BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 1 OF 20

INSIDE

Joey+Rory Top Album Chart For

The First Time >page 4

Hall Of Famer Sonny James Remembered

>page 9

ACM Nominees Shakeup >page 10

Makin’ Tracks: LoCash’s ‘I Know

Somebody’ >page 14

Stark Report: Anatomy Of A

Granger Smith Hit >page 15

Country Coda: Keith Urban’s First No. 1

>page 20

Before Randy Goodman officially took over as the chair-man/CEO of Sony Music Nashville on July 13, 2015, he sat in on one of the company’s meetings. The executives at the table didn’t know it, but they were helping him sort out some of the decisions he would ul-timately make when he started retooling the art-ist roster.

“What was really ob-vious to me was an artist would be talked about, and you could see peo-ple going for their phones underneath the table and diverting their eyes, or they’re leaning back,” recalls Goodman. “And then another artist was talked about, and every-body leaned in.”

It wasn’t the only input he used, but the staff ’s body la ng uage i n f lu-enced how G ood ma n leaned in many of the

roster decisions he made in the ensuing months. A number of acts left, including Sara Evans, The Henningsens, The Swon

Brothers, Josh Dorr and, most recently, Jerrod Niemann.

M e a n w h i l e , s t a f f excitement has helped a s S ony si g ned t h ree new a r t ists u nder t he new regime, paced by M a r e n M o r r i s . H e r d e b u t s i n g l e , “ M y C h u r c h , ” h a s p e r -formed like a song from a n e s t a b l i s h e d a c t , reaching the top 10 on Hot Country Songs in a scant six weeks.

T h at c reates add i-tional anticipation for the other two new acts, which are just getting out of the gate. LANco, a five-piece band produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Little Big Town), sent its bright, gurgling debut, “Long Live Tonight,” to

New Sony Chief Randy Goodman Engages Staff For Urgent Roster Retooling

The country music industry’s must-have source for news, charts, analysis and features.• Airplay, album sales, track sales and streaming

charts, as well as the all-encompassing Hot Country Songs chart.

• Expert commentary and insights by Tom Roland, Phyllis Stark and Jim Asker.

Country UPDATE

Sign up for FREE delivery every Mondaywww.billboard.com/newsletters

NOW, ON E WE E KLY E DITION , EVE RY MON DAY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE Tom.Roland@billboard.com

Country Update

Sony Music Nashville chairman/CEO Goodman (right) joined Brown onstage in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 30, just days after Brown signed with the label.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 2 OF 20

radio on Feb. 11. Kane Brown, who rode digital downloads and streams of “Used to Love You Sober” to a No. 15 peak on the Hot Country Songs chart dated Nov. 14, 2015, signed his deal on Jan. 27 and sent a remixed version of “Sober” to radio on Feb. 16.

Redesigning the roster hasn’t followed some of the precepts one might ex-pect. Goodman hasn’t banked on a specific sound that he believes will follow the recent bro-country and soul-tinged country trends. He also hasn’t fallen into the awards-show trap of discounting an act because it might compete with an existing artist on the roster in specific categories. If that had been the driver, Morris never would have been taken seriously, since Sony already had the two most-impactful women in the genre’s post-Taylor Swift era — Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert — plus Cam, whose “Burning House” was already showing signs of becoming a major hit when Goodman joined the company.

“The way I think about it is there are different lanes,” says Goodman. “Mi-randa has got a lane, and it’s a different lane than Carrie sits in, and Carrie’s got a lane, and it’s a very different lane than where Cam is. Maren comes along, and I think she’s unique. Each one of them have their own lane, and our responsibility as the label is to help articulate that lane, that brand, that message for them.”

But Goodman also wanted to send a message to the rest of the country music industry about the new Sony regime with his first signings. Previ-ous division chief Gary Overton was dogged by persistent rumors that he was going to be replaced — the job was actually offered to Sandbox Entertainment president/CEO Jason Owen, who turned it down — and Goodman suspected that the company’s uncertainties undercut its abil-ity to land new talent.

Morris gave him an opportunity to change those perceptions. She was about to sign with another label — Warner Music Nashville, Billboard Country Up-date has learned — but Sony Music Nashville vp A&R Jim Catino wanted Goodman to hear her, just so he would know what musical direction Catino thought the label should follow.

Goodman was moved by Morris’ music, as was the rest of the staff, and he pulled some strings to get a meeting with her. Before she ever arrived on cam-pus, numerous departments had built marketing plans to show her how they could assist her in upping her presence, which had already been established on Spotify. The proactive approach won her over.

“It was a very aggressive offer,” says Morris. “They promised a lot of amaz-ing things to us, and luckily everything has pulled through. We’ve not been shelved or waited for a single release date. Everything has honestly been moved earlier, so I feel like everyone over there has been really great about holding up their end of the bargain.”

Goodman was similarly aggressive with LANco, making an offer backstage at a showcase that every other label in town had likewise attended.

“We’ve got to be urgent about it,” says Goodman. “When we show up, it needs to be, ‘Wow, the Sony guys are here tonight. They may sign this act tonight.’ So that’s what we did. I think I freaked my entire staff out, as well as the band, but for the staff, I wanted them to see that if they tell me they’re excited about this, and I’m excited about it, I’m willing to walk backstage and just throw down.”

Standing up for his staff f igured into one of the roster dismissals. Goodman had wanted to take his time to assess parts of the roster, but a manager for one of the artists became a gadfly.

“They weren’t being patient, and they weren’t being respectful,” says Goodman. “They kind of decided to take it out on my assistant, and I could hear what was going on. I said, ‘Give me the phone,’ and I said, ‘You know what? You want to know? I’ll tell you. [Your artist is] gone. Today. Because of you. Goodbye.’ And that was it.”

That was the only split that ended on a sour note. In fact, Goodman expects some of the same managers whose clients lost deals will have new acts to pitch in the future. And he’s hoping Sony’s aggressive approach to the roster — and its quick success with Morris — will make it an attractive place for managers and publishers to bring young, unique talent as Sony changes its trajectory in preparation for the future.

“We’ve got Carrie and Miranda, who are still young but they’ve been around for a bit, and Kenny [Chesney] and Brad [Paisley], who’ve been around a bit, and those acts over time — like all acts will — will have some decay,” says Goodman. “We haven’t been able to break any acts through to help offset that decay. That, to me, is the most urgent thing that needs to be done.”

Rascal Flatts dedicated a memorabilia case at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Feb. 16, the day before the band launched a nine-show residency. From left: AEG Live/Las Vegas director of marketing Suzanne Richardson; Flatts members Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus; and Hard Rock Hotel vp entertainment Chas Smith.

RA

SC

AL

FL

AT

TS

: E

RIK

KA

BIK

Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors received the Epiphany Prize for the most inspiring TV program of 2015 at the Movieguide Awards. Parton (right) is joined on the red carpet by 9 to 5 co-star Lily Tomlin.

Deborah Allen joined Reflections host Keith Bilbrey on the Heartland TV show during the week of Feb. 15.

Maddie & Tae performed “Shut Up and Fish” on ABC’s Live With Kelly and Michael on Feb. 11. From left: Kelly Ripa, Tae Dye, Maddie Marlow and Michael Strahan.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 4 OF 20

Joey + Rory’s Hymns (Farmhouse/Gaither/Capitol Christian Music Group) bows atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated March 5). The inspirational country album sold 68,000 copies in the sales week ending Feb. 18, according to Nielsen Music. On the multigenre Billboard 200, the LP debuts at No. 4 (with 70,000 in consumption). It also opens at No. 1 on Top Chris-tian Albums.

The duo’s debut is bittersweet. Joey and Rory Feek married in 2002 and have one daughter, Indiana, who just turned 2 years old on Feb. 17. In 2014, Joey began chemotherapy for stage-four cervical cancer. She relapsed in 2015, with the cancer being deemed terminal. Electing to cease treatments, Feek is currently under hospice care at the family’s home.

“No one is more surprised that our Hymns record has sold this many copies than Joey and I,” Rory tells Billboard. “For the last few months, we’ve been in In-diana, far away from the music business, living and sharing the story of our personal journey through my blog. We haven’t been promoting our careers at all. The only way I can explain the sales of this record is that it’s a byproduct of something bigger: love.”

The sales week easily marks the pair’s strongest. Previously, Joey + Rory tallied seven appearances on Top Country Albums, including two top 10s: The Life of a Song (No. 10 peak in 2008) and Album Number Two (No. 9, 2010). The Life of a Song represented the act’s prior best weekly sales total: 8,000 upon its debut (Nov. 15, 2008).

‘DOWN’ IS UP Vince Gill collects his 15th top 10 on Top Country Albums, as Down to My Last Bad Habit (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nash-ville) starts at No. 4 (17,000 sold). Gill co-wrote and co-produced all 12 tracks on the set, which includes guest appearances from artists including Little Big Town, the featured act on launch single “Take Me Down,” which holds at No. 60 on Country Airplay.

NO JOKE Also on Top Country Albums is the first top 10 debut for a comedy set in nine years. Wheeler Walker’s irreverent Redneck Shit (Pepper Hill/Thirty Tigers), his first entry on the chart, arrives at No. 9 (6,000). The most recent comedy LP to bow in the top 10 was Larry the Cable Guy’s 2007 LP Morning Constitutions (No. 5, 56,000).

TWO FOR TWO AT NO. 1 Kelsea Ballerini becomes one of only five women to notch Country Airplay No. 1s with their first two charted titles, and the first in 15 years, as “Dibs” (Black River) rises 3-1 (45.4 million, up 10 percent). Her debut hit, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” topped the July 4, 2015, list. It was the

first No. 1 debut by a solo female since Carrie Under-wood’s 2006 six-week leader “Jesus, Take the Wheel.”

The last solo female to send her first two entries on Country Airplay to No. 1 was Jamie O’Neal, who ar-rived with the leaders “There Is No Arizona” and “When I Think About Angels” in 2001. The other women to earn the honor are Deana Carter (1996-97), Faith Hill (1993-94) and Wynonna (1992), who is the only one of those artists whose first three singles rose to No. 1 (from the start of her solo career, apart from The Judds).

“It just kind of blows my mind hearing that I’m the first female artist since 2001 to have my first two sin-gles go to No. 1,” Ballerini tells Billboard. “All I ever intended was to make good music, to have a voice and have that voice be heard. As an artist and songwriter, that’s all I wanted. For country radio to commit and trust me as they have has been the start of a beautiful

relationship. I still can’t believe this news. I am so grateful.”“In addition to another great song, Ballerini’s bubbly and charming per-

sonality really makes you want to root for her,” says WBWL Boston PD Lance Houston.

Among all artists, Ballerini is the first to reign with her first two Country Airplay entries since Sam Hunt led with his first three: “Leave the Night On,” “Take Your Time” and “House Party,” in 2014-15.

Joey + Rory Lead Top Country Albums; Ballerini Has ‘Dibs’ On Country Airplay No. 1

ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER jim.asker@billboard.com

JOEY + RORY

Country UPDATE

THE COUNTRY MUSIC INDUSTRY’S MUST-HAVE SOURCEFOR NEWS ANALYSIS AND CHART INFO.

Get your message front and center with top country radio programmers and other key music influencers

TO ADVERTISE, CONTACT:Lee Ann Photoglo, 615-376-7931, laphotoglo@gmail.comNOW, ONE WEEKLY EDITION, EVERY MONDAY.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 6 OF 20

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON

CHART TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistAUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS) PLAYS

THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK

l1 3 34 DIBS Black River HH No. 1 (1 week)/ Most Increased Audience HH Kelsea Ballerini 45.389 +4.029 8090 679 1

2 1 33 BACKROAD SONG Wheelhouse Granger Smith 44.188 -5.375 7531 -959 2

l3 4 13 HEARTBEAT 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood 42.536 +3.354 7230 457 4

4 2 17 HOME ALONE TONIGHT Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan Featuring Karen Fairchild 42.077 -6.632 6937 -1599 6

l5 7 38 WE WENT Stoney Creek Randy Houser 40.598 +3.438 7400 374 3

l6 5 18 BREAK ON ME. Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban 39.895 +1.793 7065 430 5

l7 8 24 BEAUTIFUL DRUG Southern Ground/John Varvatos/Dot Zac Brown Band 36.640 +3.250 6542 519 7

