George Strait Makes Incredible Comeback on Country Radio
“Stunning” is the only way to put this. “A shot out of the dark” might be another. “Awesome” would be a third. But however you want to put it, “King” George Strait is back on country radio, and in a big way with his brand new single “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar.”
Nobody saw this coming. And anyone who says they did is lying. It has been a full six years since George Strait had a single in the Top 30 of country radio, let alone the Top 20. Now he’s debuted at #20 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in the very first week “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” has been on the airwaves—something almost unprecedented for any artist in this era, let alone someone like George Strait that corporate radio and the rest of the mainstream country music industry has been putting out to pasture for the better part of a decade.
“Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” received a whopping 81 new adds from reporting stations in the latest chart update compiled by Nielsen, which far and away lapped any competition. Co-written by Strait himself with his son Bubba and regular collaborator Dean Dillon, the song is a fun, mid-tempo tune that isn’t anything super special, but it’s most certainly country, is smartly written, and is likely now to shimmy its way towards #1 in the coming weeks with the way it’s been shot out of a cannon. To put put it plainly, George Strait is back, touring retirement or not.
“Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” also debuts at #36 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. On the Mediabase radio charts, the song is also the most added, coming in at #27 this week with an incredible 97 adds, so this is no reporting fluke. This is the best debut by any artist so far in 2019, one of the best debuts in George Strait’s career which has seen a whopping 45 #1 singles (a country music record), and one of the best in recent memory. This includes debuts by some of country’s hottest performers, including Kane Brown, Luke Combs, and Thomas Rhett.
“Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” is the first official single off George Strait’s upcoming 30th studio album Honky Tonk Time Machine due out March 29th.
Also stunning on the radio charts is Kacey Musgraves and “Rainbow,” which was the 2nd most added song according to Nielsen, and hits #40 on the new radio charts, making it Kacey’s best-charting single in half a decade.
Even after mainstream country radio abandoned George Strait and Kacey Musgraves, they continued to win awards and receive recognition. Radio has been the last major holdout to returning substance and country sounding songs to the mainstream. But with this incredible debut by Strait, and Kacey’s strong performance, perhaps 2019 will be the year the castle walls around country radio fall as well.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:04 pm
This is simply remarkable! As a country fan this has to be a sight to behold for many. Your right, this is not a spectacular song. But it is King George and it’s no doubt country. Really looking forward to this record, great songs so far.
February 20, 2019 @ 7:18 am
King George can never mess up even the worst song so leave him alone let him do what he does best strait to #1
March 16, 2019 @ 10:43 am
It’s a pretty good song.
February 20, 2019 @ 2:46 pm
Awesome! King Strait straight to the top! He has such a great voice – untouchable by ANY of the “new guys”. Can’t wait for the album to drop.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:07 pm
Sadly, I expect it to not climb any higher than its debut. Hope I am wrong
February 20, 2019 @ 11:47 am
You will be WRONG!!!
February 19, 2019 @ 8:07 pm
Another winner as far as I’m concerned.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:08 pm
That’s a damn good song.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:18 pm
That’s great news! Can’t keep a good ‘ole boy from Texas down.
Question. Did Country Radio just give up on Brad Paisley? I don’t see “Bucked Off” going that far anytime soon. He’s such a great artist too.
February 19, 2019 @ 9:27 pm
“Bucked Off” peaked at #24, which is not terrible, but probably not what Paisley was hoping for. They pulled support for it a couple of weeks ago.
February 20, 2019 @ 9:39 am
I agree that was a great song, kind of shocked it didnt go further. Hard to beat a new Paisley record, they are always a fun listen. Awesome tip of the hat to George on Bucked Off too. The single artwork looks just like the Fort Worth album cover.
February 20, 2019 @ 9:59 am
Well, I had a long and drawn out reply that nobody asked for that I was blocked from posting for some reason (I keep getting a “You’re posting comments too fast” error message even though I rarely post comments anymore, then my text just disappears). Anywho, long story short, it seems like radio might be done with Paisley. He’s been struggling for several years now and his return to form with Love and War wasn’t as big as he was probably hoping it was. Not surprising, given that he’s been near the top for 20 years, not to mention that he’s 46, married and a father, which isn’t exactly appealing to the same demographic as Kane Brown. That, and his songs have more substance than “good times/let’s party!”, which isn’t what country radio listeners want to hear anymore.
