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BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS
INSIDE
Makin’ Tracks:
Keith Urban/
Eric Church’s
‘Raise ’Em Up’
>page 2
Stark Report:
Cledus T. Judd
Retires From
Satires
>page 3
Questions
Answered: Red
Bow Promo VP
Renee Leymon
>page 4
Kenny Chesney
Fills In
His Datebook
>page 4
Signed,
Sealed,
Delivered:
He’s Willie
>page 4
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TO CURRENT
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EDITED BY TOM ROLAND, tom.roland@billboard.com
MIDWEEK
UPDATE
JANUARY 15, 2015 | PAGE 1 OF 7
WADE JESSEN wade.jessen@billboard.com
Career-Best Start For McEntire;
Hunt Posts First Digital No. 1
Reba McEntire scores a career-high bow at No. 28 on
Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with “Going Out Like That”
(Nash Icon/Valory), her first single in more than three years and
the lead track from her as-yet untitled new album, due in April.
The song surpasses the 2011 Country
McENTIRE
Music Hall of Fame honoree’s previous
top start, set when “If You See Him/If
You See Her” (with Brooks & Dunn)
opened at No. 32 in 1998. ( The chart
was then based solely on airplay; it has
measured airplay, sales and streaming
since Oct. 20, 2012.) “That” also marks
McEntire’s career-high digital sales
week and highest rank on Country Digital Songs, where it enters at No. 13 with
21,000 downloads sold, according to
Nielsen Music. She set her previous best
rank and sales sum when “Consider Me
Gone” debuted and peaked at No. 19
with 19,000 sold (Jan. 23, 2010). McEntire’s new song is the first
chart appearance for the recently launched Nash Icon imprint,
a joint venture between Cumulus and the Big Machine Label
Group. Other artists in the Nash Icon stable include Martina
McBride and Ronnie Dunn.
Meanwhile, Sam Hunt lands his first No. 1 on Country Digi-
tal Songs with “Take Your Time” (MCA Nashville), which blasts
13-1 with 34,000 sold (up 39 percent). “Time” also jumps 24-17
on Country Streaming Songs chart (668,000 U.S. streams, up 28
percent), claiming top Digital and Streaming Gainer applause
on Hot Country Songs (22-15). Upping
Hunt’s profile in the tracking week: the
Jan. 6 announcement of Lady Antebellum’s Wheels Up 2015 Tour, with
Hunt and Hunter Hayes. The trek
kicks off Feb. 28 in Sweden before arriving in the United States in May. Hunt
also headlines his own Lipstick Graffiti
Tour, which begins Jan. 29 in West Hollywood, Calif.
Carrie Underwood matches her
longest No. 1 reign on Hot Country
Songs with “Something in the Water”
(19/Arista Nashville), which holds for
a sixth cumulative week atop the chart.
She first led for six weeks with “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” her first
promoted country single, which peaked on the chart dated Jan.
21, 2006. “Water” additionally logs a 15th straight week at No.
1 on the Hot Christian Songs chart (viewable at Billboard.com/
biz). It sold 32,000 downloads in the week ending Jan. 11, with
to-date sales of 746,000.
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BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
JANUARY 15, 2015 | PAGE 2 OF 7
MAKIN’ TR ACKS TOM ROLAND tom.roland@billboard.com
When Sony/ATV song-plugger Abbey Adams sent “Raise ’Em Up” to Keith
Urban in 2013, the email came with a simple subject line: “Song of the year.”
Which, in most cases, would have set up unrealistic expectations and doomed
it from the start.
In this instance, however, “Raise ’Em Up” lived up to the hype, and Urban’s
version, a collaboration with Eric Church, is now a single, building on the sensitive qualities of the attachment on Adams’ note.
The GarageBand demo featured
URBAN
the gritty voice of The Cadillac
Three’s singer/songwriter Jaren
Johnston (“Beachin’,” “Sunshine
& Whiskey”) atop a folky, mysterious acoustic guitar bed. The song
strung together a list of things that
people might raise in the course of
a lifetime, including sails, fists, umbrellas and children. There was no
actual storyline, just the passing images, arranged in a way that moved
from youth to senior status.
“I was just floored by the lyricism
of it, the atmosphere of it and just the way the song made me feel,” says Urban.
“Raise ’Em Up” also hinted at his own past. The descending melody at the
start of the chorus is similar to the tones that launch the verses of Urban’s breakthrough single, 2002’s “Somebody Like You.”
“Subconsciously, I might have found myself thinking it seems like a song I
would do,” he says with a laugh.
He called Johnston that night, vowing to record it. The guitar groove, set
in an open-B tuning, had been Johnston’s from the start. So was the title. But
the song’s lyrical pieces owe a huge debt to the co-writers on that particular
songwriting session at the former EMI building on Music Row. Johnston and
Jeffrey Steele (“What Hurts the Most,” “Me and My Gang”) played guitars
in the room while Tom Douglas (“The House That Built Me,” “I Run to You”)
logged the words on his laptop.
The easy route for a song called “Raise ’Em Up” would have been to make it a
barroom celebration, but all three wanted to make it something more unusual.
Johnston had the opening salvos — raising “a lighter on a Saturday night” and
using a lift kit on “Daddy’s old pickup truck” — and a litany of other ideas were
raised in the ensuing two hours.