8 6 22 DIE A HAPPY MAN Valory Thomas Rhett 35.960 -1.949 5802 -399 8

l9 12 16 DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge 31.121 +3.430 5355 418 10

l10 10 10 YOU SHOULD BE HERE Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell 30.731 +2.156 5257 345 12

l11 11 16 CONFESSION Republic Nashville Florida Georgia Line 30.182 +1.852 5268 299 11

l12 13 45 LITTLE BIT OF YOU Red Bow Chase Bryant 29.017 +2.946 5493 356 9

l13 14 23 I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Big Machine Rascal Flatts 27.881 +2.282 4904 236 13

l14 15 16 NOBODY TO BLAME Mercury Chris Stapleton 22.952 +1.506 4326 149 14

l15 16 14 SNAPBACK RCA Nashville Old Dominion 22.300 +2.098 4117 329 15

l16 17 8 MY CHURCH Columbia Nashville Maren Morris 20.764 +2.038 4014 320 16

l17 19 21 MIND READER Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 17.870 +2.217 3668 310 17

l18 18 37 THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Curb Lee Brice 17.851 +1.472 3555 103 18

l19 21 8 THINK OF YOU RCA Nashville/Republic Nashville HH Airpower HH Chris Young Duet With Cassadee Pope 16.061 +3.196 2980 531 20

l20 22 5 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 15.567 +2.860 2971 484 21

l21 20 24 REAL MEN LOVE JESUS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray 14.332 +0.530 3279 118 19

l22 24 5 HUMBLE AND KIND McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw 12.360 +2.434 2426 502 24

l23 23 25 STONE COLD SOBER Valory Brantley Gilbert 12.148 +0.316 2812 224 22

l24 26 21 HEAD OVER BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi 11.781 +2.414 2632 237 23

l25 25 11 FIX Big Loud Chris Lane 10.701 +1.154 2192 217 26

l26 27 15 SHUT UP AND FISH Dot Maddie & Tae 10.252 +1.117 2384 182 25

l27 28 26 BETTER IN BOOTS Columbia Nashville Tyler Farr 8.391 -0.014 2160 24 27

l28 33 4 T-SHIRT Valory HH Most Added HH Thomas Rhett 8.261 +2.558 1624 480 30

l29 29 29 NIGHT’S ON FIRE MCA Nashville David Nail 8.258 +1.121 2067 169 28

l30 30 14 IT ALL STARTED WITH A BEER Warner Bros./WAR Frankie Ballard 7.319 +0.608 1962 155 29

Country Airplay AIRPLAY MONITORED BY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY AIRPLAY PANEL — 151 STATIONSAlbany, N.Y. WGNAAlbuquerque, N.M. KBQI KRSTAllentown, Pa. WCTOAtlanta WKHX WUBLAugusta, Ga. WKXCAustin, Texas KASEBakersfield, Calif. KUZZBaltimore WPOCBaton Rouge, La. WYNKBirmingham, Ala. WDXB WZZKBoise, Idaho KAWO KIZNBoston WBWL WKLBBuffalo, N.Y. WYRKCharleston, S.C. WCKN WEZLCharlotte, N.C. WKKT WSOCChattanooga, Tenn. WUSYChicago WEBG WUSNCincinnati WUBECleveland WGARColorado Springs, Colo. KATCColumbia, S.C. WCOSColumbus, Ohio WCOLCorpus Christi, Texas KRYSDallas KPLX KSCSDenver KWOF KYGODes Moines, Iowa KHKI KJJY

Detroit WYCDEl Paso, Texas KHEYFt. Myers, Fla. WCKT WWGRFt. Wayne, Ind. WQHKFresno, Calif. KSKSGainesville, Fla. WOGKGrand Rapids, Mich. WBCTGreensboro, N.C. WPAW WTQRGreenville, S.C. WESC WSSLHarrisburg, Pa. WRBTHartford, Conn. WWYZHouston KILT KKBQHuntsville, Ala. WDRMIndianapolis WFMS WLHKJacksonville, Fla. WGNE WQIKJohnson City, Tenn. WXBQKansas City KBEQ WDAF KFKFKnoxville, Tenn. WCYQ WIVKLafayette, La. KMDLLakeland, Fla. WPCVLas Vegas KCYE KWNRLexington, Ky. WBULLittle Rock, Ark. KSSNLos Angeles KKGOLouisville, Ky. WAMZ WQNUMadison, Wis. WWQMMcAllen, Texas KTEX

Memphis WGKX WLFPMiami WKISMilwaukee WMILMinneapolis KEEY KMNBMobile, Ala. WKSJMonmouth/Ocean, N.J. WKMKMonterey, Calif.. KTOMNashville WKDF WSIX WSM-FMNassau, N.Y. WJVCNew Bern, N.C. WRNSNew Orleans WNOENew York WNSHNorfolk, Va. WGH WUSHOklahoma City, Okla. KJKE KTSTOmaha, Neb. KXKTOrlando, Fla. WWKAPhiladelphia WXTUPhoenix KMLE KNIXPittsburgh WDSY WOGI WPGBPortland, Maine WPOR WTHTPortland, Ore. KUPL KWJJProvidence, R.I. WCTKRaleigh, N.C. WNCB WQDRRichmond, Va. WKHKRiverside, Calif. KFRGRoanoke, Va. WSLC

Rochester, N.Y. WBEESacramento, Calif. KBEB KNCI KNTYSt. Louis KSD WILSalt Lake City KEGA KSOP KUBLSan Antonio, Texas KAJA KCYYSan Diego KSONSan Jose, Calif. KRTY KSJOSanta Rosa, Calif. KFGYSarasota, Fla. WCTQSeattle KKWF KMPSShreveport, La. KXKSSpokane, Wash. KXLYSpringfield, Mass. WRNXSpringfield, Mo. KTTSStockton, Calif. KATMSyracuse, N.Y. WBBSTampa, Fla. WFUS WQYKTucson, Ariz. KIIMTulsa, Okla. KTGX KVOO KWENVisalia, Calif. KJUGWashington, D.C. WMZQWest Palm Beach, Fla. WIRKWichita, Kan. KFDI KZSNWilkes Barre, Pa. WGGYWilmington, Del. WXCYYork, Pa. WGTY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 7 OF 20

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON

CHART TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistAUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS) PLAYS

THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK +/– RANK

l31 32 16 YOU LOOK LIKE I NEED A DRINK Valory Justin Moore 6.558 +0.792 1502 146 31

l32 31 27 HOLE IN A BOTTLE Mercury Canaan Smith 6.364 +0.314 1458 -25 32

l33 34 18 RUNNING FOR YOU MCA Nashville Kip Moore 5.470 +0.250 1409 52 33

l34 39 6 UNLOVE YOU Big Machine Jennifer Nettles 3.800 +0.514 777 90 40

l35 37 7 LOVIN’ LATELY B$R/New Revolution Big & Rich Featuring Tim McGraw 3.773 +0.316 967 71 37

l36 42 3 FROM THE GROUND UP Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay 3.755 +1.632 726 288 42

l37 36 16 CRAZY OVER ME Curb Dylan Scott 3.609 +0.131 1085 59 34

l38 40 17 POWER OF POSITIVE DRINKIN’ Warner Bros./WAR Chris Janson 3.587 +0.648 1040 205 35

l39 38 19 HIGH CLASS EMI Nashville Eric Paslay 3.564 +0.208 1035 60 36

l40 48 3 RECORD YEAR EMI Nashville Eric Church 3.563 +1.813 729 394 41

41 35 20 I MET A GIRL Warner Bros./WMN William Michael Morgan 3.526 -0.235 922 68 38

l42 41 11 LIVIN’ THE DREAM Dot Drake White 2.962 +0.059 664 32 43

l43 46 4 SOUTHERN BOY Broken Bow Jordan Rager With Jason Aldean 2.495 +0.711 508 155 47

l44 44 10 RAISED ON IT MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 2.460 +0.564 405 54 52

l45 45 11 THE DRIVER Capitol Nashville Charles Kelley Featuring Dierks Bentley & Eric Paslay 2.033 +0.242 780 37 39

l46 47 20 NEXT BOYFRIEND 19/Interscope/Mercury Lauren Alaina 2.001 +0.220 585 19 45

l47 RE-ENTRY BY THE WAY Stoney Creek Lindsay Ell 1.994 +0.369 615 43 44

l48 54 2 MAYDAY Arista Nashville Cam 1.690 +1.021 506 303 48

l49 50 3 IT DON’T HURT LIKE IT USED TO Mercury Billy Currington 1.608 +0.175 408 70 51

l50 51 5 JESUS AND JONES Wheelhouse Trace Adkins 1.466 +0.100 523 2 46

51 49 15 WHEN I’M GONE Black River Craig Morgan 1.328 -0.262 414 -139 50

52 52 12 BEAUTIFUL STRANGER Show Dog Nashville Toby Keith 1.191 -0.118 443 -24 49

l53 58 2 USED TO LOVE YOU SOBER RCA Nashville Kane Brown 1.148 +0.544 245 112 55

l54 59 2 GIRL NEXT DOOR Warner Bros./WMN Brandy Clark 1.111 +0.554 262 134 54

l55 56 3 I KNOW SOMEBODY Reviver LoCash 0.909 +0.276 210 71 57

l56 55 3 DANCE WITH YA Cold River Drew Baldridge 0.794 +0.136 362 46 53

l57 NEW 21 SUMMER EMI Nashville HH Hot Shot Debut HH BROTHERS OSBORNE 0.706 +0.605 90 72 -

l58 NEW SLEEP WITHOUT YOU Republic Nashville Brett Young 0.517 +0.310 77 33 -

l59 NEW TUXEDO MCA Nashville Clare Dunn 0.411 +0.358 58 40 -

60 60 2 TAKE ME DOWN MCA Nashville Vince Gill Featuring Little Big Town 0.410 -0.131 122 -5 59

Country Airplay AIRPLAY MONITORED BY

2/29

BROTHERS OSBORNE 21 Summer EMI Nashville

CASH CREEK Worth A Woman Heartland

CHASE RICE Whisper Dack Janiels/Columbia Nashville

CHUBBY CHECKER Lookin’ For Me TEEC/RED

HIGH VALLEY Make You Mine Atlantic/WEA

JAMES ROBERT WEBB How That Feels Bison Creek

KRISTEN KELLY Fire Jerry Duncan/Kristen Kelly/Buddy Lee Attractions

SISTER HAZEL That Kind Of Beautiful Croakin’ Poets

3/7

ALLIE LOUISE Stilettos Sixth Beat

NEON SUMMER I Ain’t Leavin Till I’m Famous Marco

TAMMIE DAVIS Read The Headlines Vidustin

TUCKER BEATHARD Rock On Dot

3/14

BRIAN COLLINS Healing Highway Blue Light

FAREWELL ANGELINA Hillbilly 401K in2une Nashville/Dreamlined

GRANGER SMITH If The Boot Fits Wheelhouse

STEVE MOAKLER Suitcase Creative Nation

GOING FOR ADDS

The power ballad, which Young co-wrote with Cor y Crowder and Josh Hoge ,

pushes into the top 20 on both Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs, lifting 21-19

(16.1 million in audience, up 25 percent) and 22-17 (up 24 percent), respectively.

19CHRIS

YOUNG DUET WITH

CASADEE POPE

Think Of You

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 8 OF 20

MOST ADDED®TITLE Imprint/Label Artist ADDST-SHIRT Valory Thomas Rhett 27RECORD YEAR EMI Nashville Eric Church 26HUMBLE AND KIND Big Machine Tim McGraw 23MAYDAY Arista Nashville Cam 18SHE’S GONE Blaster Chuck Wicks 17FROM THE GROUND UP Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay 16IT’S ON YOU 17/in2une Matt Gary 16THINK OF YOU RCA Nashville Chris Young Duet with Cassadee Pope 14GIRL NEXT DOOR Warner Bros./WMN Brandy Clark 11SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 10

MOST INCREASED PLAYSTITLE Imprint/Label Artist GAINDIBS Black River Kelsea Ballerini +679THINK OF YOU RCA Nashville/Republic Nashville Chris Young Duet With Cassadee Pope +531BEAUTIFUL DRUG Southern Ground/John Varvatos/Dot Zac Brown Band +519HUMBLE AND KIND McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw +502SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley +484T-SHIRT Valory Thomas Rhett +480HEARTBEAT 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood +457BREAK ON ME. Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban +430DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge +418RECORD YEAR EMI Nashville Eric Church +394

MOST INCREASED AUDIENCETITLE Imprint/Label Artist

GAIN(IN MIILIONS)

DIBS Black River Kelsea Ballerini +4.029WE WENT Stoney Creek Randy Houser +3.438DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge +3.430HEARTBEAT 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood +3.354BEAUTIFUL DRUG Southern Ground/John Varvatos/Dot Zac Brown Band +3.250THINK OF YOU RCA Nashville/Republic Nashville Chris Young Duet With Cassadee Pope +3.196LITTLE BIT OF YOU Red Bow Chase Bryant +2.946SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley +2.860T-SHIRT Valory Thomas Rhett +2.558HUMBLE AND KIND McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw +2.434

AIRPLAY MONITORED BY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY BOXSCOREGross Artist AttendanceTicket Price(s) Venue/Date(s) Capacity Promoter(s)

$897,128 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 13,613AEG LIVE$76, $46 KFC Yum! Center, Louisville/Feb. 5 sellout

$865,536 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 13,581AEG LIVE$76, $46 Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville/Jan. 30 sellout

$776,244 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 11,574AEG LIVE$76, $46 Infinite Energy Center, Duluth, Ga./Feb. 1 sellout

$727,460 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 10,760AEG LIVE$76, $46 Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum/Feb. 3 sellout

$278,670 LITTLE BIG TOWN, CHRIS STAPLETON 6,380AEG LIVE$59.50, $19.99 Amalie Arena, Tampa/Jan. 30 11,346

Reported worldwide boxscore figures for Country artists. Boxscore figures should be submitted to Bob Allen by phone (615-891-1976), fax (615-891-2054) or email (bob.allen@billboard.com).