February 20, 2019 @ 10:41 am
Not sure why you’re having posting troubles Acca Dacca. Possibly try using a different browser or email to post. The site is getting especially bombarded with spam comments at the moment, and sometimes the spam filter overcompensates.
February 21, 2019 @ 6:31 am
I can confirm experiencing the same issue as Acca Dacca from time to time. Once I retype and retry it usually works the 2nd time.
February 21, 2019 @ 3:22 am
I agree I love whysky lullaby
February 19, 2019 @ 8:23 pm
George Strait helped drag country music out of the doldrums in the early 80’s. I certainly wouldn’t put it past him to do it again.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:29 pm
Airplay success completely manipulated by iHeartBankrupt’s hourly plays. To me the Hot Country Songs success is a much bigger deal because his airplay position is going to plummet next week.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:35 pm
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL SONG ANOTHER NO 1 HIT FOR SURE
February 19, 2019 @ 8:37 pm
A GREAT SONG SOUNDS LIKE A HIT
February 19, 2019 @ 8:37 pm
thanks for always letting radio know how we all feel, Trig. They just. Don’t. Get it.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:38 pm
Great song. Old dudes still got it.
February 20, 2019 @ 12:01 pm
HE SURE DO!!!
February 20, 2019 @ 12:10 pm
HE SURE DOES!!!
February 19, 2019 @ 8:38 pm
Never cared for him. His music is very mild and not very interesting. I don’t even care about country radio anymore. Haven’t listened to it in years.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:51 pm
Why are you here?
February 19, 2019 @ 9:05 pm
At what point did you care about country radio? What artists did you find interesting and……spicy? (let’s go with .spicy Since you used “mild”) Just curious.
February 20, 2019 @ 2:22 am
James, do tell, with what great honor is it for you to bestow us with your presence, hearing from you today regarding your apparent dislike for George Strait music or even country music on radio, listening habits? I believe you’re just a troll, and Disney Radio is probably more your speed anyway.
February 20, 2019 @ 6:54 am
You don’t have to be a Radio Disney aficionado to think that George Strait is bland. I actually love a lot of his 80s material, but from the (mid?) 90s on, I feel like his music just got too tame and…slick? Syrupy? I’m not sure. I grew up on his 90s music, so I have a nostalgic soft spot for it, but I don’t think it’s anything special. For me, King George is George Jones.
February 20, 2019 @ 6:27 am
I agree with James. I’ve always considered Strait’s music “bland”. Not bad, mind you; it’s certainly listenable…just uninteresting to me.
February 20, 2019 @ 1:13 pm
Madwolf, curious as to what you do find “interesting” on country radio. To me if Aliens landed and you had to explain country music to them, you show them a picture of George Strait, and give them a copy of his 1st greatest hits.
February 20, 2019 @ 4:59 pm
There is nothing on country radio that I find interesting… including this song.
February 20, 2019 @ 10:56 am
Well, if you’re waiting for country radio to start playing Billy “Crash” Craddock again you might want to find a darn comfortable chair.
February 21, 2019 @ 5:31 am
90% of this generation doesnt even know who “Crash” was.
February 21, 2019 @ 9:26 am
Heck, 90% of the previous generation doesn’t know who he was, probably close to 100% of this generation.
But as forgotten as he is, he’s definitely not bland so I figured maybe the guy who posted the comment is a fan.
February 25, 2019 @ 2:46 am
A fan of traditional country, that includes such country rock icons as billy crash, Eddie rabbit, Leon Everett, artist that this youner generation has sadly never heard of.
Kinda Old School Kenny Cheney’s
February 20, 2019 @ 12:11 pm
WHY ARE YOU EVEN COMMENTING???
