Zach Top Scores His First #1 Country Song
The reigning Saving Country Music Artist of the Year is now a #1 country performer.
Zach Top’s current single “I Never Lie” is the #1 song on country radio for the week of May 4th through 10th according to Mediabase. Top beats out country juggernauts Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean to achieve his first #1. Like Top’s meteoric success, it symbolizes the resurgence of neotraditional country in the mainstream, and is opening up doors for other traditional country artists.
Though many of country radio’s #1s remain the beneficiaries of a major label round robin system that ensures most any highly-promoted radio single from a country male will top the charts at some point, that’s not exactly how “I Never Lie” got here. First, it’s already been Certified Platinum by the RIAA, making for Zach’s first officially precious metal as well. This happened on April 15th.
And it wasn’t Zach Top’s label who chose “I Never Lie” for radio. It was country listeners. Similar to the rise of the Luke Combs version of “Fast Car,” Top’s “I Never Lie” found massive organic appeal all by itself, and then the label acted on it. “I Never Lie” revealed its viral nature as Zach’s single “Sounds Like The Radio” was steadily climbing the radio charts. That song peaked at #15 on radio before the label switched it out.
And though Zach Top is impacting the very top of the mainstream, his rise remains decidedly independent. His label Leo33 is an independent label that was founded just two years ago with Top as its flagship artist. Even without radio play, Top is seeing massive interest in his ’90s inspired country, with his debut country album Cold Beer and Country Music regularly appearing in the Top 5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart.
“I Never Lie” has also risen to #6 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart that also factors in sales and streams. This week on country radio, Morgan Wallen’s “I’m The Problem” comes in at #2, and is expected to overtake “I Never Lie” next week as Morgan puts a big push behind his new album out Friday (5-16). “I’m The Problem” is the title track.
Zach Top also won his first industry award last week, walking away with the ACM’s Best New Male Artist.
Expect a new album from Zach Top likely this summer.
May 12, 2025 @ 7:38 am
Trigger, how likely do you feel this finally creates a major shift in mainstream country radio to more traditional country?
May 12, 2025 @ 7:54 am
I don’t want to predict that this will cause a “major” shift in country radio. Country radio has shown incredible, incredible stubbornness in acquiescing to the new reality where artists like Zach Top are dominating the country music consciousnesses. I’m afraid country radio will not actually change over to the country that people are actually listening to until the format has basically become obsolete. But I do take this as a positive sign, and means traditional country songs can find success on the format.
May 12, 2025 @ 9:27 am
I feel like we’ll just get more of mainstream radio’s listicle songs but referencing honkytonks and longecks rather than tailgates and bare feet on the dashboard. but it’s still a step forward if they go that direction.
Zac and band deserve every bit of their current amazing success though, regardless of whether the mainstream success is part of a trend or not. Killer artists working their asses off to get to this point.
May 12, 2025 @ 8:55 am
He would have to start collabing with Jelly Roll and Morgan Wallen if he wanted Country radio airplay.
I came across a recent interview with Eric Church and Jelly Roll on Youtube and EC is was verbally fellating Jelly Roll to the point I expected a Brazzer’s logo to appear. At this point Jelly Roll is essentially the Harvey Weinstein that all other country artists have to kiss his ring if they want corporate mainstream relevance.
May 12, 2025 @ 10:29 am
Jelly Roll has ties to Prince Harry.
May 12, 2025 @ 10:33 am
“He would have to start collabing with Jelly Roll and Morgan Wallen if he wanted Country radio airplay.”
…except Zach Top just landed a #1 in country airplay without having to collaborated with either of them. In fact, he had to beat out Morgan Wallen in very direct competition to do so.
Zach Top is also regularly beating out Jelly Roll on the Billboard Country Albums chart comparing their latest albums. The argument could be made that Zach Top is bigger than Jelly Roll at the moment.