TEXAS REGIONAL RADIO REPORTWEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 21, 2016

Texas Regional Radio Report Top 100 is compiled from weekly online playlist reports from 86 radio stations located in Texas and surrounding states, including reports from specialty shows, internet and satellite radio outlets. Songs are ranked by total plays. For tracking, complete chart methodology and more information, visit www.texasregionalradio.com, or contact Dave Smith at 817-283-7984. Copyright 2016, Texas Regional Radio Report

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON CHART TITLE (Label) ARTIST

TW SPINS

SPINS +/–

l1 2 29 TONIGHT WE RIDE (Smith) HH 1 week at 1 HH Micky & The Motorcars 1872 148

l2 6 14 LONESTAR PARADISE (RROC) Matt Kimbrow 1815 272

l3 3 18 NEON BLUES (Thirty Tigers) Randy Rogers Band 1741 129

l4 9 19 REST OF FOREVER (Independent) Jason Cassidy 1652 152

l5 7 15 TAKE MY HAND (Independent) Jake Ward 1642 115

l6 8 18 RODEO MAN (Independent) Kylie Frey 1517 12

7 4 20 GETAWAY TRUCK (Independent) Aaron Watson 1470 -121

l8 10 16 COME ON (Independent) Kyle Park 1449 45

l9 11 13 SUNSHINE (Texas Evolution) Mark McKinney 1430 57

l10 12 16 WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE (Independent) Whiskey Myers 1413 73

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON CHART TITLE (Label) ARTIST

TW SPINS

SPINS +/–

l11 13 14 WINNING HAND (Independent) Cory Morrow 1388 107

12 1 21 AMNESIA (PDT) Josh Abbott Band 1326 -402

l13 17 9 RINGING IN THE YEAR (Independent) Turnpike Troubadours 1165 167

14 5 23 NOTHING’S GOT NOTHIN’ (Independent) Cameran Nelson 1132 -419

l15 16 20 COUNTRY MUSIC GOLD (Vision Ent) Prophets and Outlaws 1110 67

16 14 23 RINGLING ROAD (Independent) William Clark Green 1102 -77

l17 20 10 CAST NO STONES (Independent) Cody Jinks 1087 188

l18 18 24 HOLY RELIC SALE (Independent) Jason Boland & The Stragglers 982 48

19 15 24 RED FIRE NIGHT (Residence Music) Green River Ordinance 974 -195

l20 23 12 ALL I SEE IS YOU (Independent) Shane Smith & The Saints 941 97

RECURRENTSTHIS

WEEK TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistTOTAL AUD.

(IN MILLIONS)1 I LOVE THIS LIFE Reviver LoCash 25.356

2 STAY A LITTLE LONGER EMI Nashville Brothers Osborne 24.759

3 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 24.758

4 I’M COMIN’ OVER RCA Nashville Chris Young 18.161

5 GONNA Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton 16.590

6 SAVE IT FOR A RAINY DAY Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney 15.724

7 GONNA KNOW WE WERE HERE Broken Bow Jason Aldean 15.104

8 NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU Warner Bros./WAR Dan + Shay 14.154

9 BREAK UP WITH HIM RCA Nashville Old Dominion 14.131

10 SMOKE BREAK 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood 11.247

Country AirplayNEW AND ACTIVE

TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistTOTAL

AUDIENCETOTAL

STATIONS ADDSMAKE YOU MINE Atlantic/WEA High Valley 0.379 3 2

IF I WAS YOUR BOYFRIEND Black River Raging Idiots Feat. Bobby Bones 0.373 1 0

SHE’S GONE Blaster Chuck Wicks 0.279 19 17

MAKE YOU MISS ME MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 0.259 3 1

IT’S ON YOU 17/in2une Matt Gary 0.256 25 16

ROCK ON Dot Tucker Beathard 0.200 1 0

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 9 OF 20

HALL OF FAMER SONNY JAMES DIES He was aptly recognized as the Southern Gentleman.

Sonny James, a Country Music Hall of Fame member who was widely regarded as one of the nicest guys in the genre, died of natural causes at Nashville’s Alive Hospice on Feb. 22, according to a post on his website.

An adept acoustic guitar player who was extremely personable with his fan base, James came to prominence in 1956 with “Young Love,” a title that reached No. 1 on the Billboard country chart and No. 2 on the pop chart, where it was edged out by Tab Hunter’s version of the song.

James would later set a record by launching 16 straight singles to No. 1 from 1967-1971, a feat that stood until Alabama surpassed it in the 1980s.

Signed to Capitol by producer Ken Nelson, James became one of the label’s biggest sellers during the ’60s, rivalling Buck Owens for a time.

While his first hit crossed over to the pop charts, James frequently brought songs back to country from other genres, including folk, pop and R&B. Among his successful covers were remakes of Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely,” Johnny Preston’s “Running Bear,” Ivory Joe Hunter’s “Since I Met You, Baby,” Sam & Dave’s “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” and Gene Pitney’s “Only Love Can Break a Heart.” The latter title peaked at No. 2 in 1972, breaking James’ 16-title string of chart-toppers, though his next two releases returned him to the summit, giving him 18 No. 1s among 19 releases.

James also produced Marie Osmond’s No. 1 remake of “Paper Roses,” co-hosted the first Country Music Association Awards with Bobbie Gentry in 1967 and joined the Hall of Fame in 2006, accompanied in the class by George Strait and session guitarist Harold Bradley.

Funeral arrangements are pending. —Additional reporting by Chuck Dauphin

MOVERS & SHAKERSWUSY Chattanooga, Tenn., was a double-winner in the Academy of Country

Music’s Radio Awards, announced Feb. 17. The sig-nal took medium-market station of the year, while The Dex & Mo Show swiped the medium-market on-air personality trophy. Other station of the year win-ners included: WYCD Detroit, major market; WLHK Indianapolis, large market; and KTTS Springfield, Mo., small market. Other on-air winners included Chris Carr, Maverick and Kia, KEEY Minneapo-lis-St. Paul, major mar-ket; Randy Carroll and

Jamie Martin, KAJA San Antonio, large market; Bill Barrett, Tim Fox and Tracy Berry, KKNU Eu-gene, Ore., small market; and The Bobby Bones Show, national … WKLB Boston welcomes Jeff Miles as morning host beginning March 7. He previously held the same daypart at KCYY San Antonio … Ally Butler moved from middays on WDSY Pittsburgh to

mornings, where she’s joined by the frontman for The Andy Davis Band for Ally & Andy. They debuted Feb. 22 … Ruth Gaviria was hired as chief market-ing officer for Entercom, a chain with nine country stations, including KKWF Seattle and WBEE Rochester, N.Y. She was previously Univision executive vp corporate marketing … iHeartMedia/Tampa (Fla.) promoted Travis Daily to regional senior vp programming, according to RadioInfo.com. He’ll continue to operate as PD for WFUS Tampa.

’ROUND THE ROWNew Revolution hired Jon Conlon as its Los Angeles-based West Coast

promotion manager. The promo vet most recently held a similar post with Streamsound. Reach him here … Spirit Music Nashville purchased Frank Rog-ers’ one-third publishing interest in many of the songs in the catalog of Sea Gayle Music, a publishing firm he built with Brad Paisley and Chris DuBois. Rogers is also joining the Spirit roster as a songwriter and creating a joint venture for production projects. Rogers’ production credits include Paisley, Josh Turner and Granger Smith … Keith Stegall’s new Dreamlined Enter-tainment entered a publishing co-venture with Dune Grass Music. The first songwriter signed to the new entity is Brian Maher (“Small Town USA,” “You’re Like Comin’ Home”) … Songwriter Brandon Kinney (“Boots On,” “Outta My Head”) joined the peermusic Nashville roster … Josh Abbott Band enlisted Reviver’s 1608 promotion team … Singer-songwriter Brandon Lay signed a recording deal with Universal Music Group Nashville … Independent artist Risa Binder contracted with Kore PR for media … Nashville-based guitarist Todd Sharp (Christine McVie, Rod Stewart) established Todd Sharp Am-plifiers. Among his first buyers was Vince Gill … SESAC moved into its new offices on Nashville’s Music Row on Feb. 22 … The Women’s Music Business Association elected seven officers: president Dana Lalavee, BMI; vp Stacy Scism, Capitol Christian Music Group; treasurer Marissa Bond, Flood Bum-stead McCready & McCarthy; secretary Julia Grimoldi, Sony/ATV; events and education chairmen Meredith Bunch, the Erv Woolsey Company; Kristen England, Country Radio Seminar; and musicianship and marketing chairman Lauren Perry, Big Machine Label Group … McGhee Management CEO Doc McGhee (Darius Rucker, Kiss) will be inducted into the Personal Managers Hall of Fame on May 12 in Palm Springs, Calif. He will be one of a dozen new members, including the late Brian Epstein (The Beatles) and Albert Gross-man (Bob Dylan). Last year’s 10 inaugural inductees included Ken Kragen (Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie) and Jerry Purcell (Eddy Arnold, Maya An-gelou) … Fast Company included Big Machine Label Group as the only record label on its annual Most Innovative Companies list, citing it alongside Spo-tify, Pandora and Shazam … Musician Paul Gordon died Jan. 18 in Nashville. The keyboardist-guitarist was a member of Jennifer Nettles’ road band, as well as The B-52s.

NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND

MILES

ALLY & ANDY

ER

IC E

NG

LA

ND

Big & Rich joined host Dan Rather on the Feb. 16 edition of the AXS series The Big Interview. From left: John Rich, Rather and Big Kenny.

Blake Shelton met up with WUBE Cincinnati staff when he launched his current tour Feb. 18. From left are WUBE marketing director Ron James, Warner Music Nashville regional promotion manager Lou Ramirez, WUBE PD Grover Collins, Shelton and WMN Nashville vp national promotion Kristen Williams.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 10 OF 20

MUSIC NOTESWhen the Academy of Country Music announced its song of the year and songwriter nominees on Feb. 18, some 17 days after the bulk of the finalists were revealed, it changed the horse race ever so slightly. Chris Stapleton got two nominations for “Nobody to Blame” (the ACM gives an award to both the artist and the songwriter for song of the year), pushing his total nomina-tions to seven. Eric Church gets an addi-tional nomination for the Keith Urban collaboration “Raise ’Em Up,” while Cam picks up two as a writer and artist on “Burning House,” putting Church and Cam in second place with six nomina-tions. Little Big Town’s recording of nom-inated song “Girl Crush” gives the band five total, with Karen Fairchild — thanks to her vocal event nod with Luke Bryan for “Home Alone Tonight” — receiving an additional recognition. Go here for all the song and songwriter nominees.

When Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 with “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” on March 3, 1984, another song with “girls” in the title — Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” — was already at No. 3 on the same chart. Some 32 years later, Nelson and Lauper are trading duets on separate new albums. Sum-mertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (Feb. 26, Legacy) employs Lauper on “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” while Lauper’s Detour (May 6, Sire) pairs the two on the Nelson-penned “Night Life.” Other “girls” in the two sets include Sheryl Crow, who joins Nelson on “Embraceable You” and three female con-tributors on Lauper’s project: Emmylou Harris, on “Detour”; Jewel, “I Wanna Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”; and Alison Krauss, “Hard Candy Christmas.”

Two singer-songwriters lob new albums into the marketplace after a long re-cording hiatus. Chuck Wicks, heard on the Cumulus property America’s Morn-ing Show, ships Turning Point on Feb. 26 through Blaster, eight years after RCA released his debut album. Darrell Scott (“It’s a Great Day to Be Alive”) issues Couchville Sessions on May 13 via Full Light/Thirty Tigers.

Carlene Carter has been added to the lineup for the Johnny Cash Birthday Bash Feb. 26-27 at the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville, along with Tommy Cash and the Man in Black’s longtime drummer W.S. “Fluke” Holland. The weekend includes the grand opening of a new wing, featuring interactive dis-plays and artifacts from the award-winning Cash biopic Walk the Line.

STAPLETON

Brad Paisley (left) met up with Entercom/Portland, Ore., vp program-ming Mike Moore when the Crushin’ It World Tour reached Eugene, Ore., on Feb. 11.

ON THIS DATE IN COUNTRY MUSIC

Feb. 22 • 2011—Garth Brooks is announced as a 2011 inductee in the Song-

writers Hall of Fame along with Leon Russell, Allen Toussaint and John Bettis.

• 2006—Jake Owen has his wallet stolen at the O’Hare Airport in Chicago.

Feb. 23 • 2012—AristareleasesCarrie Underwood’s

“Good Girl” to radio.

Feb. 24 • 2014—Blake Shelton and fellow celebrity coach Shakira duet on

“Boys ’Round Here” in the season premiere of NBC-TV’s The Voice. • 2001—Brooks & Dunn appear in the Krewe of Endymion Mardi

Gras parade, along with New Orleans Saints coach Jim Haslett, KC & The Sunshine Band and grand marshal Frankie Muniz, of TV’s Malcolm in the Middle.

Feb. 25 • 2015—Keith Urban performs “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16”

for the first time publicly at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville dur-ing a Universal Music Group showcase on the opening day of the Country Radio Seminar.

• 1956—Elvis Presley collects his first No. 1 record as “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” reaches the top of the Billboard country sin-gles chart.

Feb. 26 • 1999—Billy Ray Cyrus portrays depressed country singer Lasso

Larry Larsen on the UPN series The Love Boat: The Next Wave.

Feb. 27 • 2013—Dierks Bentley records “Drunk on a Plane” with a band that

includes Charlie Worsham at the Ocean Way Studios in Nashville.

Feb. 28 • 1996—Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High on That Mountain” wins two

trophies — best country song and best male country vocal perfor-mance — during the 38th annual Grammy Awards at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium.