February 21, 2019 @ 6:16 am
Must be another fan of the “I sure wish I could be a hip hop artist” so called country music crowd. Either way George Strait has more number 1 hits than anyone in country music.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:39 pm
George Strait has always had a special relationship with radio. With country music being ridiculed for bro-country it makes sense they would reward George Strait to help bring traditional country back to the mainstream. The song is okay, not great. It unfortunate that singers like Reba, Trisha Yearwood, Caitlyn Smith, and Ashley McBryde can go out and promote their work and it won’t amount to anything. I just hope radio gives women the same chance as they’re giving George Strait.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:47 pm
What a great reminder of where country music originated from! True cowboy music! I’ve heard comments of disrespectful nature regarding the success of his new song… I highly doubt George strait is looking for success in a song. He’s been there and done that…he’s just doing what he loves and sharing it with the world. Maybe people should keep their rude comments for people like Bebe rexha. Lol.
February 19, 2019 @ 8:58 pm
George never lets us down. ????
February 19, 2019 @ 9:27 pm
I love anything George sings. He is what Country’s all about. He is King and I hope he goes back to the top where he belongs. Love his song. Keep them coming.
February 19, 2019 @ 9:41 pm
This is the news I like to see. I’m seriously debating pre-ordering the collector’s edition of George’s upcoming album. Might put a temporary hole in my pocket but I really want that autographed lyric sheet of his song ‘God and Country Music’. I’ve always told myself, only those who sing actual country music will ever get my money.
February 19, 2019 @ 10:07 pm
How do I get the collectors edition. I don’t see it on amazon. Just wondering where I can order it
February 19, 2019 @ 11:50 pm
You can order it off his official website. I think it might be just through there.
February 19, 2019 @ 9:51 pm
If that song makes it to #1, Strait would easily break–by 5 years– the record for oldest artist to score a solo #1, set by Kenny Rogers in 1999 with “Buy Me a Rose.”
February 20, 2019 @ 12:39 am
Buy me a Rose was in 2000, not 1999.
Another 2000 radio record was broken by Luke combs not too long ago too
February 19, 2019 @ 9:52 pm
Im telling you guys, even with the impressive debut, dont get your hopes up. Ive seen it before. A song from a big named artist sparks up a lot of interest and gets lots of airplay in its first week, then falls off the following week, and struggled to climb back up the charts. Hes my alltime favorite artist, so I hope Im wrong. But lets see how this plays out before making it a monumental triumph for traditional country music
February 19, 2019 @ 10:37 pm
First off, the damage is already done. George Strait now has his first Top 20 song in six years regardless of what happens henceforth.
Second, I don’t think folks appreciate just what a feat this is. I need to spend more time with the data, but I believe this is one of the biggest debuts for a radio single in the last 5 or 6 years, or longer. I can only remember one or two other singles that had debuts such as this in near history. So this isn’t just about having the biggest debut on radio this week just to fall off the next one and dash our hopes. This is about having one of the biggest radio debuts in the modern streaming era.
I don’t have enough insight into the activity of the single to say it will rise or fall from here. I’d go ahead and just plan for it to fall somewhat. But it could rise on Mediabase, and who knows what it will do from there. Just this debut will create a tremendous amount of buzz and attention for the song.
February 20, 2019 @ 12:44 am
I agree, Trigger…with this song and “Rainbow,” maybe there is something going on. The song is classic Strait, but not a career defining record like “Live Like You Were Dying,” “This Kiss,” or some of Strait’s early records. I hppe it’s a sign of changing tastes within country radio itself. Of course, Strait’s worst single…which this is not… is better than most of what’s on radio these days.
February 20, 2019 @ 8:56 am
Did you just say George cut Live like you were dying and This Kiss? You alright? You gonna make it?
February 20, 2019 @ 9:42 am
8, no…that’s not what I said. I simply meant that, while good, Strait’s new single doesn’t seem to be the type of career record “like” a LLYWD or TS, which makes his recent charting even more unusual. It’s another in a long line releases, that’s all.
February 20, 2019 @ 8:58 am
Mistakenly read your comment as “Kiss This”..
Career defining for Aaron Tippin…in a sense.
February 21, 2019 @ 6:05 pm
Aaron Tippin was never an automatic add in the early 90s like George and Garth and Clint and Alan–and Chesnutt and Diffie and Lawrence–were–He had too much grit in his voice!–but every couple of years, he’d drop a haymaker. “Kiss This” was one of those.
February 20, 2019 @ 4:49 am
So Trig tell me this (since most of us agree it’s a pretty good tune, but we’ve seen much better from him and other artists not debut this well), what is the criteria for something like this happening? Did his team figure something out, or did someone else who pulls the strings just say enough is enough, put the man where he belongs? I’ll never understand country radio and how which songs/artists get played and some don’t. But at least I’m no longer naive enough to believe it’s based on what the fans want.
