – Cody Johnson; producer: Trent Willmon; mix engineer: Jack Clarke
“You Should Probably Leave” – Chris Stapleton; producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton; mix engineer: Vance Powell
Newman: All five entries struck a note with audiences and are worthy contenders and were bonafide hits. But country music loves its stories that celebrate wisdom, nostalgia, church, love and home; “Buy Dirt” ticks all the boxes. Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan’s warm delivery and Paul DiGiovanni’s genial, loping production sell this song, which topped Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and was named Nashville Songwriter Association International’s song of the year in September.
Will win: “Buy Dirt”
Nicholson: Texas native Johnson earned a two-week Country Airplay No. 1 (and nine-week Hot Country Songs No. 1) this year with the earnest, live every day to the fullest message in “’Til You Can’t.” “Buy Dirt” recently picked up song of the year at NSAI’s Nashville Songwriter Awards and was a two-week No. 1 Country Airplay hit. However, Stapleton is the reigning winner in this category, and is looking to retain his winning status with this sultry chart-topper. Still, “‘Til You Can’t” was a mainstay at country radio this year, pulling in strong listenership even after it fell from the pinnacle position.
Will win: “’Til You Can’t”
Female vocalist of the year:
Miranda LambertAshley McBrydeCarly PearceCarrie UnderwoodLainey Wilson
Newman: The contenders had exemplary years, but Lainey Wilson, who leads all CMA nominees with six nods, has burst through with a vengeance after a few years of building. Like McBryde, she has an edge to her that is undeniably appealing and could signal a shift in where the format is headed. One of the toughest categories to call.
Will win: Lainey Wilson
Nicholson: Wilson has earned two No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits this year, as well as notching a pair of top 25 hits on the same chart with “Heart Like a Truck” and the HARDY duet “wait in the truck,” and is the most-nominated artist heading into this year’s CMA Awards. This marks Underwood’s 16th nomination in this category (she’s previously won five times), following her release of Denim & Rhinestones. Meanwhile, Lambert, a seven-time winner in this category, released her progressive eighth album Palomino. and Pearce aims to continue her reign as the current female vocalist of the year — thanks to a No. 1 Country Airplay hit, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” that she shares with fellow category nominee McBryde. This category feels a bit like anyone’s game to win, as newcomer Wilson also has a strong shot and could pick up her first win here, but newly minted Opry member Pearce has gained a strong following among industry voters since earning her first Country Airplay No. 1 in 2017 and is likely to pick up a second win.
Will win: Carly Pearce
Male vocalist of the year:
Eric ChurchLuke CombsCody JohnsonChris StapletonMorgan Wallen
Newman: Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton have dominated this category the past seven years with Stapleton the reigning champ, but it feels like Nashville is ready to celebrate some new blood. There is no denying the power of such now standard bearers as Stapleton and Eric Church, but Texas titan Cody Johnson hit the mainstream this year with a powerful force. I smell an upset.
Will win: Cody Johnson
Nicholson: As with entertainer of the year, this category is likely a showdown between chart-dominating and hard-touring Combs and Wallen, though don’t rule out Stapleton, who has won this honor five previous times. Johnson has had an incredible touring year, plus the chart-topper “’Til You Can’t,” though that may not be enough for him to beat out category veterans such as Church, Stapleton and Combs. Wallen’s success on radio and touring has been undeniable. Look for him to pick up his first male vocalist win.
Will win: Morgan Wallen
New artist of the year:
HARDYWalker HayesCody JohnsonParker McCollumLainey Wilson
Newman: Walker Hayes had a Top 10 hit in 2017 with “You Broke Up With Me,” so it’s a little odd to see him here five years later — but there’s no denying that last year’s “Fancy Like” brought him to a prominence that he had not previously attained. All contenders have landed at least one No. 1 song or album and continue to rise, but it feels like Wilson’s year.
Will win: Lainey Wilson
Nicholson: Hayes is still riding high on his long-waited breakthrough, thanks to the enduring crossover success of hits “Fancy Like,” “AA,” and “Y’all Life.” Johnson, who previously earned a nomination in this category in 2019, earned a radio juggernaut this year with “’Til You Can’t,” and has followed with the earnest “Human,” both from his double album. HARDY has been opening shows for buddy Morgan Wallen and expanding on his country releases with “Sold Out” reaching No. 1 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. He’s also rising on the country chart with “Wait in the Truck,” featuring fellow category nominee Wilson. Meanwhile, the sole female nominee, Wilson, is riding high on an undeniably red-hot career streak right now, with a new album, the previously-mentioned two Country Airplay hits, an opening slot for Jon Pardi and a role on the new season of Yellowstone. Wilson leads the pack here.