• 1966—Roger Miller, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens are double-winners at the inaugural Academy of Country & Western Music Awards, held at the Palladium in Hollywood.

Source: RolandNote.com, the Ultimate Country Music Database

OWEN

NASHVILLE & NATIONAL TOM ROLAND

GOOD WORKSIn April 1996, a Houston doctor diagnosed Clay Walker with multiple scle-rosis and told him that he wasn’t likely to live more than eight years.

Nearly 20 years later, Walker’s not only alive and well, he’s physically ac-tive and still raising money to fund research and fight misperceptions about the disease. Walker has set March 26 for his fourth annual Band Against MS bike ride in Humble, Texas. He will deliver the national anthem before the ride, which includes courses of 20 miles, 30 miles and 65 miles. The event has drawn more than 1,000 cyclists in previous years.

Walker founded BAMS in 2003 and has raised $4.5 million for the cause to date.

TWEET OF THE WEEKAll sorts of things could have triggered this Sarah Buxton (@sarahbuxton) tweet, but the best read is that she was simply channeling her inner Dean Martin:

“I need a drink. And a mic. And it isn’t even 9am. #grrrrr”

To follow BCU, go to Twitter.com/bbcountryupdate.

BE

N E

NO

SD

AN

NY

CL

INC

H

STA

PL

ET

ON

: B

EC

KY

FL

UK

E

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 11 OF 20

Hot Country SongsSALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

1 1 1 22 DIE A HAPPY MAN HH No. 1 (15 weeks) HH Thomas Rhett D.HUFF,J.FRASURE (THOMAS RHETT,S.M.DOUGLAS,JOE LONDON) VALORY 1 1

l2 6 6 17 HEARTBEAT HH Digital & Streaming Gainer HH Carrie Underwood Z.CROWELL (C.UNDERWOOD,Z.CROWELL,A.GORLEY) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE

2

3 2 2 45 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE 1 2

4 3 3 18 HOME ALONE TONIGHT Luke Bryan Featuring Karen Fairchild J.STEVENS,J.STEVENS (J.STEVENS,C.TAYLOR,J.DREYER,T.CECIL) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 3

l5 5 5 10 YOU SHOULD BE HERE Cole Swindell M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,A.GORLEY) WARNER BROS./WMN 5

6 4 4 22 BACKROAD SONG Granger Smith F.ROGERS,G.SMITH (G.SMITH,F.ROGERS) WHEELHOUSE 4

l7 7 11 28 DIBS HH Airplay Gainer HH Kelsea Ballerini F.G.WHITEHEAD,J.MASSEY (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,R.GRIFFIN,J.DUKE) BLACK RIVER

7

l8 8 7 14 DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE Brett Eldredge R. COPPERMAN,B.ELDREDGE (B.ELDREDGE,R.COPPERMAN) ATLANTIC/WMN 7

l9 11 13 6 MY CHURCH Maren Morris BUSBEE,M.MORRIS (BUSBEE,M.MORRIS) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 9

l10 9 9 23 BEAUTIFUL DRUG Zac Brown Band Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,N.MOON) SOUTHERN GROUND/JOHN VARVATOS/DOT 9

11 10 8 17 BREAK ON ME. Keith Urban N.CHAPMAN,K.URBAN (J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE 8

l12 12 12 16 CONFESSION Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (R.CLAWSON,R.COPPERMAN,M.JENKINS) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 12

l13 13 14 38 WE WENT Randy Houser D.GEORGE (J.WILSON,M.ROGERS,J.KING) STONEY CREEK 13

l14 14 15 16 NOBODY TO BLAME Chris Stapleton D.COBB,C.STAPLETON (C.STAPLETON,B.BALES,R.BOWMAN) MERCURY 14

l15 15 16 22 I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Rascal Flatts J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (M.TRAINOR,J.FRASURE,S.MOONEY) BIG MACHINE 15

l16 16 17 14 SNAPBACK Old Dominion S.MCANALLY (M.RAMSEY,T. ROSEN,B.TURSI) RCA NASHVILLE 16

l17 22 23 8 THINK OF YOU Chris Young Duet With Cassadee Pope C.CROWDER,C.YOUNG (C.YOUNG,C.CROWDER,J.HOGE) RCA NASHVILLE/REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 17

l18 19 21 5 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Dierks Bentley R. COPPERMAN (M.TYLER,J.BOYER,A.PALMER,D.KUNCIO,J.MIRENDA) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 18

l19 20 22 5 HUMBLE AND KIND Tim McGraw B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (L.MCKENNA) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE 19

l20 18 20 26 LITTLE BIT OF YOU Chase Bryant D.GEORGE,C.BRYANT (C.BRYANT,D.GEORGE,A.GORLEY) RED BOW 18

l21 21 19 34 THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Lee Brice J.STONE,L.BRICE (L.BRICE,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY) CURB 19

l22 27 24 17 TENNESSEE WHISKEY Chris Stapleton D.COBB,C.STAPLETON (D.DILLON,LINDA HARGROVE) MERCURY 1

l23 25 28 15 MIND READER Dustin Lynch M.J.CONES (R.AKINS,B.HAYSLIP) BROKEN BOW 23

l24 26 27 19 HEAD OVER BOOTS Jon Pardi B.BUTLER,J.PARDI (J.PARDI,L.LAIRD) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 24

l25 28 26 14 STONE COLD SOBER Brantley Gilbert D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,BRETT JAMES,D.LAYUS) VALORY 25

Hot Country Songs

The third single from Where It’s At, following “Where It’s At (Yep, Yep)” and “Hell of a Night” (both Country Airplay

No. 1s), rises 25-23 on Hot Country Songs (up 35 percent) and jumps 41-26 on Country Digital Songs (10,000 sold, up 93 percent) after Lynch performed the song on NBC’s

Late Night With Seth Myers (Feb. 17).

23DUSTIN LYNCH

Mind Reader

Twin siblings Jonathan and Drew , stars of HGTV’s Property Brothers,

co-wrote the folky ballad with Nashville songwriting veterans Victoria Shaw and Chad Carlson . It debuts at No. 38 on Hot Country Songs and No. 24 on Country

Streaming Songs (1.1 million U.S. streams).

38THE SCOTT BROTHERS

Hold On

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 12 OF 20

For week ending Feb. 18, 2016. Figures are rounded. Compiled from a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music.

For inquiries about any Nielsen Music data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or josh.bennett@nielsen.com

The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by Nielsen Music. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks.

COUNTRY MARKET WATCHA Weekly National Music Sales Report

Hot Country Songs

ALBUMSDIGITAL

ALBUMS*DIGITAL TRACKS

This Week 562,000 185,000 1,984,000

Last Week 407,000 127,000 1,678,000

Change 38.1% 45.7% 18.2%

This Week Last Year 550,000 173,000 2,349,000

Change 2.2% 6.9% -15.5%

*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.

Weekly Unit SalesYear-Over-Year Album Sales2015 2016 CHANGE

Albums 3,370,000 2,904,000 -13.8%

Digital Tracks 15,993,000 12,375,000 -22.6%

YEAR-TO-DATE

Overall Unit Sales

2015 2016 CHANGE

Physical 9,068,000 8,118,000 -10.5%

Digital 6,650,000 7,856,000 18.1%

Sales by Album Format

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

l26 29 29 14 BETTER IN BOOTS Tyler Farr J.KING,J.CATINO (J.WILSON,D.PITTENGER,N.COOKE) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 26

l27 30 30 9 FIX Chris Lane J.MOI (S.BUXTON,J.FRASURE,A.STOKLASA) BIG LOUD 27

l28 31 31 17 REAL MEN LOVE JESUS Michael Ray S.HENDRICKS (B.WARREN,B.WARREN,L.MILLER,A.SANDERS) ATLANTIC/WEA 28

l29 36 41 10 T-SHIRT Thomas Rhett D.HUFF,J.FRASURE (A.GORLEY,L.LAIRD,S.MCANALLY) VALORY 29

l30 33 33 11 SHUT UP AND FISH Maddie & Tae D.HUFF (M.MARLOW,T.DYE,P.SALLIS,A.SCHERZ) DOT 30

l31 34 34 22 NIGHT’S ON FIRE David Nail C.AINLAY,F.LIDDELL,G.WORF (J.SINGLETON,D.RUTTAN) MCA NASHVILLE 31

l32 35 32 10 IT ALL STARTED WITH A BEER Frankie Ballard M.ALTMAN (J.JOHNSTON,N.MASON,J.S.STOVER) WARNER BROS./WAR 32

33 23 — 2 FROM THE GROUND UP Dan + Shay D.SMYERS,S.HENDRICKS (D.SMYERS,S.MOONEY,C. DESTEFANO) WARNER BROS./WAR 23

34 32 25 16 MR. MISUNDERSTOOD Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,C.BEATHARD) EMI NASHVILLE 15

l35 50 47 16 TRAVELLER Chris Stapleton D.COBB,C.STAPLETON (C.STAPLETON) MERCURY 17

l36 38 38 8 YOU LOOK LIKE I NEED A DRINK Justin Moore J.S.STOVER,J.RAYMOND,S.BORCHETTA (R.CLAWSON,M.DRAGSTREM,N.HEMBY) VALORY 34

37 17 — 2 WHISPER Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (C. DESTEFANO,J.M.NITE,C.RICE) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 17

l38 NEW 1 HOLD ON HH Hot Shot Debut HH The Scott Brothers NOT LISTED (NOT LISTED) THE SCOTT BROTHERS

38

39 39 36 16 CRAZY OVER ME Dylan Scott M.ALDERMAN,J.E.NORMAN (D.SCOTT,M.ALDERMAN) CURB 36

l40 40 37 17 USED TO LOVE YOU SOBER Kane Brown M.MCVANEY (K.BROWN,M.MCVANEY,J.HOGE) RCA NASHVILLE 15

l41 43 42 4 RUNNING FOR YOU Kip Moore B.JAMES,K.MOORE (K.MOORE,T.VERGES,B.DALY) MCA NASHVILLE 41

42 37 45 9 THE DRIVER Charles Kelley Featuring Dierks Bentley & Eric Paslay P.WORLEY (C.KELLEY,E.PASLAY,A.STOKLASA) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 37

l43 NEW 1 RECORD YEAR Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,J.HYDE) EMI NASHVILLE 43

44 42 39 9 HOLE IN A BOTTLE Canaan Smith B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,D.COUCH) MERCURY 39

l45 48 46 10 NEXT BOYFRIEND Lauren Alaina BUSBEE (L.ALAINA,E.WEISBAND,M.MCVANEY) 19/INTERSCOPE/MERCURY 39

l46 44 49 3 UNLOVE YOU Jennifer Nettles D.HUFF (J. NETTLES,B.CLARK) BIG MACHINE 44

l47 49 48 4 HIGH CLASS Eric Paslay J.FRASURE,M.ALTMAN (E.PASLAY,C.CROWDER,J.FRASURE) EMI NASHVILLE 47

48 41 35 4 WHISKEY ON MY BREATH Love And Theft J.LEO,LOVE AND THEFT (S.B.LILES,A.CRAIG,M.MCGUINN,T.TOMLINSON,R.DICKERSON,T.REEVE) HATE AND PURCHASE 31

49 45 44 17 YUP Easton Corbin C.CHAMBERLAIN (S.MINOR,P.O’DONNELL,W.KIRBY) MERCURY 44

50 47 43 8 I MET A GIRL William Michael Morgan J.RITCHEY,S.HENDRICKS (T. ROSEN,S.HUNT,S.MCANALLY) WARNER BROS./WMN 42

ALBUM SALES

’16

’15

DIGITAL TRACKS SALES

’16

’15

3.4 million

2.9 million

000.0 million

’15

’14

12.3 million

16.0 million

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 13 OF 20

THIS

W

EEK

LAST

W

EEK

WKS

ON

CH

ART

TITLEARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)

l1 39 61 GIRL CRUSHLITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

2 1 22 DIE A HAPPY MANTHOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)

l3 11 15 HEARTBEATCARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

l4 3 6 MY CHURCHMAREN MORRIS (Columbia Nashville/SMN)

5 4 10 YOU SHOULD BE HERECOLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)

6 5 57 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWNSAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l7 26 69 TAKE YOUR TIMESAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

8 6 11 DRUNK ON YOUR LOVEBRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)

l9 8 16 HOME ALONE TONIGHTLUKE BRYAN FEAT. KAREN FAIRCHILD (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l10 10 5 HUMBLE AND KINDTIM MCGRAW (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)

l11 15 14 NOBODY TO BLAMECHRIS STAPLETON (Mercury/UMGN)

12 9 17 BACKROAD SONGGRANGER SMITH (Wheelhouse/BBMG)

l13 22 17 TENNESSEE WHISKEYCHRIS STAPLETON (Mercury/UMGN)

l14 14 5 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACHDIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l15 19 35 BURNING HOUSECAM (Arista Nashville/SMN)

16 12 18 BEAUTIFUL DRUGZAC BROWN BAND (John Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic)

l17 13 30 DIBSKELSEA BALLERINI (Black River)

l18 21 5 THINK OF YOUCHRIS YOUNG DUET WITH CASSADEE POPE (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l19 17 8 SNAPBACKOLD DOMINION (RCA Nashville/SMN)

