Little Big Town's "Better Man" ascends to the top 10 of Billboard's Country Airplay chart (dated Jan. 21), rising 11-10 and increasing by 11 percent to 27.2 million in audience in the week ending Jan. 8, according to Nielsen Music. The advance marks both an achievement for the band and the song's writer, Taylor Swift.
Swift wrote the song, the lead single from LBT's eighth studio album, The Breaker (due Feb. 24), which becomes Little Big Town's eighth Country Airplay top 10 and first since "Girl Crush," which rose to No. 3 in August 2015. Meanwhile, Swift earns her milestone 20th Country Airplay top 10 as a writer, and first in more than three years, since her self-written "Red," which peaked at No. 7 in December 2013.
Of her prior 19 top 10s as a writer, Swift recorded all but one: "Best Days of Your Life" hit No. 9 in 2009 for Kellie Pickler, with whom Swift wrote the song.