Will win: Lainey Wilson
Album of the year:
Award goes to artist(s), producer(s) and mix engineer(s)
Growin’ Up – Luke Combs; producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; mix engineers: Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews
Humble Quest – Maren Morris; producer: Greg Kurstin; mix engineer: Serban Ghenea
Palomino – Miranda Lambert; producers: Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Mikey Reaves; mix engineer: Jason Lehning
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ – Lainey Wilson; producer: Jay Joyce; mix engineer: F. Reid Shippen
Time, Tequila & Therapy – Old Dominion; producers: Shane McAnally, Old Dominion; mix engineer: Justin Niebank
Newman: It’s three past winners — Luke Combs, Maren Morris and Miranda Lambert (the only double winner here) — versus newcomer Wilson, who receives her first nod, and Old Dominion, who have been here once before. Despite its critical acclaim, Lambert hasn’t had the radio success with Palomino that the other projects have earned, but that shouldn’t detract from the album’s merit. Wilson is the only artist here who also has a nomination in the prestigious song of the year category, but Combs is likely to return to the podium.
Will win: Luke Combs
Nicholson: Combs dominated this category in 2020 with What You See Is What You Get, while Lambert previously won for her albums Platinum and Revolution. Morris won the accolade in 2019 for Girl and was previously nominated in 2016 for Hero. Wilson’s six overall nominations in her first year as nominee includes this album of the year nod for Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’, while Old Dominion was previously nominated in the category for their self-titled album in 2020. But Lambert is an expert at crafting solid albums and Palomino is no exception. She’s also a favorite with CMA voters, making her likely to pick up a win here.
Will win: Miranda Lambert
Vocal duo of the year:
Brooks & DunnBrothers OsborneDan + ShayLoCashMaddie & Tae
Newman: This would be a good time for some new duos to emerge. Like some of the other categories, a handful of acts — in this case, Dan + Shay and Brothers Osborne — have won the past six years, and both are nominated again. With Florida Georgia Line on hiatus, LoCash reclaims a spot, scoring their first nomination since 2017. I see this as a toss-up between equally worthy Dan + Shay and Brothers Osborne, with reigning champs Brothers Osborne emerging victorious.
Will win: Brothers Osborne
Nicholson: Maddie & Tae released the radio single “Woman You Got” in 2021, and followed with the two-part project Through the Madness this year, in addition to leading the CMT Next Women of Country All Song No Static Tour. But with the release of Brothers Osborne’s “Younger Me,” a song inspired by Brothers Osborne member TJ’s coming out journey, the duo has further cemented their place as a champion for inclusivity in country music, at a time when the country music industry as a whole continues to grapple with the topic. Brothers Osborne has won this category four times in recent years; look for them to continue their winning ways.
Will win: Brothers Osborne
Vocal group of the year:
Lady ALittle Big TownMidlandOld DominionZac Brown Band
Newman: Lady A, Little Big Town and Old Dominion have dominated this category for the past 13 years, with Old Dominion victorious for the past four. While it feels like many of the categories are headed for a shake up, there isn’t a new face to challenge Old Dominion with this category being fairly static. Given their success with singles from Time, Tequila & Therapy, which is nominated for album of the year, they can clear space on their mantel for another trophy.
Will win: Old Dominion
Nicholson: Each of these groups released new music over the past year, with Zac Brown Band’s The Comeback debuting the highest on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. The group also earned a Country Airplay No. 1 in December with “Same Boat,” and recently added Caroline Jones to their band lineup, marking the group’s first female band member. Little Big Town has been on the road co-headlining The Bandwagon Tour with Miranda Lambert, while also bringing their glorious harmonies to support Wynonna Judd on select dates for The Judds: The Final Tour. Old Dominion has won in this category the past four years, and earned a platinum hit with “I Was on a Boat That Day,” so it seems they are the ones to beat.