20 18 16 CONFESSIONFLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

21 16 36 STAY A LITTLE LONGERBROTHERS OSBORNE (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

22 20 17 BREAK ON ME.KEITH URBAN (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l23 24 16 HEAD OVER BOOTSJON PARDI (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

24 25 11 I LIKE THE SOUND OF THATRASCAL FLATTS (Big Machine/BMLG)

25 23 47 HOUSE PARTYSAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

THIS

W

EEK

LAST

W

EEK

WKS

ON

CH

ART

TITLEARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)

l26 41 6 MIND READERDUSTIN LYNCH (Broken Bow/BBMG)

l27 RE-ENTRY WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?CHRIS STAPLETON (Mercury/UMGN)

28 27 7 BETTER IN BOOTSTYLER FARR (Columbia Nashville/SMN)

l29 30 30 WE WENTRANDY HOUSER (Stoney Creek/BBMG)

30 29 23 THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOULEE BRICE (Curb)

l31 31 31 STRIP IT DOWNLUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

32 7 2 FROM THE GROUND UPDAN + SHAY (Warner Bros./WMN)

33 2 2 WHISPERCHASE RICE (Dack Janiels/Columbia Nashville/SMN)

l34 RE-ENTRY TRAVELLERCHRIS STAPLETON (Mercury/UMGN)

35 35 41 I’M COMIN’ OVERCHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)

36 36 11 STONE COLD SOBERBRANTLEY GILBERT (Valory/BMLG)

37 33 11 PICTUREKID ROCK FEAT. SHERYL CROW (Lava/AG)

38 28 16 MR. MISUNDERSTOODERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

l39 48 14 USED TO LOVE YOU SOBERKANE BROWN (Zone 4)

40 32 26 I LOVE THIS LIFELOCASH (Reviver)

41 34 53 I GOT THE BOYJANA KRAMER (Elektra Nashville/WMN)

42 40 5 IT ALL STARTED WITH A BEERFRANKIE BALLARD (Warner Bros./WMN)

43 42 6 FIXCHRIS LANE (Big Loud)

l44 50 5 T-SHIRTTHOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)

45 44 40 KICK THE DUST UPLUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l46 RE-ENTRY FISHIN’ IN THE DARKNITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND (Warner Bros./Rhino)

l47 NEW ANGEL OF THE MORNINGJUICE NEWTON (Capitol Nashville/UMe)

l48 RE-ENTRY SMOKE BREAKCARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

l49 RE-ENTRY BUY ME A BOATCHRIS JANSON (Warner Bros./WMN)

l50 RE-ENTRY CRUISEFLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

Top-selling paid download country songs compiled from sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2016, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

Country Streaming Songs -The week’s top Country streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2016, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

TOP COUNTRY ALBUMSCOUNTRY DIGITAL SONGS

STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

The week’s most popular country albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. Albums are defined as current if they are less than 18 months old or older than 18 months but still residing in the Billboard 200’s top 100. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2016, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

COUNTRY STREAMING SONGS

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

The former 13-week Hot Country Songs leader surges by 787 percent to 49,000 downloads and vaults 39-1 on

Country Digital Songs after nabbing two Grammy Awards: best country duo/group

performance and best country song (for its writers). The group also performed the song on the Feb. 15 Grammy telecast.

1LITTLE BIG

TOWNGirl Crush

THIS

W

EEK

LAST

W

EEK

2 W

EEKS

A

GO

WEE

KS

ON

CH

T

ARTIST TitleIMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL

CERT

.

PEA

K

POSI

TION

l1 NEW 1 JOEY + RORY HYMNSFARMHOUSE/GAITHER 49134/CAPITOL CMG

l2 1 1 42 CHRIS STAPLETON TRAVELLERMERCURY 019405*/UMGN 0

l3 3 2 69 SAM HUNT MONTEVALLOMCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN 2 2

l4 NEW 1 VINCE GILL DOWN TO MY LAST BAD HABITMCA NASHVILLE 024354/UMGN (024354)

l5 5 5 17 CARRIE UNDERWOOD STORYTELLER19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 510539*/SMN 0

l6 8 8 16 ERIC CHURCH MR. MISUNDERSTOODEMI NASHVILLE 024200*/UMGN

7 4 6 21 THOMAS RHETT TANGLED UPVALORY RT0200A/BMLG

l8 7 7 28 LUKE BRYAN KILL THE LIGHTSCAPITOL NASHVILLE 022813/UMGN 1

l9 NEW 1 WHEELER WALKER JR. REDNECK SHITPEPPER HILL 013*/THIRTY TIGERS

l10 16 17 70 LITTLE BIG TOWN PAIN KILLERCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN

11 9 3 17 BLAKE SHELTON RELOADED: 20 #1 HITSWARNER BROS. 551788/WMN

12 2 — 2 CHARLES KELLEY THE DRIVERCAPITOL NASHVILLE 024438/UMGN

l13 12 10 10 CAM UNTAMEDRCA/ARISTA NASHVILLE 507049/SMN

l14 NEW 1 WYNONNA & THE BIG NOISE WYNONNA & THE BIG NOISECURB 79430*

15 6 4 5 HANK WILLIAMS JR. IT’S ABOUT TIMEBOCEPHUS/NASH ICON HW0100A/BMLG

l16 11 11 14 CHRIS YOUNG I’M COMIN’ OVERRCA NASHVILLE 506963/SMN

l17 13 12 15 TIM MCGRAW DAMN COUNTRY MUSICMCGRAW/BIG MACHINE TM0300A/BMLG

18 10 9 5 BROTHERS OSBORNE PAWN SHOPEMI NASHVILLE 022364*/UMGN

l19 17 18 92 BRANTLEY GILBERT JUST AS I AMVALORY BG0200A/BMLG 0

l20 15 13 21 DON HENLEY CASS COUNTYPAST MASTERS HOLDINGS 023512*/CAPITOL

l21 18 16 43 ZAC BROWN BAND JEKYLL + HYDEJOHN VARVATOS/SOUTHERN GROUND/BMLG 022962/REPUBLIC 0

22 14 14 15 OLD DOMINION MEAT AND CANDYRCA NASHVILLE 513496/SMN

l23 19 15 71 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE ANYTHING GOESREPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG 0

l24 20 24 16 CHRIS JANSON BUY ME A BOATWARNER BROS. 552159/WMN

l25 24 29 40 KELSEA BALLERINI THE FIRST TIMEBLACK RIVER 2015

THIS

W

EEK

LAST

W

EEK

WKS

ON

CH

ART

TITLEARTIST

1 1 29 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN SAM HUNT

2 2 21 DIE A HAPPY MAN THOMAS RHETT

l3 3 60 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT

l4 10 4 HEARTBEAT CARRIE UNDERWOOD

l5 4 39 HOUSE PARTY SAM HUNT

l6 20 52 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN

l7 6 7 YOU SHOULD BE HERE COLE SWINDELL

l8 11 16 TENNESSEE WHISKEY CHRIS STAPLETON

l9 7 28 BURNING HOUSE CAM

10 5 11 HOME ALONE TONIGHT LUKE BRYAN FEAT. KAREN FAIRCHILD

THIS

W

EEK

LAST

W

EEK

WKS

ON

CH

ART

TITLEARTIST

11 8 36 I’M COMIN’ OVER CHRIS YOUNG

l12 12 5 DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE BRETT ELDREDGE

13 9 28 STRIP IT DOWN LUKE BRYAN

l14 14 3 CONFESSION FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l15 25 3 BACKROAD SONG GRANGER SMITH

l16 15 149 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l17 16 7 BEAUTIFUL DRUG ZAC BROWN BAND

l18 17 100 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN

l19 22 88 YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT

20 13 41 CRASH AND BURN THOMAS RHETT

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 14 OF 20

When LoCash was stuck in the lower to mid-range of the Country Airplay chart with “I Love This Life,” the duo found itself engaged in more than one battle.

Chris Lucas and Preston Brust were fighting to keep “Life” alive on the very public chart. Meanwhile behind the scenes, the guys felt the heat of competition from some better-established artists for “I Know Somebody,” a hooky title penned by three grade-A songwriters: Rhett Akins (“Boys ’Round Here,” “Young & Crazy”), Ross Copper-man (“Strip It Down,” “Confession”) and Jeremy Stover (“Lettin’ the Night Roll,” “Wherever You Are”).

Lucas and Brust know a little some-thing about songwriting themselves — they were co-writers on Keith Urban’s “You Gonna Fly” and Tim McGraw’s “Truck Yeah”) — and they felt they were asking a lot from the “I Know Somebody” writers and publishers to give the song to them instead of their competitors.

“It’s kind of frustrating for a song-writer to give up a song when it’s a brand-new label and basically a brand-new art-ist,” concedes Lucas.

They asked anyway, and their pas-sion got them permission to cut “I Know Somebody.”

In retrospect, it’s a great opportunity for the song’s creators, since “I Love This Life” drove all the way to No. 2 on Country Airplay. As a result, “I Know Somebody” is now the follow-up to a significant hit and in prime position to make a little coin for everyone involved.

LoCash was lucky the song was around in the first place. It was written in January 2013 and eyeballed from the beginning as a potential hit for someone. But no one ever quite took it and made it their own.

“We had interest all the way through from the time we wrote it,” says Stover. “It just seemed to never time out right or something.”

The song just needed the right guys to get it done. That’s essentially the theme of “I Know Somebody,” a play on a familiar line. Need someone to paint your fence? I know a guy who could do that. Need someone to fix your roof? I know somebody.

“We were talking, and one of us happened to say, ‘I know somebody that does that,’ or something along those lines,” notes Stover. “We thought that was a cool title, and then we really started writing the song.”

Of course, handymen aren’t as interesting a topic as love, so the writers twisted the subject. In their version, a woman who has just moved to a new city meets a guy in a bar and they strike up a conversation. If she wants some-body to show her around town or somebody to take her someplace less noisy, the singer knows somebody who can do the job. Who might that somebody be? The answer lies at the end of the chorus: “You’re looking right in his eyes.”

“It’s kind of a trickery song,” enthuses Copperman. “You’re talking to this girl and say you know somebody, and [she’s] looking right in his eyes the whole time. I love that little trick that makes you grin.”

Before the title came along, the writing session had been difficult. They had labored for about an hour on a number of ideas, none of which struck the figurative chord. But once “I Know Somebody” was established, the day was pretty much a breeze. Each time they finished a section, Akins sang lead over

the tracks Copperman had created, and they moved on to the next section. The chorus was fairly long, and they had said about all they needed to say any-way, so they dispensed with a bridge and got the song finished in short order.

“When you have this perfect little marriage of idea and music, it’s like — boom! — it all kind of locks in,” says Copperman. “When the sentiment of the music fits the sentiment of the track, it’s like this magic, crazy thing.”

Their publishers all thought it was a hit, but the magic in the writing room didn’t translate to magic in pitch meet-ings: It was a good two years before Lo-Cash ever got to hear it, though the duo “got it” right away.

“I was just so in love with it the first time I heard it,” says Lucas. “Rhett was singing it, and it felt like it was a produced record. I was like, ‘Oh, this should be on the radio right now.’ ”

Once LoCash persuaded the publishers to give the pair a crack at it, the act’s pro-ducer — Australian native Lindsay Rimes — started building the track one instru-ment at a time. He played or programmed most of the supporting music, remaining true to the demo’s original vision, but en-hancing some of its most unique parts.

“I worked a lot on the drums to make the song hit harder and bigger and lay-ered the guitars up a lot more,” he says.

The instrumental intro got more atten-tion, too. A tingly mix of guitar lines shim-mer over a collection of keyboard sounds that hint at a church organ. It’s almost ethereal on its own, but Rimes beefed up

the claps that were introduced in the demo’s intro to create a sense of movement.“The guys aren’t afraid of having some programming sounds like claps in

a song, which are borrowed from electronic dance music,” explains Rimes. “That’s a great combination of styles. You’d probably call that a midtempo song, and that seems to give it a drive.”

The demo was just one voice, but LoCash found ways to play up its team con-cept, starting with two-part harmonies in key parts of the verses, plus three-part harmonies on the chorus, where Lucas contributes the high notes in the triad.

“We are Oak Ridge Boys fanatics,” says Brust. “Those harmonies are sick, and we love to sing ‘Bobbie Sue’ and songs like that because of the harmonies.”

At the end of the chorus, Brust came up with a way to emphasize both the duo and the title. They alternate “I know somebody” four times.

Once LoCash started playing music from its I Love This Life EP, “Somebody” generated the biggest response at concerts, which jibed with the feedback it received from radio programmers. In fact, some broadcasters who had moved on the title track early were ready to start playing “Somebody” even before “I Love This Life” had finished its run nationally. “We had to slow them down a little bit,” says Lucas.

But not now. Reviver shipped “I Know Somebody” to radio through Play MPE on Jan. 21. It debuted at No. 59 on the Country Airplay chart dated Feb. 13 and rises to No. 55 in its third charted week. LoCash figures it’s just a matter of time before it makes the same kind of progress as “I Love This Life.”

“It’s not a party, edgy song, but when you look in the crowd everyone’s pay-ing attention to this song,” says Lucas. “That’s an equivalent to a hit live.”

LoCash’s next chart battle has just begun.