February 20, 2019 @ 10:47 am
I think a couple of things are at play here. Radio stations look to add new songs each week, and Strait’s team waited until a fairly dead week to push the new single when it would not compete with any other big mainstream name. Also, they’ve been promoting the hell out of this single with full page ads in trade periodicals, which means it has full label support, which is important for a single these days. Still, none of this accounts for such a huge add number that may be the biggest all year. Perhaps programmers are looking for something a bit more twangy now that Midland, Chris Stapleton, and others have shown traction for these kinds of songs. As others have pointed out, the song may struggle from here. We’ll just have to see. But all the stars aligned for the debut, that’s for sure.
February 19, 2019 @ 9:58 pm
First of I want to say that I’m 17, and I hate the direction country is going like why the hell is “Meant to be” country. In my lifetime I’ve never heard George on the radio. I hope country music is coming back to country radio not that southern pop crap. I may be wrong but I also noticed that it is similar to the late 80’s early 90’s when artist like Vern Gosdin, Waylon, and Don Williams started to experience a resurgence in country music. Hopefully this a good omen for the future of country radio.
February 20, 2019 @ 12:33 am
This is awesome to hear, especially from someone so young. As someome who is, ahem, 50 now, I’ve seen a lot of trends come and go in the format. However, it seems that country always cycles back to being…country. You are right…the climate feels like the late 80s early 90s when new traditionalists like Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis, The Judds, and George Strait emerged. Hopefully this signals a new trend that sees the current crop of solid country/Americana artists saturating country radio. It would be great to see current artists who really do have talent (i.e Carrie Underwood, Chris Young) influenced to shift back to a more traditional sound. Also, it’s wishful thinking, but hopefully country radio would rediscover more women and older artists who already fit whatever retro direction radio may be headed next. In any event, I support any trend that favors Strait and Musgraves over FGL and bro-country any day.
February 20, 2019 @ 12:06 am
I love George Strait…I sing alot of his songs and I everyone loves it…..
Murder on Music Row…..says it all..
February 20, 2019 @ 12:23 am
Would be great for old country to make a comeback. Nobody can replace King George. No one ever replaced Conway Twitty, Tight Fitting Jeans.
February 20, 2019 @ 12:24 pm
YOU CAN PRE ORDER ON HIS WEB PAGE…JUST GO TO THE SONG ON UTUBE…THERE IS A PLACE To CLICK TO PRE ORDER…
February 20, 2019 @ 12:29 pm
EVEN AFTER HE IS GONE…HE WILL LIVE ON AS THE KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC!!! JUST LIKE ELVIS IS STILL THE KING OF ROCK n ROLL!!!
February 20, 2019 @ 12:32 am
maybe they are making up for snubbing one of his all time best albums (IMHO) …his last one ..COLD BEER CONVERSATION .
in any case , great news and hopefully whatever radio success George has with this will inspire younger artists to WAKE THE F*** UP .
(and as an aside , NOBODY in the business makes better sounding records than George .)
February 20, 2019 @ 12:36 am
Happy for the King!! But didn’t Tim Mcgraw’s “Neon Church” debut in the top 25 & stalled pretty much there for several months? George debuting in the top 20 is great, outstanding!! But it could stall somewhere in the top 15 still. I thought “God and Country Music ” would be the lead single… That too should get played if it becomes a single. Singing about country music is the new trend on radio, but The King does it the right way
February 20, 2019 @ 10:51 am
This song still could stall. All the more reason for people to voice their opinion that King George should be on the radio, for folks to download and stream the song, pre-order his record to show support for it, and even let their local radio stations know they’re appreciative they’re playing a good country song. This feedback could help.
There’s a reason I added this song in the last update of the Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist even though I don’t think it’s a great song, just a good one. When good songs from important artists get opportunities on radio, we need to throw our support behind them. That’s how we’ll right the ship at radio.
February 20, 2019 @ 1:21 am
I’m thrilled that the “KING” IS BACK. I have everything George has ever written, sang or acted in. Of course he is always George. I LOVE GEORGE STRAIT.
