Morgan Wallen First Artist With Three Songs in Country Airplay Top 10 – Billboard
Morgan Wallen places three titles inside the top 10 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated April 29) – becoming the first artist to achieve the feat since the survey began in January 1990.
The 29-year-old Sneedville, Tenn., native earns his 10th Country Airplay top 10 as “Last Night,” on Mercury/Republic/Big Loud Records, jumps from No. 13 to No. 8. It rose by 21% to 19.4 million audience impressions in the week ending April 20, according to Luminate.
The song leapfrogs Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time,” up 10-9 for a new high (17.9 million, up 3%), while “Thought You Should Know” dips 5-7 (21.7 million, down 5%). The latter gave Wallen his eighth Country Airplay leader when it began a three-week reign in February.
Concurrently, “Last Night,” which is being promoted to pop and adult radio, climbs to No. 16 on Pop Airplay, No. 19 on Adult Pop Airplay and No. 26 on Adult Contemporary. It claimed a third week atop the all-genre, streaming, airplay and sales-based Billboard Hot 100 dated April 22.
All three Wallen hits are on his 36-track LP One Thing at a Time, which has led Top Country Albums and the all-genre Billboard 200 for its first six weeks.
Wallen’s triple in the Country Airplay top 10 follows pop radio’s increasing willingness to play multiple hits by a single artist simultaneously. In May 2021, Ariana Grande became the first act to log three top 10s at once on Pop Airplay; Doja Cat and Harry Styles have since earned the honor, while Miley Cyrus currently has three songs on the latest list from her new album, Endless Summer Vacation: “Jaded” debuts at No. 39, as “Flowers” tallies a ninth week at No. 1 and “River” ranks at No. 25.
“I’m excited to see radio continuing to invest in [country’s] core artists,” Big Loud vp of promotion Ali Matkosky recently told Billboard. “In a time where listeners are pointing out daily what they want to hear [via streaming services], it makes more and more sense to lean into that data.”
‘Rock’ on a Roll
Bailey Zimmerman notches a fifth week atop Country Airplay, as “Rock and a Hard Place” holds at the apex (32 million, down 6%). The song first led the list dated April 1, giving Zimmerman his second straight career-opening chart-topper, following “Fall in Love,” which ruled for one week in December.
Meanwhile, Zimmerman’s latest single, “Religiously,” pushes 56-50 (1.3 million, up 33%).
Additional research by Gary Trust