LoCash Fights For Follow-Up Single ‘I Know Somebody’

MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND tom.roland@billboard.com

LOCASH

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 15 OF 20

For many country radio programmers and Music Row executives, Granger Smith was an unfamiliar name until last year. But the fans knew who he was. Right under Nashville’s nose, the Texas-based singer had built a solid touring business, amassed an impressive social media following and — perhaps even more significantly — scored four No. 1s on the regional Texas music charts.

The singer had a champion in WUBL Atlanta PD Brian Michel, who talked him up to country record executives and was partly responsible for bringing the singer and the f ledgling Wheelhouse Records label together, accord-ing to Carson James, senior vp promotion for Wheelhouse parent BBR Music Group. By the time Wheelhouse signed Smith and took over promo-tion of his single, “Backroad Song,” in September 2015, it had already spent eight nonconsecutive weeks in the 50s on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, listed under indie label Pioneer.

After a chart climb lasting another f ive-and-a-half months that James calls a “hard-fought battle,” the sin-gle peaked at No. 1 on the chart published Feb. 16. James credits “the support of all of our radio partners wanting to see Granger with his very first national single and Wheel-house with its very first national single. A lot of people were certainly pulling for us. We’ve very grateful for that.” The song’s success far exceeded the expectations of even Smith himself, who admits he was just hoping to crack the top 20.

The label had one immediate challenge after signing Smith: He already had a full slate of tour dates booked for the fall, meaning the Wheelhouse team couldn’t put him on a typical radio tour schedule. Instead, they worked around his paying gigs, having the singer f ly into markets a day or two early, or stay a day or two after a show, to visit radio in the area.

Early in the life of the record, “Backroad Song” got a big boost when it was simultaneously selected for the artist development spin programs of two major radio chains, iHeart Media’s On the Verge and CBS Radio’s Launch. Those “certainly help you gain some quick notoriety,” says James. Smith was also able to make inroads with radio programmers by showing them photos and

videos of packed shows he had recently played in their markets.“My bass player has been taking a picture of me on the front of the stage

for probably about the last four years, every single night,” says Smith. “I have them archived in folders on my phone, so I can access pretty quickly any city and show you ‘Here’s us in front of a crowd in wherever U.S.A.’ That’s what we’re using as ammunition.

“When I was meeting PDs from across the country, not only did I have a date on the books in their town, but we had probably already played there within the last 14 months, and I had a picture on my phone of their town, probably sold out,” he adds.

Both James and Wheelhouse vp national promotion Teddi Bonadies credit Smith and his manager/brother, Tyler Smith, for their business savvy in not only collecting such proof-of-life touring images, but in building the singer’s social media following: Smith has more than 600,000 followers on Facebook and 144,000 Twitter followers.

The single has been steadily selling about 10,000 downloads per week, according to James, and doubled those figures once it reached the top five on the airplay chart, and totals about 185,000 downloads to date, according to Nielsen Music.

Scoring a No. 1 hit with its very first single put Wheel-house on the map out of the box. Says James, “It gives you instant credibility [for] being able to do it. Every benchmark, every milestone was a huge accomplishment, but [hitting

No. 1] just put the exclamation point at the end.”Bonadies says that working Smith’s project “has been the most wonderful

and different new artist launch I have ever worked in my 25-plus years in the business. Everything about this project has been an anomaly.”

“If the Boot Fits” will be the next single from Smith’s eighth studio album and first for Wheelhouse, Remington, due out March 4. Smith says the album will be more of what his fans have come to expect from his music. “It’s not a switch for me,” he says. “You’re not going to hear it and go, ‘Well, this is new and different.’ If you’re already a fan of what I’ve done, then this is kind of right up that alley.”

Anatomy Of A Hit: Granger Smith’s ‘Backroad’ To Success

THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK phyllis.stark@billboard.com

SMITH

AN ENHANCED VERSION OF EVERY ISSUE, FEATURING: PLAYABLE BILLBOARD CHARTS . VIDEOS . PHOTO GALLERIES COVER STORIES . SPECIAL REPORTS . REVIEWS . INTERVIEWS EVENT COVERAGE & MORE

Access the best in music.

billboard.com/ipad

AVAILABLE

FREE TO CURRENT BILLBOARD

SUBSCRIBERS

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 16 OF 20

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON

CHART TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistPLAYS

AUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS)

THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK

l1 1 18 BREAK ON ME Hit Red/Capitol Nashville HH No. 1 (2 weeks) HH Keith Urban 4661 +202 8.847

l2 2 13 HEARTBEAT 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood 4483 +166 8.698

l3 5 39 WE WENT Stoney Creek Randy Houser 4273 +173 8.154

4 4 32 DIBS Black River Kelsea Ballerini 4113 -24 7.708

l5 7 23 BEAUTIFUL DRUG John Varvatos/Southern Ground/Republic/Dot ZAC BROWN BAND 3779 +252 7.379

6 3 20 BACKROAD SONG Wheelhouse Granger Smith 3754 -526 7.447

l7 8 15 CONFESSION Republic Nashville Florida Georgia Line 3571 +184 6.679

l8 10 16 DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge 3427 +251 6.438

l9 11 8 YOU SHOULD BE HERE Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell 3342 +227 6.557

l10 9 16 NOBODY TO BLAME Mercury Chris Stapleton 3279 +74 6.106

l11 12 23 I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Big Machine Rascal Flatts 2806 +147 5.235

l12 13 11 SNAPBACK RCA Nashville Old Dominion 2735 +157 5.058

l13 14 40 THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Curb Lee Brice 2548 +127 4.814

l14 15 6 MY CHURCH Columbia Nashville Maren Morris 2465 +237 4.413

l15 18 20 MIND READER Broken Bow Dustin Lynch 2295 +231 4.222

l16 16 22 REAL MEN LOVE JESUS Atlantic/WEA Michael Ray 2247 +79 4.221

l17 23 7 THINK OF YOU RCA Nashville Chris Young Duet w/ Cassadee Pope 2164 +373 4.068

l18 20 5 SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 2161 +323 4.061

l19 25 5 HUMBLE AND KIND Big Machine HH Most Increased Plays HH Tim McGraw 1932 +406 3.541

l20 19 24 STONE COLD SOBER Valory Brantley Gilbert 1932 +45 3.567

l21 22 23 HEAD OVER BOOTS Capitol Nashville Jon Pardi 1920 +119 3.420

l22 21 16 SHUT UP AND FISH Dot Maddie & Tae 1894 +68 3.311

l23 24 26 BETTER IN BOOTS Columbia Nashville Tyler Farr 1746 +88 3.135

l24 26 14 IT ALL STARTED WITH A BEER Warner Bros./WAR Frankie Ballard 1506 +40 2.810

l25 28 11 FIX Big Loud Chris Lane 1397 +228 2.414

l26 27 31 NIGHT’S ON FIRE MCA Nashville David Nail 1336 +69 2.338

l27 32 3 T-SHIRT Valory Thomas Rhett 1120 +345 1.932

l28 29 16 YOU LOOK LIKE I NEED A DRINK Valory Justin Moore 1118 +92 1.928

l29 30 26 HOLE IN A BOTTLE Mercury Nashville Canaan Smith 1062 +92 1.794

l30 31 21 GETAWAY TRUCK BIG Label/Thirty Tigers Aaron Watson 885 +43 1.395

Country Indicator

BILLBOARD COUNTRY INDICATOR PANEL — 106 STATIONS

Abilene, Texas KEANAlexandria, La. KRRVAmarillo, Texas KGNCAsheville, N.C. WKSFAtlantic City, N.J. WPURBeaumont, Texas KYKRBeckley, W. Va. WJLSBiloxi, Miss. WZKXBloomington, Ill. WIBLBluefield, W. Va. WHKXBurlington, Vt. WOKOCape Girardeau, Mo. KEZSCharleston, W. Va WKWS WQBECollege Station, Texas KAGGColumbia, Mo. KCLRColumbus, Ga. WKCN WSTH Cookeville, Tenn. WGSQDothan, Ala. WTVYDuluth, Minn. KKCBEau Claire, Wis. WAXXElizabeth City, N.C. WRSFErie, Pa. WTWFEugene, Ore. KKNUEvansville, Ind. WKDQFargo, N.D. KBVB WSTH

Fayetteville, N.C. WKMLFlagstaff, Ariz. KAFFFlint, Mich. WFBEFlorence, Ala. WXFLFlorence, S.C. WEGXFt. Collins, Colo. KUADFt. Smith, Ark. KTCSFrederick, Md. WFREFredericksburg, Va. WFLSGreen Bay, Wis. WNCYHagerstown, Md. WAYZHot Springs, Ark. KQUSHuntington, Ky. WDGGHuntington, W. Va. WTCRIdaho Falls, Idaho KTHKJackson, Miss. WMSI WUSJJanesville, Wis. WJVL Jonesboro, Ark. KDXYJoplin, Mo. KIXQKalamazoo, Mich. WNWNKalispell, Mont. KDBRKingmah, Ariz. KFLGLafayette, Ind. WKOALaredo, Texas KRRGLansing, Mich. WITLLaurel, Miss. WBBN

Lebanon, N.H. WXXKLincoln, Neb KFGELongview, Texas KYKXLubbock, Texas KLLLLufkin, Texas KYKSMason City, Iowa KIAIMedford, Ore. KRWQMeridian, Miss. WOKKMontgomery, Ala. WLWIMorgantown, W. Va. WKKWMuskegon, Mich. WMUSNew London, Conn. WCTYOdessa, Texas KHKXPalm Springs, Calif. KPLMPensacola, Fla. WXBMPeoria, Ill. WXCL Poughkeepsie, N.Y. WRWDRapid City, S.D. KOUTRockford, Ill. WXXQRocky Mount, N.C. WDWGSaginaw, Mich. WCENSt. Cloud, Minn. KZPKSalina, Kan. KYEZSalisbury, Md. WKTTSan Angelo, Texas KGKLSan Luis Obispo, Calif. KKJG

Santa Barbara, Calif. KRAZSanta Maria, Calif. KSNISheboygan, Wis. WBFMSavannah, Ga. WJCL WUBBShreveport, La. KXKSSioux Cty, Iowa KSUXSouth Bend, Ind. WBYTSpringfield, Ill. WFMBSpringfield, Mo. KTTSTerre Haute, Ind. WTHITopeka, Kan. WIBWTraverse City, Mich. WTCMTupelo, Miss. WWZDUtica, N.Y. WFRGVictor Valley, CA. KATJWaco, Texas WACOWausau, Wis. WDEZWheeling, W. Va. WOVKWilliamsport, Pa. WILQYakima, Wash. KXDDYoungstown, Ohio WQXK WWGYWestwood One HOT COUNTRY MAINSTREAM COUNTRYMusic Choice TODAY’S COUNTRYSirius XM THE HIGHWAY

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 17 OF 20

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

WKS ON

CHART TITLE Imprint/Label ArtistPLAYS

AUDIENCE (IN MILLIONS)

THIS WEEK +/– THIS WEEK

l31 33 18 RUNNING FOR YOU MCA Nashville Kip Moore 805 +53 1.266

l32 34 19 HIGH CLASS EMI Nashville Eric Paslay 720 +41 1.128

l33 35 6 LOVIN’ LATELY B$R/New Revolution Big & Rich Feat. Tim McGraw 711 +56 1.266

l34 44 2 RECORD YEAR EMI Nashville HH Most Added HH Eric Church 673 +339 1.160

l35 36 19 THE DRIVER Capitol Nashville Charles Kelley Feat. Dierks Bentley & Eric Paslay 607 +16 0.955

l36 38 18 POWER OF POSITIVE DRINKIN’ Warner Bros./WAR Chris Janson 549 +96 0.970

l37 39 12 CRAZY OVER ME Curb Dylan Scott 482 +43 0.755

l38 48 2 FROM THE GROUND UP Warner Bros./WAR HH Hot Shot Debut HH Dan + Shay 470 +175 0.789

l39 41 6 UNLOVE YOU Big Machine Jennifer Nettles 455 +74 0.819

l40 42 4 IT DON’T HURT LIKE IT USED TO Universal Music Canada Billy Currington 453 +84 0.707

l41 40 17 BEAUTIFUL STRANGER Show Dog Nashville Toby Keith 414 +22 0.541

l42 45 16 I MET A GIRL Warner Bros./WMN William Michael Morgan 339 +27 0.524

l43 43 9 LIVIN’ THE DREAM Dot Drake White 336 0 0.589

l44 53 3 MAYDAY Arista Nashville Cam 330 +116 0.498

l45 46 5 JESUS AND JONES Wheelhouse Trace Adkins 325 +20 0.441

46 37 19 WHEN I’M GONE Black River Craig Morgan 320 -153 0.509

l47 47 17 NEXT BOYFRIEND 19/Interscope/Mercury Lauren Alaina 307 +9 0.488

l48 50 8 WHISKEY ON MY BREATH Thirty Tigers Love And Theft 304 +47 0.504

l49 49 7 MAKE MY OWN SUNSHINE Big Spark Olivia Lane 291 +16 0.417

l50 51 8 I DON’T LOVE YOU Rustic Rachael Turner 259 +19 0.341

l51 52 11 SHE LOVES TO RIDE Homegrown Band Homegrown Band 236 +6 0.293

l52 57 3 I KNOW SOMEBODY Reviver LoCash 188 +50 0.364

53 54 10 AIN’T IT GOOD Plateau Sam Austin 181 -33 0.236

l54 60 2 TAKE ME DOWN MCA Nashville Vince Gill 171 +47 0.295

l55 59 3 RUNNIN’ OUTTA LIPSTICK Circle S Sarabeth 155 +25 0.207

l56 58 4 QUICKSAND Momentum/in2une Rachele Lynae 149 +11 0.199

l57 NEW USED TO LOVE YOU SOBER RCA Nashville Kane Brown 140 +53 0.225

l58 NEW RAISED ON IT MCA Nashville Sam Hunt 125 +39 0.180

l59 NEW SOUTHERN BOY Broken Bow Jordan Rager with Jason Aldean 120 +50 0.262

l60 NEW TUXEDO MCA Nashville Clare Dunn 92 +71 0.126

Country Indicator

CHARTS LEGENDRANKINGSCountry Airplay is ranked by total audience impressions for the week ending Sunday based on monitored airplay of 151 stations by Nielsen BDS. Audience totals on the chart are derived, in part, using certain Arbitron Inc. copyrighted Persons 12+ audience estimates (under license © 2016, Arbitron Inc.) Country Indicator is tabulated using reported playlists and Nielsen BDS-monitored airplay at 106 stations, ranked by total plays.