“Tom started hitting me with the ‘black umbrellas in the pouring rain’ and
all that shit, and it was just crazy,” recalls Johnston.
That lonely picture led Douglas and Steele into a jag about the Kris Kristofferson-penned Johnny Cash song “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” and
they threw that in, too, in a verse that alluded to the death of a soldier.
“Jaren’s looking at us like, ‘What the hell is this that’s so important that we
have to put it in the song?’ ” Steele says. “I was like, ‘Dude, just trust us. This
needs to be in here.’ We were having our old-man moment, you know.”
Johnston wasn’t so much opposed to the line as its location: When it was
originally offered, it was part of the first chorus. “We were kind of going into
the funeral vibe,” he says. “I was like, ‘Man, this is a little too dark to be the first
chorus.’ I knew we were going to write a different chorus every time.”
Ultimately, “Raise ’Em Up” found its ideal path in the opening chorus with
a vacation for a man who takes a wife, has some babies and raises them up, too.
It was a destination the writers hadn’t expected to reach when they started.
“A lot of people really like to map out where a song’s going to go before you
write it,” observes Douglas. “I think it gives us all a little more spontaneity if
you don’t do that.”
It didn’t have a bridge, so Johnston added an eerie “whoa-oh” element when
he cut the demo, and he gave Urban a heads-up that Adams would be sending
the demo his way.
It was the lyric about babies that
helped seal the deal for Urban. For
him, it related to his life with actress
Nicole Kidman. “We bought a piece
of land out in Franklin, [Tenn.] and we
had two babies, so that verse hit home
really perfectly,” he says.
But he also thought his Australian
background could make the patriotic
images in that dark second verse a
stumbling block for American listeners. Urban asked Eric Church
to give it a listen and consider doing
CHURCH
that verse. After he heard it, Church
sent back a terse email: “F— you.” But it wasn’t a dismissal: Church was actually jealous that he hadn’t written it. “It’s just so cool and very abstract,” says
Church. “I wished it was mine.”
The “Sunday Morning” reference nailed it for Church — “Kristofferson is my
Johnny Cash,” he says — and he contributed his vocals at Blackbird Studios the
same day Urban and co-producer Nathan Chapman laid out the basic tracks.
Church elongated a few words — “You got a vooooice/You got a chooooice/Go
make some nooooise” — that subtly highlight the value of integrity. “It wasn’t
something that I thought I was trying to make a statement,” he says. “It was me
not knowing the words all that well and just kind of looking for it.” Church also
stuck around to layer the “whoa-oh” tag with Urban and Chapman.
Chapman passed the recording along to engineer Mike Shipley (Aerosmith,
Alison Krauss + Union Station), who finished mixing it just a day or two before he died in July 2013. “This was either the last or the second-to-last song
he ever worked on,” says Chapman. “It was kind of surreal to have that lyric at
the tail end of a such an incredible career.”
Other unusual developments occurred around “Raise ’Em Up.” The next time
Johnston, Douglas and Steele convened, they discussed some alternate guitar
fingerings for the song and ended up writing “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s.”
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill cut that one, and it’s now up for best country duo/
group performance at the Grammy Awards, competing with “Raise ’Em Up,”
which got nominated even before it became a single.
So while Adams’ song of the year prediction may not have come true yet,
“Raise ’Em Up” has already received a Grammy stamp even before it’s gotten
into most country stations’ rotations. And it’s appropriate that its release came
Jan. 12, the day after another awards show, the Golden Globes. “Raise ’Em Up”
is, after all, a series of small pictures.
“We were able to hit upon what I would say was sort of a cinematic feel to the
song,” says Urban. “I really wanted the song to sound like that sort of letterbox
look that you get with a movie.”
In this case, the plot is still unfolding. But that Grammy nod suggests it’s
living up to the hype.
URBAN: JOHN RUSSELL
Urban Goes To Church To Finish
Grammy Nominee ‘Raise ’Em Up’
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
JANUARY 15, 2015 | PAGE 3 OF 7
THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK phyllis.stark@billboard.com
Exclusive: Cledus T. Judd On
Bowing Out Of The Music Biz
Last month in Nashville, a beaming Cledus T. Judd walked the red carpet at the
American Country Countdown Awards with his 10-year-old daughter, Caitlyn.
He was happily promoting his latest parody song, “Luke Bryan,” a collaboration with Colt Ford sung to the tune of “Blurred Lines.” Inside the show, his
fellow stars warmly greeted him, including Kenny Chesney and Luke Bryan
himself, who sweetly took time to visit with Caitlyn.
In his heart, however, Judd knew he was done with the
JUDD
performing end of the music business after a 20-plus-year
comedy career that landed him 25 videos on CMT, numerous record deals, a spot on tours with many country
superstars and sales of more than 2 million records (according to Judd).
“Looking around at that awards show, I knew my time
was probably up,” he confesses in an emotional interview
with Billboard Mid-Week Country Update. “I didn’t want
to be the guy that’s still hanging on, poor old Judd playing another fire convention.” Still, he says, “I wanted
my daughter to feel it one more time. I wanted her to
know that carpet is almost unattainable to millions who
want to walk it. And Cledus T. Judd walked it a whole
bunch of times.”
