Kenny Chesney goes 'Wild' with 25th No. 1
Kenny Chesney collects his 25th No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart (dated June 27), as "Wild Child" with Grace Potter rises 2-1 in its 21st week. The song crowns the chart with a 1 percent gain to 43.4 million audience impressions in the week ending June 14, according to Nielsen Music.
While Chesney remains in fourth place among acts with the most Country Airplay No. 1s in the chart's 25-year history (dating to its Jan. 20, 1990 launch), he moves closer to the record for most leaders on the list. Here's a recap of the acts with the most Country Airplay No. 1s: Tim McGraw (27), Alan Jackson, George Strait (26 each), Chesney (25), Brooks & Dunn, Toby Keith (20 each), Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton (19 each), Garth Brooks and Keith Urban (18 each).
"Wild" is the third No. 1 (and third single) from Chesney's LP The Big Revival, which opened at No. 1 on the Oct. 11, 2014 Top Country Albums chart and has sold 383,000 copies to date. Lead single "American Kids" topped the Sept. 20, 2014 Country Airplay chart, and "Til It's Gone" led the Jan. 31 list. The Big Revival is his first album to generate at least three Country Airplay No. 1s since Hemingway's Whiskey yielded four in 2010-12: "The Boys of Fall" (two weeks at No. 1), "Somewhere With You" (three), "Live a Little" (one) and "Reality" (one). ("You and Tequila" was released as the set's fourth single in between the latter two leaders.) Chesney will seek a fourth No. 1 from The Big Revival with "Save It for a Rainy Day," the set's newly announced single.
(Incidentally, "Wild" also is Potter's first No. 1. She previously teamed with Chesney for the No. 3-peaking "You and Tequila" in 2011, her previous best peak.)
Canaan Smith scores his first Country Airplay top 10, as "Love You Like That" lifts 11-9 in its 45th week (31.3 million, up 4 percent). The track, which debuted on the Aug. 9, 2014 tally, completes the second-longest trip to the top 10 in the chart's archives. Only Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy" took longer: 46 weeks in 2009-10. The latter song went on to make more history, spending a record 56 weeks on the ranking (peaking at No. 3).
In his sole prior Country Airplay appearance, Smith hit No. 44 in 2012 with "We Got Us." His new top 10 is from his self-titled EP, which opened at No. 16 on the April 11 chart, and will be on his debut full-length, due June 23. Smith is currently opening for Dierks Bentley's 2015 Sounds of Summer Tour (with Kip Moore and Maddie & Tae).
Also notably on Country Airplay, Urban blasts in at No. 26 with "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16," which takes Most Increased Audience applause with 10 million first-week impressions, aided by hourly plays on participating iHeart Media-owned stations in its first day (June 9). Of his prior 36 chart entries, Urban arrived at a higher rank only with "Once in a Lifetime" (No. 17, 2006). Following its digital release (also June 9), the song should surge onto the June 27 Country Digital Songs chart, viewable in the Billboard Country Update due in email inboxes on Thursday (June 18).
This article first appeared in Billboard's Country Update newsletter -- sign up here.
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