BULLETSl Awarded on Country Airplay to titles gaining audience or remaining flat from the previous week. A song will also receive a bullet if its percentage loss in audience does not exceed the percentage of monitored

station downtime for the format. Titles that decline in audience but increase in detections will also receive a bullet if the total audience erosion for the week does not exceed 3%. Bullets are awarded on Country Indicator to titles gaining plays or remaining flat from the previous week.

TIESOn Country Airplay, if two songs are tied in total audience, the song with the larger increase in audience is placed first. On Country Indicator, if two songs are tied in total plays, the song with the larger increase in plays is placed first.

RECURRENTSOn Country Airplay, descending titles below No. 10 in either audience or detections are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks, provided that they are not still

gaining enough audience points to bullet or if they rank below No. 10 and post a third consecutive week of (non-bulleted) audience decline, regardless of total chart weeks. On Country Indicator, descending, non-bulleted titles below No. 10 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks or if they post a third consecutive week of decline in plays after 10 weeks.

HOT SHOT DEBUTAwarded to the highest-ranking new entry on Country Airplay and Country Indicator, respectively.

MOST ADDEDThe total number of new adds officially reported to Billboard by each reporting station, or by an automatic-add threshold (seven plays for the first time in a chart tracking week, according to Nielsen BDS) for stations that do not report adds.

MOST INCREASED AUDIENCE/PLAYSMost Increased Audience on Country Airplay and Most Increased Plays on Country Indicator list the songs with the greatest week-to-week increases in total audience or plays, respectively.

AIRPOWERAwarded on Country Airplay to titles ranking inside top 20 in plays and audience rankings for the first time, with increases in both plays and audience.

BREAKERAwarded on Country Airplay to titles achieving airplay (at least one detection) at 60% of reporting stations for the first time.

© 2016 Prometheus Global Media, LLC

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 18 OF 20

Country Airplay IndexB

BACKROAD SONG Climbing Windmills, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP (G.Smith, F.Rogers) 6

BEAUTIFUL DRUG Day For The Dead Publishing, SESAC/Southern Ground, SESAC/Reach Music Tunes, SESAC (Z.Brown, N.Moon) 10

BETTER IN BOOTS Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/This Is Magic Mustang Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of Platinum Pen, SESAC/Hatchoo Music, SESAC/Thunder Cookie, SESAC (J.Wilson, D.Pittenger, N.Cooke) 26

BREAK ON ME. EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI (J.M.Nite, R.Copperman) 11

BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Three Mules Music, ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP/Sam Hunt Publishing, ASCAP/I Love Pizza Music, ASCAP (S.Hunt, Z.Crowell, S.McAnally) 3

C

CONFESSION Big Red Toe, BMI/Farm Town Songs, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP (R.Clawson, R.Copperman, M.Jenkins) 12

CRAZY OVER ME Curb Songs, ASCAP/Curb Congregation Songs, SESAC (D.Scott, M.Alderman) 39

D

DIBS Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/KNB Music, ASCAP/DHM Administration, ASCAP/Nyssa Music, ASCAP/Jason Duke Music, ASCAP (K.Ballerini, J.Kerr, R.Griffin, J.Duke) 7

DIE A HAPPY MAN EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Eastman Pond Publishing, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Nice Life, BMI/Frederic And Reid Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI (Thomas Rhett, S.M.Douglas, Joe London) 1

THE DRIVER WB Music Corp., ASCAP/30A Getaway Songs, ASCAP/Spirit Catalog Holdings, S.a.r.l./Five Stone Publishing, ASCAP/Spirit Two Nashville Music, Inc., ASCAP/Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP/Words & Music (C.Kelley, E.Paslay, A.Stoklasa) 42

DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Paris Not France Music, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Ross Copperman Songs, BMI (B.Eldredge, R.Copperman) 8

F

FIX Round Hill Works, BMI/Big Loud Proud Crowd, BMI/Bux Tone Music, BMI/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Telemitry Productions, BMI/Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP (S.Buxton, J.Frasure, A.Stoklasa) 27

FROM THE GROUND UP WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Beats And Banjos, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Shay Mooney Music, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/CDS Words And Music, ASACP (D.Smyers, S.Mooney, C. DeStefano) 33

TITLE Publishing-Licensing Org. (Songwriter) Chart Position

H

HEAD OVER BOOTS Golden Vault Music, BMI/The Song Factory, LLC, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI (J.Pardi, L.Laird) 24

HEARTBEAT Carrie-Okie Music, BMI/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP (C.Underwood, Z.Crowell, A.Gorley) 2

HIGH CLASS WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Five Foot Sixteen Publishing, ASCAP/Songs From The Rose Hotel, ASCAP/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Telemitry Productions, BMI (E.Paslay, C.Crowder, J.Frasure) 47

HOLD ON Not Listed (Not Listed) 38

HOLE IN A BOTTLE BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Skinny Fat Nashville Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Stalefish Music, BMI/Songs From The Couch, BMI (C.Smith, B.Beavers, D.Couch) 44

HOME ALONE TONIGHT Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Red Vinyl Music, Inc., BMI/Sixteen Stars Music, BMI/HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc., BMI (J.Stevens, C.Taylor, J.Dreyer, T.Cecil) 4

HUMBLE AND KIND Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Hoodie Songs, BMI (L.McKenna) 19

I

I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Shay Mooney Music, ASCAP/MTrain Music, ASCAP (M.Trainor, J.Frasure, S.Mooney) 15

I MET A GIRL ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Three Mules Music, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (T. Rosen, S.Hunt, S.McAnally) 50

IT ALL STARTED WITH A BEER Sony/ATV Harmony, ASCAP/Texa Rae Music, ASCAP/Nettwerk One B Music, BMI/Revelry Music, BMI/Nevada House Music, BMI/Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Real Big Red Tunes, ASCAP (J.Johnston, N.Mason, J.S.Stover) 32

L

LITTLE BIT OF YOU Orbison Music, LLC, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Funky Friar Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP (C.Bryant, D.George, A.Gorley) 20

M

MIND READER EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Rhettro Music, BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP (R.Akins, B.Hayslip) 23

MR. MISUNDERSTOOD Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Longer And Louder Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Acuff Rose Music, BMI/Six Ring Circus Songs, BMI (E.Church, C.Beathard) 34

MY CHURCH International Dog Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Hello I Love You Music, BMI (busbee, M.Morris) 9

N

NEXT BOYFRIEND Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Lylas Music, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/A Frank Entertainment, ASCAP/Song House Publishing, ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP (L.Alaina, E.Weisband, M.McVaney) 45

NIGHT’S ON FIRE Super Big Music, ASCAP/Jett Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Doc And Maggie Music, SOCAN/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP (J.Singleton, D.Ruttan) 31

NOBODY TO BLAME WB Music Corp., ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Quackhead Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI (C.Stapleton, B.Bales, R.Bowman) 14

R

REAL MEN LOVE JESUS EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Sagequinnjude Music, BMI/Famlove Songs, BMI (B.Warren, B.Warren, L.Miller, A.Sanders) 28

RECORD YEAR Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Longer And Louder Music, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMi/Mammaw’s Fried Okra Music, BMI (E.Church, J.Hyde) 43

RUNNING FOR YOU Music Of Stage Three, BMI/Songs Of Cornman, BMI/Roll Through Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Songs From The Engine Room, BMI/Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, BMI/Internal Combustion Music, BMI/Kickin’ Grids Music, BMI (K.Moore, T.Verges, B.Daly) 41

S

SHUT UP AND FISH Super Big Music, ASCAP/Big Machine Music, BMI/Song Alert Publishing, SESAC/Tunes of R And T Direct, SESAC (M.Marlow, T.Dye, P.Sallis, A.Scherz) 30

SNAPBACK Carrot Seed Songs, ASCAP/Smackville Music, ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/Unfair Entertainment, ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Wooden Ships, ASCAP (M.Ramsey, T. Rosen, B.Tursi) 16

SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Peermusic III, Ltd., BMI/Peertunes, Ltd., SESAC/Jaron Boyer Music, SESAC/BMG Silver Songs, SESAC/Fuego Songs Publishing, SESAC/David Ryan Music, ASCAP/The Real Brain Publishing, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of The Corn, ASCAP (M.Tyler, J.Boyer, A.Palmer, D.Kuncio, J.Mirenda) 18

STONE COLD SOBER Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Indiana Angel Music, BMI/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Brett, ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/Yawyer Three Music, ASCAP (B.Gilbert, Brett James, D.Layus) 25

T

TENNESSEE WHISKEY Universal-Songs Of PolyGram International, BMI/EMI Algee, BMI (D.Dillon, Linda Hargrove) 22

THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Mike Curb Music, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Out Of The Taperoom Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (L.Brice, R.Akins, A.Gorley) 21

THINK OF YOU EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Goodbye Pants Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Songs From The Rose Hotel, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/EMI Foray Music, SESAC/Write 2 Be Free Music, SESAC (C.Young, C.Crowder, J.Hoge) 17

TRAVELLER WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Ken Tucky Music, ASCAP (C.Stapleton) 35

T-SHIRT External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (A.Gorley, L.Laird, S.McAnally) 29

U

UNLOVE YOU Jennifer Nettles Publishing, ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Highway 508 Songs, ASCAP (J. Nettles, B.Clark) 46

USED TO LOVE YOU SOBER Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Kane Brown Music, BMI/EMI Foray Music, SESAC/Write 2 Be Free Music, SESAC/B Frank Entertainment, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Song House Publishing, ASCAP (K.Brown, M.McVaney, J.Hoge) 40

W

WE WENT Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/ole Canalco Publishing, ASCAP/Ole Ole, ASCAP/Songs Of Razor And Tie Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP (J.Wilson, M.Rogers, J.King) 13

WHISKEY ON MY BREATH Rockapop Music, ASCAP/Hate And Purchase Music, LCC, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Charcharose Music, BMI/Wide Open Music, BMI/Big Mosquito Music, BMI/Bootheel Music, BMI/Combustion Music, BMI/Music That Is Russelled, BMI/Brown Hand Publishing, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI (S.B.Liles, A.Craig, M.McGuinn, T.Tomlinson, R.Dickerson, T.Reeve) 48

WHISPER EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Dack Janiel’s Publishing, BMI (C. DeStefano, J.M.Nite, C.Rice) 37

Y

YOU LOOK LIKE I NEED A DRINK Round Hill Works, BMI/Farm Town Songs, BMI/Big Loud Proud Crowd, BMI/Round Hill Songs, ASCAP/Big Loud Proud Songs, ASCAP/HappyGoWrucke, BMI/Creative Pulse Music, BMI/These Are Pulse Songs, BMI (R.Clawson, M.Dragstrem, N.Hemby) 36

YOU SHOULD BE HERE Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (C.Swindell, A.Gorley) 5

YUP Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Code Six Charles Music, BMI/Sixteen Stars Music, BMI/Rooster Pecked Music, BMI/HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc., BMI/Round Hill Works, BMI/Kirbtone Music, BMI (S.Minor, P.O’Donnell, W.Kirby) 49

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 19 OF 20

Hot Country Songs Index21 SUMMER WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Trampy

McCauley, ASCAP/All The Kings Pens, ASCAP/Songstein Publishing, ASCAP/Big Loud Shirt Industries, ASCAP (J. Osborne, T.J. Osborne, C.Wiseman) 57

B

BACKROAD SONG Climbing Windmills, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP (G.Smith, F.Rogers) 2

BEAUTIFUL DRUG Day For The Dead Publishing, SESAC/Southern Ground, SESAC/Reach Music Tunes, SESAC (Z.Brown, N.Moon) 7

BEAUTIFUL STRANGER Tokeco Tunes, BMI/Bobby’s Lyrics, Land And Livestock, BMI/Do Write Music, LLC, BMI (T.Keith, B.Pinson) 52

BETTER IN BOOTS Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/This Is Magic Mustang Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of Platinum Pen, SESAC/Hatchoo Music, SESAC/Thunder Cookie, SESAC (J.Wilson, D.Pittenger, N.Cooke) 27

BREAK ON ME. EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/Jon Mark Nite Music, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI (J.M.Nite, R.Copperman) 6

BY THE WAY Magic Mustang Music Inc., BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Lindsay Ell Music, BMI/Country Paper, BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI (L.Ell, B.D.George, L.Laird) 47