It was the combination of turning 50 last month, getting baptized in
2014 and his dedication to being the best possible father to Caitlyn that ultimately made up his mind. Just a few weeks later, he made his plans to
retire from the music business known in a brutally honest New Year’s
Day Facebook post in which he referenced his dysfunctional upbringing; his subsequent depression, past suicide attempts and drug abuse; his
failed marriages; his early struggles to make it in the business; and his
mother’s current battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Yet instead of being depressing, the post was uplifting, spiritual and packed with gratitude.
But his retirement doesn’t mean he won’t still be in the spotlight. Judd plans
to continue hosting his morning show on country WTCR Huntington, W.Va.,
where he has worked since 2012 after a successful stint in mornings at WQYK
Tampa, Fla. He’ll also still come to Nashville — where he remains signed to
Warner/Chappell and management firm AmpliFLY Entertainment — for songwriting sessions. But rather than performing, he plans to embark on a new career as a motivational speaker and serve a higher purpose than the pursuit of
“money, fame and chicks.”
“When I was at my lowest point in life and with no one around, God had his
hand on my shoulder the entire time,” wrote Judd in his post. “He was leading
me. He was guiding me, he was watching over me through it all, and now it is
my turn to return the favor.”
He’s being supported for his decision by industry friends like Rascal Flatts’
Gary LeVox, Caitlyn’s godfather, who sent Judd a text so uplifting Judd can’t
read it out loud without tearing up.
Judd is also writing his autobiography, in which he plans to share all the highs
and lows of his life, as well as stories about celebrity friends like Toby Keith
and Vince Gill that involve extraordinary acts of kindness. His experiences
with drugs won’t be off limits in the book. After a period of time when he says
he couldn’t even go out to a golf game without a pocketful of cocaine, Judd says
he has now been clean for nearly 11 years.
The decision to stop performing music has been difficult, he admits, but he
says, “I’m completely at peace with it, and I didn’t think that I ever would be.
“The music business is such a drug. It pushes your ego and gives you a feeling of self-importance, [and] I love it with a passion,” he continues. “I love the
people in it. I love the friendships I’ve made. The Rolodex in my phone I wouldn’t
trade it for $10 million … But I can’t dabble in something that’s so important.”
Ultimately, Judd says, “I just lost the desire to go stand on the back of a hay
truck and sing ‘If Shania Was Mine’ at 50.”
While Judd is best-known for his parody songs, he has
also landed numerous cuts as a songwriter of more serious fare, including an expected song on Tyler Farr’s
next album and cuts by Rascal Flatts, The Crabb Family,
Craig Morgan and Brian McKnight. “The music business, they have me pigeonholed,” he says. “But there’s a
much bigger side to me than just standing up singing ‘How
Do You Milk a Cow?’ I want to be able to share that with
people. Mainly, I just want to motivate people.”
He got a taste of that when CMT aired his episode of
Inside Fame in 2004. “I got a letter from a woman who
had moved from Seattle to Nashville and that weekend
had called her parents to come drive her home because
she couldn’t make it [in the music business],” he recalls.
“While she was packing her clothes she watched my Inside Fame. Her parents were already seven hours away from Seattle, and she
called them and said, ‘Go home.’ That’s the impact that I want to have on people’s lives.”
His own story is similar. He was flat broke and crashing at singer Daron
Norwood’s Nashville home when he decided in 1993 to give up on his dream.
He had already called his mother and asked her to meet him at the Greyhound
station because he was coming home to Georgia. “Forty-five minutes later I
heard Tim McGraw’s ‘Indian Outlaw’ on the radio. I wrote ‘Indian In-Laws’
in about 15 minutes, and the rest is history.”
Judd went on to essentially become the “Weird Al” Yankovic of country
music, writing such well-know parodies as “My Cellmate Thinks I’m Sexy,” “I
Love NASCAR,” “Man of Constant Borrow” and “It’s a Great Day to Be a Guy.”
He often convinced Nashville stars to perform on the songs and appear in the
videos with him, something he still marvels at. “I’ve sang with just about 90
percent of that town: Vince, Toby, Wynonna, Darryl Worley. I have no clue
how that happened. None. I can’t sing a lick.”
Looking back, he says, “If I had quit, I never would have known what it was
like to play the Grand Ole Opry and stand up there in that circle of wood. I never
would have known what it was like to tour.”
The man who goes by Barry Poole in his civilian life says inventing the character of Cledus T. Judd “saved my life … I was a lost soul.
“I never really won a lot of awards, but you’ll never meet a man more happy to
have had a seat,” he says. “You’ll never meet someone that’s more appreciative.”
These days, the once restless Judd says, “I’m probably about as normal and peaceful as I’ve ever been … I searched for happiness my whole life in million-dollar
houses and $100,000 cars, and I finally found it inside a $5 Bible. I got baptized
about six months ago, and I left about 49 years of misery in 3 feet of water.”
Now,during the next phase of his career, “If I’m going to leave my daughter,
and my radio station and my mother and my basketball coaching and my golf
game, it’s going to be to make a difference,” says Judd, adding, “I want my daughter to look at me and go, ‘My dad is trying to make a difference in other people’s
lives’ … Even if it never happens, I did it for the right reasons.”