Will win: Old Dominion
Song of the year:
Award goes to songwriters
“Buy Dirt” — songwriters: Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins
“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” –songwriters: Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce
“Sand in My Boots” — songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Josh Osborne
“Things a Man Oughta Know” — songwriters: Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson
“You Should Probably Leave” — songwriters: Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Chris Stapleton
Newman: A songwriters’ award, three entries overlap with single of the year here: “Buy Dirt,” “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” and “You Should Probably Leave.” “You Should Probably Leave” is Chris Stapleton at his growly best as he attempts to resist temptation, but “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” is all raw nerves (and perhaps autobiographical) as Pearce finds out her partner is cheating on her and Ashley McBryde realizes she is sleeping with a married man. Instead of fighting over the cheater, as in 1990s’ Reba/Linda Davis classic “Does He Love You,” they both bond over their remorse. Wilson’s “Thing’s a Man Oughta Know” took best song honors at this spring’s ACM Awards, so it could sneak in here.
Will win: “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”
Nicholson: This year’s race pits a sultry ballad about temptation (“You Should Probably Leave”) against songs of betrayal (“Never Wanted to Be That Girl”), hard-earned wisdom (“Buy Dirt,” “Things a Man Oughta Know”) and heartbreak (“Sand in My Boots”). With a string of writers and recent award recognitions from NSAI, ASCAP and SESAC, look for “Buy Dirt” to notch a win.
Will win: “Buy Dirt”
In the opening hour of the 2019 PBS series Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns, Dolly Parton offered a primer on the use of the much-maligned word “hillbilly.”
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“If you’re an outsider… and you’re saying it’s hillbilly music, because you don’t know any better, it’s almost like a racist remark,” she observed. “If we’re hillbillies, we’re proud of it. But you’re not allowed to say it if you don’t really know what you’re talking about.”
Singer-songwriter Stephen Wilson Jr., who was raised in Seymour, Ind., has enough backwoods cred to use the word properly. Or, to be more accurate, enough cred to pull the word apart properly. His song “billy,” released Sept. 16, centers on a hook that revels in its unsophisticated lifestyle choices: “You can call me billy, but the hills come with me.”
“The way hillbillies are generalized in mainstream media, they’re kind of lacking in intelligence, or they don’t think progressively,” Wilson says. “All the hillbillies I grew up with are actually really smart people; they just kind of chose a real simple life — and I kind of wanted to showcase the simplicity of that life without really taking a side.”
But it’s a performance with its own sound: a buzzing undercurrent, quasi-tribal drums and a fiery, futuristic-sounding lap steel with a touch of danger. The sound is, suggests Wilson, “Death Cab for country.”
Wilson developed “billy” in a half-hour fit of inspiration in his Nashville kitchen on Nov. 29, 2021, the Monday following Thanksgiving. He had spent the holiday in Indiana, hanging out with family and reconnecting with his roots. “I took a quick little swim in the hillbilly pool when I went home,” he says. “Maybe me writing that song was getting it off me.”
The “You can call me billy” hook may have been a reaction to his brief Indiana sojourn — he’s not entirely sure how it arrived — but he developed the lyrics first, starting with a chorus that mixes subversive imagery (“Half-mud blood”), hillbilly traits (“Got a strong Southern drawl”), mindless play (“Cannonball in the kiddy pool”) and a little good-guy grace (“Kind as the day is long”).
“It’s really more of an observation of a lifestyle and everything that comes along with it,” says Wilson. “It felt empowering to me when I was seeing it. It kind of made you feel tough, but not with all the typical tough-guy shit.”
The first verse embraced the outdoor aspects of that lifestyle, akin to Hank Williams Jr.’s “A Country Boy Can Survive” with its references to skinning bucks and cleaning fish. The last verse — owing, perhaps, to its post-Thanksgiving origins — served up collard greens, cornbread and “pig on the griddle.” Even a description of the conversation, “spoke slow and deeply fried,” took on a foodie’s viewpoint.
When the words came to sonic life, Wilson crafted verse melodies with long, held notes at the end of the lines, strung across a static, tonic E chord. Juxtaposed against that framework, the chorus feels quicker, with faster-paced phrasing and a chord structure that throws in a rare chromatic move, rising a half-step in a passing chord that provides an energetic lift.
With its singalong chorus, hooky melody and mysterious patchwork of images, “billy” caught the ear of Wilson’s wife, singer-songwriter Leigh Nash, formerly of the band Sixpence None the Richer. When they attended a Christmas party the next month, the musicians started sharing songs, and Nash suggested he do “billy.” Host Caylee Hammack and Ashley McBryde responded with enthusiasm, and Wilson figured he needed to record it.
He worked it up with his road band first, with drummer Julian Dorio banging stuttered rhythms on snare to carry much of the energy. Bassist Jon Murray anchored the chords beneath Wilson’s active acoustic guitar, and his brother, Scotty Murray, came up with a sneering lap steel part that enhances the song’s edgy quality.
