For the first time ever, three country songs take the top spots in Billboard's Hot 100, hooray for Country Music!
For the first time in Billboard chart history, songs in the country genre occupy the first three chart positions on the Billboard Hot 100, which is the all genre chart. The closest thing to this epic feat in past history was when Eddie Rabbit's I Love a Rainy Night occupied the top spot, and Dolly occupied the #2 spot with 9-5. The momentous event happened on February 28th, 1981. 42 years later Morgan Wallen's Last Night, and Luke Comb's version of Tracey Chapman's hit Fast Car repeated the historic event.
You might be wondering how this happened. A recent Billboard article provides some clues starting with a sharp decline in pop music consumption. While here in country musicville, our audiences are surging partially due to an exponential increase in streaming, and vinyl sales. Today's country music as shared on my New Country Podcast is an amalgamation of several genres. That is what has increased its popularity as music lovers that miss 80's, and 90's rock, R&B ballads, and trap beat infused tempos, and more are tuning into country to fill the void.
When we take a closer look at the three country songs that occupy the top Billboard 100 chart positions, it becomes very clear that they are very different from each other in composition, style and context. Take a listen in the order of their Billboard Ranking..
The Pop slump and Country Music's surge have prompted some pop stations to include a few country tunes in their rotation. Cross collaborations have also brought today's country music to a broader audience. In the collaboration department, I think Chris Stapleton is king.
Here's one of his most memorable especially since it is a George Jones fan fave, and brought the iconic song to a new audience. It is a shame the collaboration was never officially released.
Country music is still surging and attained its highest streaming week this past June 2023. Though some pop programmers feel country music is just helping the pop genre through a "doldrum" phase, if the streaming numbers continue to spike up on par or greater than those of pop artists, Pop Radio will be faced with an important decision. Will you spin records music fans are actually listening to or will you continue to play what you think they SHOULD be listening to?
In a recent survey, It was estimated that 50% of music fans living in the
United States listen to country music. We also have substantial populations across the world that love country music. I think this is a great opportunity to show all the amazing ways our organizations like
The CMA Foundation, ACM's Lifting Lives, and some of our favorite
artists are giving back, and making the world a better place.
It's great to see it as country music is all about community, and helping each other. We all play such an important part in trying to be the best humans we possibly can. Offer compassion, and help when you can, and pray for those that you can't directly help. Be the change that ignites hope and inspires others to follow suit. It takes courage to embrace empathy and spread love, but in the end love is what makes the world a better place.
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