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
QUE STIONS
Answered
Renee Leymon
VP of promotion, Red Bow
@ReneeLeymon
With a lengthy history at Arista and Lyric Street, Renee Leymon
started a new promotion chapter when she took the vp reins — unexpectedly, as it turns out — at the BBR Music Group’s Red Bow imprint in late 2012. The label has landed two No. 1 singles with Joe
Nichols since its launch and worked Chase Bryant’s debut to No. 13
on the Country Airplay chart dated Jan. 24. Her father, Ron Bledsoe,
was vp operations for Columbia in the early 1970s and produced the
classic “You Never Even Called Me by My Name.” Leymon is passing her knowledge along, too — she has been on the agenda committee and the board for CRS.
Red Bow was a brand-new label when you took the gig. What
made you want it? I was trying for whatever — if I could just
be a regional I’d be happy with that, just because I believe in the
philosophy of [BBR Music Group CEO/president Benny Brown],
and I really respect what he’s done as an independent label. It’s
hard not to be impressed. And [BBR executive vp Jon Loba] said,
“You can’t be a regional at the company.” And then he looked at
me and said, “Because you’re going to be the vp!” I just went crazy.
I never walk by Benny’s office [and see] that he’s not playing music
and listening to songs and paying attention to our artists. It’s just
amazing to watch it all, really. It’s different from any other label
I’ve been at.
Didn’t your dad work for Columbia back in the day? He did. I had
a boyfriend one time that bought me every David Allan Coe record
that he ever made because my dad’s name was on them.
JANUARY 15, 2015 | PAGE 4 OF 7
Did your dad’s influence make
you more interested or less interested in the music business? Oh,
my gosh. I sold real estate for like 18
years, and I wanted to be in the music business so badly. I kept saying,
“Dad, call a friend. Make me your
assistant. Do something and get
me in.” And he wouldn’t do it. He
said, “This is a hard business, and if
you’re going to do it, you’re going to
do it on your own.” I was pretty mad
at him then, but I respect that now.
I look back and think if I had done it
any other way, I wouldn’t have appreciated what I did do, which was
go answer phones at Arista Records back for Tim DuBois as a temp. Dreams
do come true, right?
Why promotion? Did you have a specific interest in that? I did not. I think
it’s divine intervention, but when I was answering telephones, I was also like
the A&R assistant, and I knew that wasn’t for me when I would go to lunch and
would come back and have a full voicemail of people who want to be singers
and songwriters. Watching what everybody did from a bird’s eye view of being
a receptionist was really beneficial to me. At the time, Jack Weston was still in
promotion, and Bobby Kraig as well. Watching the two of them was kind of like
a halo moment where you’d go, “This is what I was meant to do.”
How do you detox from the job? I watch a lot of Judge Judy and lay on the
couch and kind of veg. I travel a lot, so it’s difficult, but when I’m home, I see
my grandchildren a lot, and those kinds of things rejuvenate me to get out
there and fight again. We’re not curing cancer out here. It’s art, and you never
know what canvas you’re painting on is going to hit, but it could hit really big,
and it’s fun to kind of watch that happen.
It’s not curing cancer, but by the same token, I can’t think of anything
that’s been more powerful on a really bad day than music. Oh, it is so
healing, and that’s the reward from it. I would almost feel guilty if I got to
have this much fun and it didn’t do something for human beings. It saved me
a lot of times in my life. The right song in the right time got me through my
teenage years. It’s such a healing thing. Music is probably my favorite thing in
life, besides my children and my grandchildren. —Tom Roland
MIDWEEK NEWS UPDATE
CHESNEY:ALLISTER ANN
KENNY CHESNEY FILLS IN CALENDAR
After a year off from touring, Kenny
CHESNEY
Chesney had coyly revealed his opening acts
and target cities for this year’s summer run,
which includes two dozen stadiums. Now,
there’s a mostly completed date book to work
with. Chesney kicks off the Big Revival Tour
on March 26, his 47th birthday, at Nashville’s
Bridgestone Arena, and will complete it on
Aug. 29 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough,
Mass. Two of the 52 venues are still up in the air, at least to the public. His
Aug. 20 schedule is “TBA,” and the venue for March 27 is a “surprise.”
With 24 days left until the Grammy Awards, Eric Church is the first country
artist who has been announced as a performer on the Feb. 8 telecast. With
a nomination in each of the four country categories, he joins Madonna, Ed
Sheeran, Ariana Grande and AC/DC in the Staples Center lineup that night.
Meanwhile, Willie Nelson is part of the cast Feb. 10 when the Recording Academy shoots Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life—An All-Star Grammy Salute
at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. The special airs Feb. 16 on CBS.
Fans will determine the finalists for the Academy of Country Music’s newartist of the year trophy for the seventh consecutive year, beginning Jan. 27.
CMT is a partner in the balloting as eight semifinalists get whittled down to
three nominees. The candidates are Brett Eldredge, Tyler Farr, Sam Hunt,
Kip Moore, Thomas Rhett, Chase Rice, Cole Swindell and Dan + Shay.
A museum honoring the late George Jones will open in downtown Nashville
on April 24. Widow Nancy Jones has commandeered the project, which documents the Possum’s career, military history and storied marriage to Tammy
Wynette. Coinciding with the grand opening, Silver Trail Distillery will launch
White Lightning Moonshine, named for the singer’s first No. 1 single.