“He plays it through a pedal board, like a Jonny Greenwood meets Duane Allman kind of thing, or Radiohead meets Paul Franklin,” Wilson suggests. “He’s a really great steel player, but he also adds a lot of cool, surreal effects.”
The band played “billy” several times during a spring concert run with The Cadillac Three, then added it to the set on a subsequent tour with Brothers Osborne. When producer Ben West heard “billy,” he wanted to skip some other material that was already in progress to focus on the new song. Wilson’s acoustic guitar part and scratch vocal provided the basic recording, and the other musicians worked around that at Farmland, a recording studio near Nashville’s Lipscomb University.
“It’s a very unassuming studio, and you could drive right past it and never know,” says West. “Jonny and Scotty, the brothers who play in his band, both live there. It’s really perfect. They just stumble out of bed, bring their instruments down and plug in and start recording.”
They had already honed in so much on the arrangement that West’s main focus was capturing the best iteration of their performances. “When we got around to recording it, the drum parts were probably 99%,” West says. “So my job at that point is just to basically make sure that nobody’s overshadowing the main character of the song, which is Stephen’s lyric and his gut-string guitars. Everybody’s supporting that character, but since they’re such big personalities, Julian could be the star of the show if you’re not careful, or Scotty on pedal steel.”
During concert performances, the band developed a Lumineers-like “hey” in the chorus; West and Wilson re-created it in the studio, inspired less by “Ho Hey” than by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
“We just kind of did like a faux gang-vocal thing with a little slap back on it,” Wilson says. “Really, it’s more of the Tom Petty approach to a ‘hey.’ ”
The self-released “billy” is projected as one track among 22 possibilities for an album that’s currently being shopped around Nashville. Meanwhile, it has become a highlight of Wilson’s live set, speaking directly to fans who share his outsider disposition.
“When I first started playing it, I could see these hillbilly kids start singing it — like, they latched on to it real quick,” Wilson says. “And it means something to people, though they don’t know if they can exactly put their finger on it.”
Morgan Wallen‘s “You Proof” rules Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart (dated Nov. 12) for a fifth week, as it drew 31.2 million audience impressions in the tracking week ending Nov. 6, according to Luminate.
Wallen wrote the song with ERNEST, Ashley Gorley and Charlie Handsome, the latter of whom also produced it with Joey Moi.
The Sneedville, Tenn.-born Wallen’s seventh Country Airplay leader becomes his first to dominate for five weeks. His former longest-leading hits each reigned for three frames: “Wasted on You,” this July, and “Whiskey Glasses,” in June 2019. His additional four chart-toppers led for a week each: “Sand in My Boots” (this February); “More Than My Hometown” (November 2020); “Chasin’ You” (May 2020); and “Up Down,” featuring Florida Georgia Line (June 2018).
“It’s pretty awesome to see Morgan become one of the biggest stars on the planet,” Alpha Media KBAY, San Jose, Calif., operations manager/program director Bo Matthews tells Billboard. “I think Wallen’s music includes characteristics, like his warmth, which are inviting people from other genres to become fans. ‘You Proof’ is mainstream and inviting people to listen to the radio. I also think his new single ‘Thought You Should Know’ can be his biggest song yet.”
Non-album track “Thought,” now being promoted to the format, debuts at No. 45 on Country Airplay with 1.9 million impressions.
Concurrently, “You Proof” rewrites Wallen’s longest stay atop the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart. It reigns for a 12th week, passing the command of “Wasted on You,” which logged its 11th and most recent week at No. 1 in August. “You Proof” drew 12.7 million official streams and sold 3,000 downloads in the United States in the tracking week ending Nov. 3.
Meanwhile, Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (which houses “Wasted”) rules Top Country Albums for a record-extending 81st week, with 41,000 equivalent album units earned.
‘Bottom’ Up
Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country debuts at No. 12 on Top Country Albums with 10,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week (ending Nov. 3). Wilson makes her third appearance on the chart, following two No. 40-peaking projects: Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ reached its high in October 2021, after Tougher started at the rank in April 2016.
The new set, released Oct. 28, includes 14 tracks, of which Wilson co-penned 13. It was produced by Jay Joyce. First single “Heart Like a Truck” ranks at No. 22 on Country Airplay (7.6 million). Wilson is also featured on HARDY’s “Wait in the Truck,” which places at No. 26 (6.7 million).
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