Eli Young Band’s ‘Love Ain’t’ Tops Country Airplay Chart
Eli Young Band banks its fourth No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, and first since "Drunk Last Night," which led the list dated Dec. 28, 2013, as "Love Ain't" climbs 2-1 on the May 25-dated…
Eli Young Band banks its fourth No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart, and first since “Drunk Last Night,” which led the list dated Dec. 28, 2013, as “Love Ain’t” climbs 2-1 on the May 25-dated tally.
The song reigns in its 49th week on the chart, up 8% to 38.6 million impressions, according to Nielsen Music. The song completes the longest journey to the apex since Canaan Smith’s “Love You Like That” took the same amount of time in 2014-15. The longest run to the top belongs to Chris Young’s “Voices”: 51 weeks, over two cycles, in 2008 and 2010-11.
EYB first led Country Airplay with “Crazy Girl” (November 2011), followed by “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” (July 2012).
WHAT’S NEW Keith Urban‘s “We Were,” co-written by Eric Church, debuts at No. 24 on Country Airplay with 10.9 million audience impressions, following its Wednesday, May 13, arrival. Urban tallies the fifth-highest start among his 45 career entries.
On Hot Country Songs (which blends airplay, streaming and sales data), “We Were” enters at No. 28.
Plus, Lady Antebellum‘s “What If I Never Get Over You” debuts at No. 25 on Country Airplay (8.6 million), after its release Friday, May 17.
“Never” marks Lady A’s 28th Country Airplay appearance and its first on Big Machine Label Group (after the act previously charted on Capitol Nashville). The trio ties its best bow: “Downtown” debuted at No. 25 in April 2013.
Notably, Urban and Lady A’s arrivals mark the first instance of two songs starting in the top 25 of Country Airplay simultaneously since the chart’s January 1990 inception. The prior best such one-two opening punch: On Feb. 18, 2017, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” and Zac Brown Band’s “My Old Man” began at Nos. 21 and 26, respectively.