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
JANUARY 15, 2014 | PAGE 5 OF 7
Hot Country Songs
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CHART PRODUCER (SONGWRITER)
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B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (H.LINDSEY,M.GREEN,T.VERGES)
TALLADEGA
J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,L.LAIRD)
I SEE YOU
SUN DAZE
J.MOI (C.R.BARLOWE,J.FRASURE,S.BUXTON,T.HUBBARD,B.KELLEY)
PERFECT STORM
L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,L.T.MILLER)
LONELY TONIGHT
S.HENDRICKS (B.ANDERSON,R.HURD)
TIL IT’S GONE
B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (R.CLAWSON,D.L.MURPHY,J.YEARY)
MAKE ME WANNA
J.JOYCE (THOMAS RHETT,B.BUTLER,L.MCCOY)
DRINKING CLASS
6
20
13
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M.KNOX (C. DESTEFANO,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY)
12
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28
J.MOI (RAELYNN,N.GALYON,L.MCKENNA,L.ROSE)
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J.STROUD (J.BULFORD,J.MATTHEWS,L.VELTZ)
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L.LAIRD (B.ELDREDGE,SCOOTER CARUSOE)
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★★Airplay Gainer★★
J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,L.LAIRD,A.GORLEY)
9
19
★★No. 1 (6 weeks)★★
SHOTGUN RIDER
8
20
Artist
IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL
M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,BRETT JAMES)
2
M.MCCLURE,K.JACOBS,L.BRICE (J.KEAR,D.FRASIER,E.M.HILL)
JUST GETTIN’ STARTED
GOD MADE GIRLS
LONELY EYES
MEAN TO ME
TAKE YOUR TIME
AIRPLAY
MONITORED BY
CERTIFIED
1
Luke Bryan
4
★★Digital 0& Streaming Gainer★★
1
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13
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Sam Hunt
M
CA NASHVILLE
Randy Houser
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TONEY CREEK
Darius Rucker
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY)
LIKE A COWBOY
D.GEORGE (R.HOUSER,B.LONG)
HOMEGROWN HONEY
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CAPITOL NASHVILLE
F.ROGERS (D.RUCKER,C.KELLEY,N.CHAPMAN)
GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG
D.HUFF,A.SCHERZ (A.SCHERZ,M.MARLOW,T.DYE)
Maddie & Tae
D
OT
Cole Swindell
0
Jason Aldean
B
ROKEN BOW
Chase Bryant
R
ED BOW
Jake Owen
RCA NASHVILLE
Tyler Farr
BURNIN’ IT DOWN
M.KNOX (C.G.TOMPKINS,R.CLAWSON,B.KELLEY,T.HUBBARD)
TAKE IT ON BACK
1
D.GEORGE,C.BRYANT (C.BRYANT,T.L.JAMES,D.ALTMAN)
WHAT WE AIN’T GOT
J.MOI (T.J.GOFF,T.MEADOWS)
A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR
C
OLUMBIA NASHVILLE
J.CATINO,J.KING (M.PEIRCE,J.SINGLETON,B.TURSI)
NEON LIGHT
SAY YOU DO
Country
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UPDATE
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21
Dierks Bentley
CAPITOL NASHVILLE
R. COPPERMAN (M.T.RAMSEY,S.MCANALLY,T. ROSEN)
1
Blake Shelton
W
ARNER BROS./WMN
S.HENDRICKS (A.DORFF,J.KEAR,MARK IRWIN)
3
19
W
ARNER BROS./WMN
M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,A.SANDERS,J.MARTIN)
PEAK
POSITION
Carrie Underwood
1 9/ARISTA NASHVILLE
Tim McGraw
M
CGRAW/BIG MACHINE
Eric Church
E MI NASHVILLE
C
APITOL NASHVILLE
Florida Georgia Line
R
EPUBLIC
NASHVILLE
Brad Paisley
A
RISTA NASHVILLE
Blake Shelton Featuring Ashley Monroe
W
ARNER BROS./WMN
Kenny Chesney
B
LUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE
Thomas Rhett
VALORY
Lee Brice
CURB
Jason Aldean
B
ROKEN BOW
RaeLynn
VALORY
Chris Young
RCA NASHVILLE
Brett Eldredge
A
TLANTIC/WMN
AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY
SALES DATA
COMPILED BY
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
JANUARY 15, 2015 | PAGE 6 OF 7
Hot Country Songs
THIS
WEEK
LAST
WEEK
26
l
27
l
28
l
29
l
30
l
31
l
32
l
33
l
34
l
35
l
36
l
37
l
3
l8
39
l
40
l
41
l
42
l
43
l
44
l
45
l
46
l
47
l
48
l
49
l
50
l
27
29
TWO
WEEKS WKS ON TITLE
AGO
CHART PRODUCER (SONGWRITER)
29