February 20, 2019 @ 1:45 am
George knows what he’s doing keeping it country what they play now is not country music.
February 20, 2019 @ 1:52 am
George Strait,Alan Jackson and Loretta and Reba is better then what country music is now. Good Luck George with ur new song.
February 20, 2019 @ 2:42 am
Country music is George Strait.
February 20, 2019 @ 4:08 am
Am I the only one who thinks this sounds exactly like Josh Turner’s “Why Don’t We Just Dance”?
February 20, 2019 @ 4:53 am
I read your comment before listening to the song, and wow. The two songs are extremely similar musically.
February 20, 2019 @ 7:24 am
They’re working with the same four chords and a similar groove, so yeah its gonna sound similar. I don’t think anyone could sue over it.
February 24, 2019 @ 11:15 pm
Me too! I thought that as soon as I heard it.
February 20, 2019 @ 4:53 am
I love him so much!! So thankful he is singing and co writing again!! I pray he always will!! I hope it goes to the top because people love it, but it’s most certainly on my top!! It will remain that way!!!
February 20, 2019 @ 5:12 am
Sure, there’s a very low chance that George Strait might get another #1 hit, but the fact that there’s an actual possibility of him getting one is amazing
February 20, 2019 @ 5:17 am
I never listen to our local iheart station anymore but was randomly flipping through channels last week and hear this for the first time about half way through. Thought it sounded like George but thought no way they would play a new George Strait song. With the hourly play on Iheart and some sponsored Facebook ads I’ve seen they really seem to be getting behind this song and album more than the last few. Does MCA have any other cash cow artists anymore toprofit from or is George their last?
February 20, 2019 @ 10:10 am
MCA currently has George, Kacey Musgraves, Vince Gill, Sam Hunt, Josh Turner, Kip Moore, Jordan Davis, Clare Dunn, and Kassi Ashton. But Universal Music Group is also home to MCA, Capitol, Mercury, and EMI, so they have the catalogs of Shania Twain, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Alan Jackson, and many others.
February 20, 2019 @ 5:18 am
Country radio killed country music. I don’t listen to it and now have to pay Sirus or others for what used to be great entertainment. I spend about $50 a month on CDs and always on “old” artist.
February 20, 2019 @ 6:29 am
I will always root for Mr. Strait. He is the most genuine, kindest, humble entertainer I have ever met. I’ll never forget when he told me, “have a great day, Robyn.” I immediately told my boss and friends “The King Of Country knows my name!”
He has what many artists dream they can have. He’s been relevant and making great music for 30+ years without his life on the cover of tabloids. I love it.
February 20, 2019 @ 6:52 am
The drums are mixed too right up in my face.
February 22, 2019 @ 7:52 am
Yep. This is my biggest problem with Strait’s latest albums. The drums (cymbals especially) are laid on way too hard. I think it’s so noticeable because for nearly 40 years, his recordings didn’t sound like this, so it catches my ear much more than it would if it was a different artist. It’s a shame really, but not a deal-breaker.
February 20, 2019 @ 7:05 am
GEORGE STRAIT IS THE BEST SINGER IN THE WORLD!!! IOVE HIS SONGS, EVERY ONE OF THEM!
February 20, 2019 @ 7:26 am
This is so cool. I love the idea for the song. It takes all the little cliches about honky tonks and somehow makes them not cliche again. That’s craft! Codigo had me super dissapointed, so I’m glad to hear this.
February 20, 2019 @ 7:46 am
I love this song. I hope radio also prays attention to Reba’s new single. I heard a great story song that has huge potential called “Pray For You” on radio yesterday. It was nice not to hear about backroads, whiskey shots and bare feet on a dashboard.
February 20, 2019 @ 8:11 am
awesome, country radio needs to play more George Strait to redeem themselves but it’s only just a tiny bit of redemption. I still will only stream my music. Hopefully they’ll play singles from Reba’s upcoming album too.
February 20, 2019 @ 8:22 am
The only radio I listen to is Country Classics K-101–when I can.
I was driving west on US-50 last week and Tammy Wynette’s Ways to Love a Man came on. Wow. Talk about jumping right out of the speakers. What a song. And what a shame that there are so few stations where you can hear something like that.
(Real Country WKLO will do in a pinch, though.)
