Cole Swindell’s ‘You Should Be Here’ Tops Two Country Charts
Cole Swindell's "You Should Be Here" tops two of Billboard's country songs charts, hitting No. 1 on Country Airplay and staying atop Hot Country Songs.
Cole Swindell’s “You Should Be Here” (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) rules two of Billboard’s country songs charts (dated April 9). It rises 2-1 on Country Airplay, increasing by 5 percent to 43.8 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Music, and leads Hot Country Songs for a third week.
“Here” is Swindell’s third Country Airplay leader, following “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight” (2014) and “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey” (2015), both from his self-titled debut album. Penned by the artist with Ashley Gorley as a tribute to Swindell’s late father, Keith, “Here” is the launch single from his upcoming sophomore album of the same name, due May 6.
“Finding out that you have the No. 1 song in the country while backstage at the Grand Ole Opry is the coolest feeling in the world,” Swindell tells Billboard of his reaction (and esteemed location when he heard the news). “This song is so special to me, and hearing fans’ stories and the way country radio has embraced it is amazing. I’m a lucky guy, and I know my dad is smiling down right now.”
“The brilliant part about this song is it speaks to so many different people,” says WBWL Boston PD Lance Houston. “Cole wrote it about a specific [person], but listeners relate it to their own circumstances. Plus, he wrote it in the parking lot at Gillette Stadium, just outside of Boston, so that made it significant here.”
Warner Music Nashville vp promotion Kristen Williams believed the song was a hit after one listen. “I actually heard it as a demo on Cole’s phone,” she says. “I could tell immediately we had something, which was validated when we played it for programmers at the Country Radio Seminar and there were tears in the room.”
TOP 10 SOUNDS: “I Like the Sound of That” (Big Machine) becomes Rascal Flatts’ 30th Hot Country Songs top 10, jumping 12-8 on the survey (which measures airplay, sales and streaming). On Country Airplay, it pushes 4-3 (39.7 million, up 7 percent). Pop star and singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor (up 12-6 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her new single “No”) co-wrote “Sound” with Jesse Frasure and Shay Mooney. (Having the band record it was Trainor’s “biggest dream come true,” she told Billboard in 2014.)
Additionally on Hot Country Songs, Chris Young and Cassadee Pope’s “Think of You” (RCA Nashville/Republic Nashville) lifts 12-9, fueled in part by its 9-8 lift on Country Airplay (29.4 million, up 19 percent). The love song is Young’s 10th Hot Country Songs top 10 and Pope’s fourth. And, Old Dominion’s “Snapback” (RCA Nashville), its sophomore single, becomes its second Hot Country Songs top 10 (11-10), following its No. 3 hit “Break Up with Him.” “Snapback” advances 8-7 on Country Airplay (30. 1 million, up 3 percent).
MAKING WAVES: Dierks Bentley scores his milestone 20th Country Airplay top 10, as “Somewhere on a Beach” (Capitol Nashville) swells 13-10 (25.7 million, up 10 percent). The song previews his LP Black. Meanwhile, Kenny Chesney’s new single “Noise” (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) bounds onto the chart at No. 21 with 13 million in first-week audience. The track marks Chesney’s record-extending ninth top 25 debut; Garth Brooks ranks second with five.
‘HUMBLE’ GUY: Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind” (McGraw/Big Machine/Big Machine Label Group) ascends 3-1 on Country Digital Songs (35,000 sold, up 6 percent). It’s his third No. 1 on the survey, which launched in 2010.
BROWN, BONES & MORE: Three debuts arrive in the Top Country Albums top 10, led by Kane Brown’s first major-label EP, Chapter 1 (Zone 4/RCA Nashville/Sony Music Nashville), at No. 3 with a career-best 23,000 sold. His self-released EP Closer hit No. 7 in November 2015 (peaking with 8,000). Brown boasts the largest first-week sales for a country artist’s major-label debut release in nearly a year, since Chris Stapleton’s Traveller bowed with 27,000 copies sold (reflected on the May 23, 2015, chart).
New at No. 4 on Top Country Albums is The Critics Give It 5 Stars (Black River) (11,000), the comedy/country effort from Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots, which mainly comprises iHeartMedia syndicated morning talent Bones and producer/personality Eddie Garcia. Several artists make appearances, including Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks, who’s on the set’s first single, “Fishin’ With My Dad,” which debuts at No. 60 on Country Airplay. The song is the only non-comedic track on the album.
Southern Family (LCS/Elektra/Atlantic Group), compiled by producer Dave Cobb, debuts at No. 5 on Top Country Albums with 11,000 sold. It features, among others, Zac Brown, Brandy Clark, Jason Isbell, Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton.
This article first appeared in Billboard’s Country Update — sign up here.