36 KISS YOU TONIGHT
NEW
30
34
31
32
35
33
Artist
IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL
33
42
35
34
37
36
11
1
12
6
10
15
8
13
32
Joe Nichols
R
ED BOW
Zac Brown Band
40
Sam Hunt
39
Sam Hunt
37
Jon Pardi
44
Gloriana
45
Rascal Flatts
B
IG MACHINE
Chase Rice
46
A Thousand Horses
R
EPUBLIC NASHVILLE
Brantley Gilbert
VALORY
Sam Hunt
M
CA
NASHVILLE
48
B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,J.BEAVERS)
LAY LOW
F.ROGERS (R.COPPERMAN,T.MARTIN,M.NESLER)
DRUNK AMERICANS
DON’T IT
36
43
10
D.HUFF (J.HARTFORD)
40
39
11
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY)
48
NEW
40
38
50
—
NEW
46
NEW
—
49
5
1
17
16
4
2
1
6
1
2
5
30
31
32
33
33
S
HOW DOG NASHVILLE
T.KEITH,B.PINSON (B.CLARK,B.DIPIERO,S.MCANALLY)
7
47
Sam Hunt
MCA NASHVILLE
LOVE YOU LIKE THAT
45
48
35
M.ALTMAN (E.PASLAY,J.WAYNE)
39
46
BIG MACHINE/REPUBLIC NASHVILLE
SHE DON’T LOVE YOU
8
45
35
J.JOYCE (L.ROSE,L.MCKENNA,H.LINDSEY)
10
44
Billy Currington
MERCURY
Easton Corbin
MERCURY
Kelsea Ballerini
BLACK RIVER
The Band Perry
GIRL CRUSH
41
43
29
K.BUSH,T.TAPLEY (K.BUSH,B.BUSH,T.OWENS)
44
42
28
Kristian Bush
S
TREAMSOUND
Little Big Town
C
APITOL
NASHVILLE
Eric Paslay
E MI NASHVILLE
Canaan Smith
M
ERCURY
Josh Turner
MCA NASHVILLE
Toby Keith
N
ASH ICON/VALORY
TRAILER HITCH
37
41
27
Reba
★★Hot Shot Debut★★
38
D.HUFF (J.JOHNSTON,A.GORLEY,R.COPPERMAN)
BABY BE MY LOVE SONG
C.CHAMBERLAIN (J.COLLINS,BRETT JAMES)
LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT
F.G.WHITEHEAD (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,F.G.WHITEHEAD,L.CARPENTER)
GENTLE ON MY MIND
MAKE YOU MISS ME
HARD TO BE COOL
M.J.CONES (R.HATCH,J.SELLERS)
HOMEGROWN
36
37
41
VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/SOUTHERN GROUND
J.JOYCE,Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,W.DURRETTE,N.MOON)
HOUSE PARTY
MCA NASHVILLE
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,J.FLOWERS)
EX TO SEE
MCA NASHVILLE
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY)
WHEN I’VE BEEN DRINKIN’
C
APITOL NASHVILLE
B.BUTLER,J.PARDI (J.PARDI,B.BUTLER,J.SPILLMAN)
TROUBLE
EMBLEM/WARNER BROS./WAR
M.SERLETIC (R.REINERT,M.GOSSIN,R.COPPERMAN,J.M.NITE)
RIOT
J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (J.BOYER,S.HAZE)
GONNA WANNA TONIGHT
34
DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE
C. DESTEFANO (S.MCANALLY,J.M.NITE,J.ROBBINS)
PEAK
POSITION
25
N.CHAPMAN,LADY ANTEBELLUM (D.HAYWOOD,C.KELLEY,H.SCOTT,S.MCANALLY)
T.BROWN (B.HAYSLIP,R.AKINS,J.SELLERS)
CERTIFIED
Lady Antebellum
C
APITOL NASHVILLE
FREESTYLE
GOING OUT LIKE THAT
SALES DATA
COMPILED BY
David Nail
MCA NASHVILLE
F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (D.COOK,J.KNOWLES,T.SUMMAR)
32
AIRPLAY
MONITORED BY
SMOKE
D.COBB (M.HOBBY,J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN)
ONE HELL OF AN AMEN
D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,M.DEKLE,B.DAVIS)
SPEAKERS
Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,B.HOOD,K.SACKLEY)
48
40
The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked
by Nielsen BDS. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks.
COUNTRY MARKET WATCH
A Weekly National Music Sales Report
YEAR-TO-DATE
Year-Over-Year Album Sales
’14
998 thousand
’15
993 thousand
DIGITAL TRACKS SALES
’14
’15
6.2
million
000.0
million
5.2 million
For week ending January 11 2015. Figures are rounded. Compiled from
a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and
provided by Nielsen SoundScan.
Weekly Unit’14
Sales
’13
Overall Unit Sales
ALBUMS
DIGITAL
ALBUMS*
DIGITAL
TRACKS
This Week
432,000
157,000
2,297,000
Last Week
561,000
222,000
2,892,000
-23.0%
-29.3%
-20.6%
528,000
144,000
2,801,000
-18.2%
9.0%
-18.0%
Change
This Week Last Year
Change
Albums
Digital Tracks
2014
2015
CHANGE
998,000
993,000
-0.5%
6,188,000
5,189,000
-16.1%
Sales by Album Format
2014
2015
CHANGE
Physical
635,000
614,000
9.0%
Digital
363,000
379,000
4.4%
*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.