But I’m listening to my MP3s 99% of the time now. So that’s all good.
Whatever inroads are being made into getting good music back on the radio are more of the backroad variety. The road out of Trashville by contrast is an 8-lane superhighway.
But continued well-wishes to King George and all the other folks fighting the good fight.
February 20, 2019 @ 9:42 am
“Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” is an enjoyable tune.
February 20, 2019 @ 10:52 am
I love George and been a fan since before his first album! I’m delighted with his new songs ! Thanks for staying country George ! All positive from me!
February 20, 2019 @ 12:04 pm
The author needs to refresh his facts. George hit 45 #1s back in the 90s and has at 60 now. Great to hear him on the radio. Great song. Long live King George!
February 23, 2019 @ 11:50 am
There seems to be two separate counts on how many #1’s George Strait has enjoyed. One is 45, and another is 60. I think this has to do with the fact that some of his #1’s were Mediabase #1’s later in his career. I might write an article about this in the future, but until then I wanted to give the conservative estimate that has been certified by multiple sources.
February 20, 2019 @ 12:39 pm
The song is pretty boring, but it’s still probably the best thing they’ll play all year.
What a sad world.
February 20, 2019 @ 1:17 pm
Bring it on home and let’s make Country radio great again. Love George and would love to see Alan Jackson come back too. True traditional country music.
February 20, 2019 @ 1:36 pm
Charlie, gotta say you brought up memories when you said you heard Tammy Wynettes song Ways to Love A Man. I’m 60 and she was my idol growing up. I’m from Massachusetts and when I was 13 yrs old, my Mom and Dad brought me to a concert in Fitchburg MA to see her and George Jones. Great show that I will never forget. I got to see other old time greats like Kitty Wells, Jean Shephard, Faron Young among others, Johnny Paycheck, Merle Haggard. Man I miss all the greats. So happy George came out with new music though. Warms my heart to hear good music. Country radio needs to change, big time. Wish I had access to the station you get to listen to. Sunday mornings is the only time a country station plays the classics. Unfortunately Im at work. Listen to the classics though, every chance I get on cable tv music channel
February 20, 2019 @ 2:30 pm
THE KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC, GEORGE STRAIT, WILL ALWAYS BE THE KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC!!! EVERYTHING HE DOES IS AWESOME, I DONT CARE WHAT IT IS!!! HE CAN DO SOMEONE ELSE’S SONG AND MAKE IT BETTER!!!
February 20, 2019 @ 2:50 pm
I seen him in Vegas when he first sung the song and T-Mobile was packed it will only go up from here
February 20, 2019 @ 3:27 pm
Yes king George is back! I haven’t listened to country music since he left. I might just have to go out and buy this album????
February 20, 2019 @ 6:00 pm
Sounds just like a song Blake Shelton released a decade ago called “That Thing We Do”.
Exactly in fact.
February 20, 2019 @ 6:42 pm
There nothing wrong with King George Strait music at least he not screaming an rapping.r head bc banging . If u don’t want listen to him than close ur ears. He always b my favorite country singer
February 20, 2019 @ 7:25 pm
A mediocre song at best (when compared to other, way-earlier Strait hits, especially the ones carrying Dean Dillon’s signature as well), it almost sounds like the lyrics and melody somehow don’t belong together.
But I’m elated that radio is jumping on it, finally something I can actually listen to, even though it seems some radio stations are late in picking it up, spending 6 hours in the car over the weekend and did not catch it one time, even though it was a station open to “Texas” music.
February 20, 2019 @ 8:04 pm
The young bucks don’t seem to want to turn back the clock to tradition so the old guys gotta make up for it. Oh well, I’m not complaining. If this were to hit number one on either (or better yet, both) of the charts it would be a great “middle finger” moment for GS; they thought they could put him away quietly, but having a hardcore fanbase always wins out in the end. God bless him.
February 20, 2019 @ 10:37 pm
God Bless the King!!
February 20, 2019 @ 11:16 pm
It’s great to see George Strait getting this kind of support, but let’s be real here. The strong start was driven by the iHeartRadio “premiere” campaign, which included hourly first day airplay (hence the big airplay debut) and automatic adds from all those stations. Not wanting to fall behind, some non-iHeart stations get involved during opening weekend as well — further elevating the numbers.