C

CONFESSION Big Red Toe, BMI/Farm Town Songs, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP (R.Clawson, R.Copperman, M.Jenkins) 11

CRAZY OVER ME Curb Songs, ASCAP/Curb Congregation Songs, SESAC (D.Scott, M.Alderman) 37

D

DANCE WITH YA Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/THiS Music, BMI/Goes Something Like This Music, BMI/Songs of Sunset Beach, BMI/SONGS MP Publishing, BMI (D.Baldridge, C.Yarber, J.Mitchell) 56

DIBS Songs Of Black River, ASCAP/KNB Music, ASCAP/DHM Administration, ASCAP/Nyssa Music, ASCAP/Jason Duke Music, ASCAP (K.Ballerini, J.Kerr, R.Griffin, J.Duke) 1

DIE A HAPPY MAN EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Cricket On The Line, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Eastman Pond Publishing, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Nice Life, BMI/Frederic And Reid Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI (Thomas Rhett, S.M.Douglas, Joe London) 8

THE DRIVER WB Music Corp., ASCAP/30A Getaway Songs, ASCAP/Spirit Catalog Holdings, S.a.r.l./Five Stone Publishing, ASCAP/Spirit Two Nashville Music, Inc., ASCAP/Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP/Words & Music (C.Kelley, E.Paslay, A.Stoklasa) 45

DRUNK ON YOUR LOVE Sony/ATV Countryside, BMI/Paris Not France Music, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Ross Copperman Songs, BMI (B.Eldredge, R.Copperman) 9

F

FIX Round Hill Works, BMI/Big Loud Proud Crowd, BMI/Bux Tone Music, BMI/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Telemitry Productions, BMI/Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP (S.Buxton, J.Frasure, A.Stoklasa) 25

FROM THE GROUND UP WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Beats And Banjos, ASCAP/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Shay Mooney Music, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/CDS Words And Music, ASACP (D.Smyers, S.Mooney, C. DeStefano) 36

TITLE Publishing-Licensing Org. (Songwriter) Chart Position

G

GIRL NEXT DOOR Highway 508 Songs, ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Nettwerk One B Music, BMI/Revelry Music, BMI/Jay Gatsby Music, BMI/Nettwerk One Music Limited Canada, SOCAN/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (B.Clark, J.J.Dillon, S.McAnally) 54

H

HEAD OVER BOOTS Golden Vault Music, BMI/The Song Factory, LLC, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI (J.Pardi, L.Laird) 24

HEARTBEAT Carrie-Okie Music, BMI/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP (C.Underwood, Z.Crowell, A.Gorley) 3

HIGH CLASS WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Five Foot Sixteen Publishing, ASCAP/Songs From The Rose Hotel, ASCAP/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Telemitry Productions, BMI (E.Paslay, C.Crowder, J.Frasure) 39

HOLE IN A BOTTLE BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Skinny Fat Nashville Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Music Of Big Deal, BMI/Stalefish Music, BMI/Songs From The Couch, BMI (C.Smith, B.Beavers, D.Couch) 32

HOME ALONE TONIGHT Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Red Vinyl Music, Inc., BMI/Sixteen Stars Music, BMI/HoriPro Entertainment Group, Inc., BMI (J.Stevens, C.Taylor, J.Dreyer, T.Cecil) 4

HUMBLE AND KIND Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Hoodie Songs, BMI (L.McKenna) 22

I

I KNOW SOMEBODY EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/Songs By Red Room, BMI/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP/ole Songs Of Countrywood, ASCAP (R.Akins, R.Copperman, J.S.Stover) 55

I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT Year Of The Dog Music, ASCAP/Rio Bravo Music, Inc., BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Shay Mooney Music, ASCAP/MTrain Music, ASCAP (M.Trainor, J.Frasure, S.Mooney) 13

I MET A GIRL ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Three Mules Music, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (T. Rosen, S.Hunt, S.McAnally) 41

IT ALL STARTED WITH A BEER Sony/ATV Harmony, ASCAP/Texa Rae Music, ASCAP/Nettwerk One B Music, BMI/Revelry Music, BMI/Nevada House Music, BMI/Ole Red Cape Songs, ASCAP/Real Big Red Tunes, ASCAP (J.Johnston, N.Mason, J.S.Stover) 30

IT DON’T HURT LIKE IT USED TO Coconut Hut Publishing, ASCAP/Castle Bound Music, Inc., SESAC/We Be Pawtying, SESAC/BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd., PRS/You Want How Much Of What Publishing, BMI/Worldwide EMG Music B, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI (B.Currington, C.R.Barlowe, S.Carter) 49

J

JESUS AND JONES ole Purple Cape Music, BMI/ole, BMI/Rack City Publishing, BMI/BMG Blue, BMI/Songs Of Jim McCormick, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Sony/ATV Acuff Rose Music, BMI/Six Ring Circus Songs, BMI (T.Farr, J.McCormick, C.Beathard) 50

L

LITTLE BIT OF YOU Orbison Music, LLC, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Funky Friar Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP (C.Bryant, D.George, A.Gorley) 12

LIVIN’ THE DREAM Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Tomdouglasmusic, BMI/Sony/ATV Harmony, ASCAP/Texa Rae Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI (T.Douglas, J.Johnston, L.Laird) 42

LOVIN’ LATELY Big Love Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/J Money Music, ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/StyleSonic Music, LLC, BMI (W.K.Alphin, J.D.Rich, T.McGraw) 35

M

MAYDAY Marvelous Oaks Records, ASCAP/One Year YesterdayPublishing, BMI/Creative Pulse Music, BMI/These Are Pulse Songs, BMI (C.Ochs, T.Johnson) 48

MIND READER EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Rhettro Music, BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP (R.Akins, B.Hayslip) 17

MY CHURCH International Dog Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Hello I Love You Music, BMI (busbee, M.Morris) 16

N

NEXT BOYFRIEND Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Lylas Music, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP/A Frank Entertainment, ASCAP/Song House Publishing, ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP (L.Alaina, E.Weisband, M.McVaney) 46

NIGHT’S ON FIRE Super Big Music, ASCAP/Jett Music, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Doc And Maggie Music, SOCAN/Thankful For This Music, ASCAP (J.Singleton, D.Ruttan) 29

NOBODY TO BLAME WB Music Corp., ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Quackhead Music, BMI/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI (C.Stapleton, B.Bales, R.Bowman) 14

P

POWER OF POSITIVE DRINKIN’ Red Vinyl Music, Inc., BMI/Buckkilla Music, BMI/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Green Vinyl Music, ASCAP (C.Janson, Mark Irwin, C.DuBois) 38

R

RAISED ON IT Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Three Mules Music, ASCAP/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/JFLO Music, BMI/Who Wants To Buy My Publishing, ASCAP (S.Hunt, Z.Crowell, J.Flowers) 44

REAL MEN LOVE JESUS EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Sagequinnjude Music, BMI/Famlove Songs, BMI (B.Warren, B.Warren, L.Miller, A.Sanders) 21

RECORD YEAR Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Longer And Louder Music, BMI/Little Louder Songs, BMi/Mammaw’s Fried Okra Music, BMI (E.Church, J.Hyde) 40

RUNNING FOR YOU Music Of Stage Three, BMI/Songs Of Cornman, BMI/Roll Through Music, BMI/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Songs From The Engine Room, BMI/Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, BMI/Internal Combustion Music, BMI/Kickin’ Grids Music, BMI (K.Moore, T.Verges, B.Daly) 33

S

SHUT UP AND FISH Super Big Music, ASCAP/Big Machine Music, BMI/Song Alert Publishing, SESAC/Tunes of R And T Direct, SESAC (M.Marlow, T.Dye, P.Sallis, A.Scherz) 26

SLEEP WITHOUT YOU Super Big Music, ASCAP/Caliville Publishing, ASCAP/Downtown DMP Songs, BMI/Stars And Stripes And Maple Leaf Music, BMI/Wordspring Music, LLC, SESAC (B.Young, K.Archer, J.Ebach) 58

SNAPBACK Carrot Seed Songs, ASCAP/Smackville Music, ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/ReHits Music, Inc., ASCAP/Smacktown Music, ASCAP/Unfair Entertainment, ASCAP/Songs Of Big Deal, ASCAP/BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Wooden Ships, ASCAP (M.Ramsey, T. Rosen, B.Tursi) 15

SOMEWHERE ON A BEACH Peermusic III, Ltd., BMI/Peertunes, Ltd., SESAC/Jaron Boyer Music, SESAC/BMG Silver Songs, SESAC/Fuego Songs Publishing, SESAC/David Ryan Music, ASCAP/The Real Brain Publishing, BMI/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Music Of The Corn, ASCAP (M.Tyler, J.Boyer, A.Palmer, D.Kuncio, J.Mirenda) 20

SOUTHERN BOY Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI/These Are Pulse Songs, BMI/Creative Pulse Music, BMI/Pulse Nation, BMI/ole Songs Of Countrywood, ASCAP/EMI April Music, Inc., ASCAP (L.Laird, B.Dean, J.S.Stover) 43

STONE COLD SOBER Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Indiana Angel Music, BMI/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Brett, ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/Yawyer Three Music, ASCAP (B.Gilbert, Brett James, D.Layus) 23

T

TAKE ME DOWN Vinny Mae Music, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Richard Marx Music, ASCAP/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., ASCAP/Downtown DLJ Songs, ASCAP/Archer And Arrow Publishing, ASCAP (V.Gill, R.Marx, J.Jacqueline) 60

THAT DON’T SOUND LIKE YOU Mike Curb Music, BMI/EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Brooks County Boy Music, BMI/External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Out Of The Taperoom Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (L.Brice, R.Akins, A.Gorley) 18

THINK OF YOU EMI Blackwood Music Inc., BMI/Goodbye Pants Music, BMI/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI/Songs From The Rose Hotel, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/EMI Foray Music, SESAC/Write 2 Be Free Music, SESAC (C.Young, C.Crowder, J.Hoge) 19

T-SHIRT External Combustion Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Southside Independent Music Publishing, LLC, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Atlas Music Publishing, ASCAP/Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Creative Nation Music, BMI/Universal Music Corporation, ASCAP/Smack Ink, ASCAP (A.Gorley, L.Laird, S.McAnally) 28

TUXEDO BMG Gold Songs, ASCAP/Leer Jet 87 Publishing, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP/Songs Of Brett, ASCAP/BMG Platinum Songs, BMI/For The Kids Platinum, BMI/Legitimate Efforts Music, BMI (C.Dunn, Brett James, B.West) 59

U

UNLOVE YOU Jennifer Nettles Publishing, ASCAP/House Of Sea Gayle Music, ASCAP/Highway 508 Songs, ASCAP (J. Nettles, B.Clark) 34

USED TO LOVE YOU SOBER Songs Of Universal, Inc., BMI/Kane Brown Music, BMI/EMI Foray Music, SESAC/Write 2 Be Free Music, SESAC/B Frank Entertainment, BMI/Songs Of Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., BMI/Song House Publishing, ASCAP (K.Brown, M.McVaney, J.Hoge) 53

W

WE WENT Legends Of Magic Mustang Music, SESAC/W.B.M. Music Corp., SESAC/ole Canalco Publishing, ASCAP/Ole Ole, ASCAP/Songs Of Razor And Tie Music, ASCAP/Songs Of Black River, ASCAP (J.Wilson, M.Rogers, J.King) 5

WHEN I’M GONE Wordspring Music, LLC, SESAC/Word Music, LLC, ASCAP/Son Of Austin Songs, ASCAP (J.Ebach, S.D.Jones) 51

Y

YOU LOOK LIKE I NEED A DRINK Round Hill Works, BMI/Farm Town Songs, BMI/Big Loud Proud Crowd, BMI/Round Hill Songs, ASCAP/Big Loud Proud Songs, ASCAP/HappyGoWrucke, BMI/Creative Pulse Music, BMI/These Are Pulse Songs, BMI (R.Clawson, M.Dragstrem, N.Hemby) 31

YOU SHOULD BE HERE Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, BMI/Combustion Engine Music, ASCAP/Sadie’s Favorite Songs, ASCAP/WB Music Corp., ASCAP (C.Swindell, A.Gorley) 10

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | PAGE 20 OF 20

On Feb. 24, 2001, prolific singer-songwriter and guitarist Keith Urban, then 33, reached the top of Hot Country Songs for the first time with “But for the Grace of God.” The unlikely trio of Urban and Go-Go’s members Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin wrote the religious-themed ode to gratitude during a session “in 15 or 20 minutes,” recalled Wiedlin in a post on her web-site. “We just sort of bounced these ideas off [each other and] came up with the song.”

“Grace” was Urban’s third solo

Hot Country Songs appearance (following two as a member of The Ranch). To date, he has tallied 15 No. 1s and 35 top 10s — the latter an active streak dating to 2000’s No. 4- peaking “Your Everything,” his single directly before “Grace.”

Back as a judge on the final season of Fox’s American Idol, Urban lives in Nashville with actress wife Nicole Kidman and is finishing his eighth studio album. His ripCord World Tour, supported by Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris, starts June 2.

—JIM ASKER

15 Years AgoKeith Urban Notched His First No. 1 With ‘Grace’A co-write with two Go-Go’s became his first of 15 leaders

Keith Urban performing, 2001

CODA

R EW I N D I N GT H E

C O U N T RY C H A R T S

GE

TT

Y I

MA

GE

S