For inquiries about any Nielsen SoundScan data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or josh.bennett@nielsen.com
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
JANUARY 15, 2015 | PAGE 7 OF 7
SALES DATA
COMPILED BY
Man Against Machine
JASON ALDEAN
Old Boots, New Dirt
PEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 501135/SMN
2
1
2
14
3
l
4
7
HUNT
11 SAM
MCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN
4
3
3
5
6
4
6
2
5
BROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG
1
1
Greatest Hits: Decade #1
1
GEORGIA LINE
13 FLORIDA
REPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG
Anything Goes
1
BRYAN
75 LUKE
CAPITOL NASHVILLE 018733/UMGN
Crash My Party
5
CARRIE UNDERWOOD
19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 500876/SMN
BLAKE SHELTON
2
BRINGING BACK THE SUNSHINE
8
9
15
8
9
6
STRAIT
The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium
17 GEORGE
MCA NASHVILLE 021477/UMGN
9
7
WARNER BROS. 544918/WMN
CHURCH
15 48 ERIC
EMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN
GILBERT
10 10 13 34 BRANTLEY
VALORY BG0200A/BMLG
1
2
The Outsiders
0
1
Just As I Am
0
1
0
1
11
11
LAMBERT
32 MIRANDA
RCA NASHVILLE 379278/SMN
Platinum
12
l
ANTEBELLUM
16 14 15 LADY
CAPITOL NASHVILLE /UMGN
747
2
2
2
17
3
1
15
4
l
6
12
5
4
16
6
5
16
7
8
12
l
8 12 10
9
7
18
10 9 23
11 10 10
12 3 24
l
14 17
l
15 16
l
13
NEW
Greatest Hits So Far...
5
SIMPSON
Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
14 15 22 35 STURGILL
HIGH TOP MOUNTAIN 002*/THIRTY TIGERS
11
MCGRAW
15 13 12 17 TIM
MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE TM0200A/BMLG
Sundown Heaven Town
1
RICE
19 18 21 CHASE
COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22573/DACK JANIELS
Ignite The Night
1
17 18
l
KENNY CHESNEY
The Big Revival
1
18 14 59
Pain Killer
3
Cole Swindell
2
I Dont Dance
1
Bring You Back
2
19 27
l
20 24
l
21 23
l
22 22
l
Where It’s At
2
23 15 26
Riser
1
24 21 26
Angels Among Us: Hymns & Gospel Favorites
6
25 19 37
NOW That’s What I Call Country: Volume 7
3
13 14 16
16
l
17 12 10
9
16
ZAC BROWN BAND
1
ROAR/SOUTHERN GROUND/ATLANTIC 546369/AG
BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 306274/SMN
BIG TOWN
17 12 LITTLE
CAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN
18 17
SWINDELL
19 18 21 47 COLE
WARNER BROS. 541372/WMN
20 20 19 18
LEE BRICE
CURB 79392*
BRETT ELDREDGE
21 22 27 61 ATLANTIC 525855/WMN
l
22 21 26 18
DUSTIN LYNCH
23 23 25 46
DIERKS BENTLEY
24
l
ALABAMA
27 34 18
25 24 20 32
BROKEN BOW 7337/BBMG
CAPITOL NASHVILLE 019404/UMGN
CRACKER BARREL/TAG/GAITHER 483414 EX/CAPITOL CMG
VARIOUS ARTISTS
UNIVERSAL/SONY MUSIC 020859/UME
The week’s most popular country albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. 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 2015, Prometheus
Global Media, LLC and Nielsen SoundScan, Inc. All rights reserved.
STREAMING DATA
COMPILED BY
1
l
3
29
2
2
46
3
l
4
l
7
15
4
27
5
1
62
6
6
93
7
5
55
8
l
9
l
9
42
12
5
10
8
LEAVE THE NIGHT ON
AM HUNT
S
THIS IS HOW WE ROLL
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN
SOMETHING IN THE WATER
CARRIE UNDERWOOD
DIRT
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER
TAYLOR SWIFT
CRUISE
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
BOTTOMS UP
BRANTLEY GILBERT
PLAY IT AGAIN
LUKE BRYAN
I SEE YOU
LUKE BRYAN
12 SUN DAZE
F LORIDA GEORGIA LINE
11
l
12
l
13
l
14
l
15
l
16
l
17
l
18
l
19
l
13
WKS ON
CHART
ARTIST
LAST
WEEK
TITLE
THIS
WEEK
WKS ON
CHART
LAST
WEEK
THIS
WEEK
COUNTRY
STREAMING SONGS
6
11 10
18 10
16
9
14 25
20 16
24
2
17 74
19 25
15
8
16 11 59
30
14
19
20
19
WKS ON
CHART
TAKE YOUR TIME
AM HUNT ( MCA Nashville/UMGN)
S
SHOTGUN RIDER
TIM MCGRAW ( McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)
SOMETHING IN THE WATER
CARRIE UNDERWOOD ( 19/Arista Nashville/SMN)
LONELY TONIGHT
BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE (Warner Bros./WMN)
SUN DAZE
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
TALLADEGA
ERIC CHURCH ( EMI Nashville/UMGN)
LONELY EYES
CHRIS YOUNG ( RCA Nashville/SMN)
I SEE YOU
LUKE BRYAN ( Capitol Nashville)
DRINKING CLASS
LEE BRICE ( Curb)
GOD MADE GIRLS
RAELYNN (Valory/BMLG)
JUST GETTIN’ STARTED
JASON ALDEAN ( Broken Bow/BBMG)
BURNIN’ IT DOWN
JASON ALDEAN ( Broken Bow/BBMG)
GOING OUT LIKE THAT
REBA (Nash Icon/Valory/BMLG)
MAKE ME WANNA
THOMAS RHETT ( Valory/BMLG)
A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR
TYLER FARR ( Columbia Nashville/SMN)
THIS IS HOW WE ROLL
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN ( Republic Nashville/BMLG)
LEAVE THE NIGHT ON
SAM HUNT ( MCA Nashville/UMGN)
PLAY IT AGAIN
LUKE BRYAN ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY
COLE SWINDELL ( Warner Bros./WMN)
MEAN TO ME
BRETT ELDREDGE ( Atlantic/WMN)
WHAT WE AIN’T GOT
JAKE OWEN ( RCA Nashville/SMN)
PERFECT STORM
BRAD PAISLEY ( Arista Nashville/SMN)
DIRT
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG
MADDIE & TAE (Dot/BMLG)
DRUNK ON A PLANE
DIERKS BENTLEY ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
AMERICAN KIDS
26 20 30 K ENNY CHESNEY ( Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)
BARTENDER
27 25 34 LADY ANTEBELLUM ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
I DON’T DANCE
28 30 45 LEE BRICE ( Curb)
ARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)
LAST
WEEK
WKS ON
CHART
l
LAST
WEEK
CERT.
