Chris Young‘s “At the End of a Bar,” with Mitchell Tenpenny, jumps from No. 5 to No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart (dated Aug. 27). In the tracking week ending Aug. 21, the single increased by 11% to 23.9 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
Young rolls up his 11th Country Airplay leader, while Tenpenny earns his first. The pair co-penned the song with Chris DeStefano.
“Bar” is from Young’s LP Famous Friends, which arrived at No. 3 on Top Country Albums in August 2021, giving the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native, 37, his eighth top 10 on the tally. It follows the set’s title track, Young’s team-up with Kane Brown that led Country Airplay in July 2021 and wrapped as the chart’s top song of all of last year.
“I’m so excited to notch my 11th No. 1,” Young tells Billboard. “It’s crazy to think that this is back-to-back, following ‘Famous Friends,’ and it truly encompasses the vision that I had for this album – making music with my friends. Celebrating this one with Mitchell Tenpenny and Chris DeStefano is gonna be so special.”
Young has posted 22 Country Airplay entries, starting in 2006. In 2009, “Gettin’ You Home” became his first of 11 No. 1s and 17 top 10s.
As for Tenpenny, “Bar” is his first No. 1 among three top 10s. His launch entry, “Drunk Me,” hit No. 2 in December 2018. “Bar” is one of two songs that Tenpenny currently sports in the top 10, as his own “Truth About You” holds at its No. 8 high (20.1 million, up 4%).
Notably, “Bar” completes the biggest weekly vault to No. 1 on Country Airplay since Elvie Shane’s freshman hit “My Boy” also soared from No. 5 to the summit last October.
On Billboard‘s streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart, “Bar” pushes 18-16 for a new best. It drew 2.3 million U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads in the latest tracking week.
Further ‘Proof’ of Success
Morgan Wallen achieves his seventh Country Airplay top 10 as “You Proof” bumps 11-10 (17.2 million, up 21%). His prior six top 10s all led the list, most recently “Wasted on You” for a personal-best three weeks in July.
“You Proof,” which Wallen wrote with ERNEST, Ashley Gorley, Charlie Handsome and Keith Smith, and which Charlie Handsome and Joey Moi produced, topped Hot Country Songs in its debut week on the May 28 chart, granting Wallen his record fifth No. 1 start, and his sixth leader overall. It lifts 3-2 on the latest Hot Country Songs list, as it drew 14.2 million streams (up 3%) and sold 4,000 downloads (up 10%) in the tracking week, in addition to its airplay.
“You Proof” leads Country Streaming Songs for an eighth week and rises 5-2 on Country Digital Song Sales, which it ruled in its debut frame in May.
‘Heads’ Hits No. 1
Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” ascends 3-1 on Country Digital Song Sales, up 11% to 5,000 sold. Swindell scores his first leader on the survey, among his 24 chart entries, a sum that includes 13 top 10s.
The song, which Swindell co-authored, pays homage to Jo Dee Messina’s debut single “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” which hit No. 2 on Hot Country Songs in May 1996.
On Hot Country Songs, “Heads” climbs 4-3 for a new high, as it drew 11.9 million streams in the tracking week. On Country Airplay, it pushes 6-4, up 10% to 22.2 million impressions.