This is what people online refer to as a “radio deal.” I don’t love that term because it MAY be libelous (“deal” implies a transaction, and there’s no proof that anything like that happened), but it does correctly reflect that this is support by design – it’s not random, organic happenstance.
The good news is that for something like this to happen, his label’s radio team is obviously invested in pushing this as a single. They want the song to make a huge impact at radio, which bodes well for its potential.
The bad news is that we don’t yet know whether radio will be willing to stick with it for the long haul. 100 adds for an iHeart premiere single lands you #1 on the weekly add board, but it doesn’t tell you how radio really feels about the song. From a long-term perspective, this song getting 100 impact week adds isn’t necessarily superior to a Kane Brown follow-up single getting 35 impact week adds.
I’m also admittedly a bit surprised to see you embracing this type of radio campaign when you seem categorically opposed to preferential streaming treatment. Guaranteed “on the hour” opening day airplay is basically just radio’s version of getting the top spot on Spotify’s New Music Friday.
February 21, 2019 @ 8:41 am
Have the people who call George Strait’s music ‘bland’ ever listened to an entire George Strait album? It may not be groundbreaking music, but stylistically he’s all over the map. Straight honky tonk? Check. Bob Wills type swing? Check. Guitar and fiddle ballads? Check. Rodeo songs? Check. Silly songs? Check. Heartbreak songs? Check. Great wordplay songs? Check.
There’s 30+ albums that show why people call him King George. Don’t call him boring just because you don’t like ‘The Chair’ or ‘Check Yes Or No’. Do yourself a favor and dig deeper.
February 21, 2019 @ 10:49 am
I just heard this for the first time, and it had me feeling nostalgic for 1995: it would have fit right in with Alan Jackson’s “I Don’t Even Know Your Name,” David Lee Murphy’s “Party Crowd,” John Michael Montgomery’s “Sold,” Mark Chesnutt’s “Gonna Get a Life,” and more from two dozen years ago.
February 21, 2019 @ 3:27 pm
As expected, the song is already declining in spin total without iHeart’s payola to keep it afloat. It’s #36 on today’s Mediabase 24/7 chart (All Access) and lost 331 spins from the previous 7-day period. However, it’s far from done, as the song is still picking up adds and gaining spins at non-iHeart stations. It should rebound in the coming weeks. It’s so good to have a George Strait song back on the radio regardless of how it got there, but my optimism is cautious. So far it’s not among the Top 50 on either Detroit country station (one Entercom-owned and the other Cumulus).
An hourly iHeart airplay deal doesn’t necessarily mean there’s great public demand for a song. On pop radio, songs like Adele’s “Skyfall” and Madonna’s “Gimme All Your Luvin'” got the payola deal and ultimately flopped despite debuting high. On Adult Contemporary radio songs by heritage artists like Celine Dion have gotten the hourly airplay treatment as well and also stiffed. The test as to whether this song is a hit will be in the coming weeks as we see whether the new adds make up for the spins lost when the payola deal ran out and as we watch its progress on Hot Country Songs.
February 22, 2019 @ 12:47 am
maybe the most important thing about this development is that there is pretty-much a generation of ‘ country radio’ listeners whose introduction to the genre was FGL and the bro-shit who will now get a taste of the real thing for , possibly, the first time . the fact that it sounds so fresh and lively compared to the cut time machine -driven generic -sounding rappy stuff may catch young , bored ears who don’t look beyond what radio tells them is country
February 22, 2019 @ 4:38 pm
I told my sister about this, who is a huge Strait fan, has all of his original albums… and she said : oh, so they actually bothered to play his album on the radio this time? xD
February 28, 2019 @ 10:04 am
A great comeback with a great song. Congrats, George!
April 19, 2019 @ 3:00 pm
It is impressive to hear someone so young make the comments you did. Glad to hear it and good for you. I started listening to country around 1992 at 14 and my The Chair by George is what turned me around to it. I am sad you have never heard George on the radio, hopefully that will change their are some great songs on this new album as all of his past albums. Enjoy it while you can if you get to hear him on the radio, it may not last for long. Listen if you can to Prime Country on sirius xm if you have it, if you want to hear George or the best decades ever for county music.