Montevallo
7
11
0
1
1 13 11
TITLE
THIS
WEEK
9
GARTH BROOKS
THIS
WEEK
1
WEEKS
ON CHT
2 WEEKS
AGO
5
Title
IMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL
PEAK
POSITION
1
l
LAST
WEEK
THIS
WEEK
TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS
ARTIST
SALES DATA
COMPILED BY
COUNTRY
DIGITAL SONGS
TITLE
ARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)
HOMEGROWN HONEY
29 29 16 D
ARIUS RUCKER ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
GIRL CRUSH
30 RE-ENTRY LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
LIKE A COWBOY
31 39 18 RANDY HOUSER ( Stoney Creek/BBMG)
NEON LIGHT
32 26 21 BLAKE SHELTON ( Warner Bros./WMN)
SUNSHINE & WHISKEY
33 31 33 FRANKIE BALLARD ( Warner Bros./WMN)
SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR
34 36 25 KEITH URBAN ( Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
CRUISE
35 28 131 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
SOMETHIN’ BAD
36 34 31 MIRANDA LAMBERT DUET WITH CARRIE UNDERWOOD ( RCA Nashville/SMN)
SAY YOU DO
37 RE-ENTRY DIERKS BENTLEY ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
BOYS ‘ROUND HERE
38 32 70 BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. PISTOL ANNIES & FRIENDS (Warner Bros./WMN)
CHICKEN FRIED
39 37 166 ZAC BROWN BAND (Home Grown/Atlantic/Bigger Picture)
BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN
40 50 20 SAM HUNT ( MCA Nashville/UMGN)
MY EYES
41 42 27 BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. GWEN SEBASTIAN (Warner Bros./WMN)
LOVE YOU LIKE THAT
42 44 11 CANAAN SMITH ( Mercury/UMGN)
CLOSE YOUR EYES
43 RE-ENTRY PARMALEE (Stoney Creek/BBMG)
ROLLER COASTER
44 35 28 LUKE BRYAN ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
SHE DON’T LOVE YOU
45 RE-ENTRY ERIC PASLAY ( EMI Nashville/UMGN)
DAY DRINKING
46 38 32 LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
BOTTOMS UP
47 33 48 BRANTLEY GILBERT ( Valory/BMLG)
DRINK A BEER
48 41 45 LUKE BRYAN ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
READY SET ROLL
49 RE-ENTRY CHASE RICE ( Dack Janiels)
50 40 63 THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT
LUKE BRYAN ( Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
Top-selling paid download country songs compiled from sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen
SoundScan. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus
Global Media, LLC and Nielsen SoundScan, Inc. All rights reserved.
BUILDING AIRPLAY GAINERS
TITLE LabelArtist
GAIN
Z
ac Brown Band
+910
A
Thousand Horses
+460
Luke Bryan
+422
Jason Aldean
+294
Eric Church
+242
LIKE A COWBOY S
toney Creek
Randy Houser
+240
MAKE ME WANNA V
alory
Thomas Rhett
+240
Blake Shelton Feat. Ashley Monroe
+226
HOMEGROWN V
arvatos/Republic/Southern Ground
TITLE
SMOKE R
epublic Nashville
TALLADEGA
ERIC CHURCH
GOD MADE GIRLS
RAELYNN
SHOTGUN RIDER
TIM MCGRAW
DRINKING CLASS
LEE BRICE
ROLLER COASTER
LUKE BRYAN
SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR
KEITH URBAN
TAKE YOUR TIME
SAM HUNT
THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT
LUKE BRYAN
GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG
MADDIE & TAE
I SEE YOU C
apitol Nashville
ARTIST
20 10 53 YOU BELONG WITH ME
T AYLOR SWIFT
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
2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen SoundScan, Inc. All rights reserved.
JUST GETTIN’ STARTED B
roken Bow
TALLADEGA E MI Nashville
LONELY TONIGHT W
arner Bros./WMN
AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Warner Bros./WMN
Cole Swindell
+217
TAKE IT ON BACK R
ed Bow
Chase Bryant
+215
Building Gainers reflects titles with the top increases in plays from Monday through 5pm ET Wednesday, as
compared to the same period in the previous week, according to Nielsen BDS.