May 12, 2025 @ 11:07 am
I know he had a burst when he 1st hit the scene, but as of today, is Jelly Roll actually popular? When I look at his tour schedule it’s mostly festivals and with Post Malone. Could he actually tour and sell tickets on his own? He seems more like someone who the industry wants to be popular but really isn’t.
May 12, 2025 @ 12:15 pm
Bingo. Just like Prince Harry, someone who the industry wants to be popular but really isn’t.
May 12, 2025 @ 12:19 pm
Jelly Roll definitely has a big fan base and a lot of organic following, but he’s not as big as the media likes to portray him as, in part because most of the media loathes country music and country fans, and Jelly Roll isn’t making country music, so they think it’s the kind of sound that country needs. The problem is that most actual country fans could care less about Jelly Roll. He’s being propped up by the media and fans outside of the genre. I think that’s why despite all the positive press, he continues to get shut out of awards that aren’t the now defunct CMTs.
May 12, 2025 @ 12:13 pm
I was being partially facetious. However I do not understand why it’s neccessary for all the Country A-listers to kiss Jelly Roll’s ring. Country award shows in the 2020’s just look stupid. All of them from the 90’s look iconic. Everytime they cut to Jelly Roll’s face he has this stupid ass fake grin on his face – like his father was a piano who also left home when he was 3 and never came back – hence the drug and potato chip addicition. Eric Church was praising JR in that interview I mentioned saying he was “holding church” and being a pastor and leading his flock at a concert at The Gorge – fucking cringe. At this point Eric Church is a disingenuous goofball with legitimate AARP junk mail in his mailbox. WTF is wrong with someone his age even saying something like that about JR? I don’t believe a solitary word out of EC’s mouth. All the A-list Country female singers look dead behind the eyes from all the Ozempic and anti-depressants.
All that being said Country needs Zach Top and Zach Bryan (and all his supposed assholery) because the industry-picked A-listers are fucking dumb.
May 12, 2025 @ 9:52 am
I hope not, this alternate country is fake.
May 12, 2025 @ 1:28 pm
Obese, face tattooed, Jelly Roll is part of the “inclusive” pop culture of the left. Take the case of John Moreland who, according to Trigger, only recently got face tattooed, likely because the fat body image wasn’t enough. How many boxes must be checked to work in this degenerate industry?
May 12, 2025 @ 2:08 pm
This is not an article about Jelly Roll. This is an article about Zach Top, and celebrating a big achievement for him, and for country music. There’s too many people in this comments section just waiting in the weeds to jump out and veer the discussion to whatever culture war issue is on their mind.
May 12, 2025 @ 2:15 pm
Kindly don’t edit my post. Publish the whole thing or not at all.
Thanks.
May 12, 2025 @ 3:44 pm
Autotune, recorded music
May 12, 2025 @ 7:42 am
As Zach Top climbs there will be detractors as there always are. But rather than picking him apart, let’s just enjoy him, shall we?
May 12, 2025 @ 7:49 am
Mind boggling how disconnected from the fans these labels and radio programming folks can actually be.
Congratulations to Zach Top and may the trail remain wide open for the rest of the astonishing number of phenomenal country artists out there to achieve similar, same and even more success!
Long Live Country!
May 12, 2025 @ 7:52 am
Odd. It seems like that song was discussed on here months ago at least.
May 12, 2025 @ 10:42 am
It was. Trigger was way ahead of the mainstream, noting how much attention the song was getting in live performances.
May 12, 2025 @ 7:40 pm
The comment section here mentioned Top first.
May 12, 2025 @ 7:55 am
Almost time for a Zach Top scandal.
May 12, 2025 @ 12:59 pm
He somehow dodged the accusations and evidence that he was cheating on his wife with female fans. It never got much traction. Some people in Nashville were posting evidence on Instagram months back.
May 12, 2025 @ 1:03 pm
Zach Top’s not even married.
May 12, 2025 @ 1:36 pm
He’s divorced.
Plenty of old vids of him on youtube wearing a wedding band. Its gone now.
May 12, 2025 @ 1:51 pm
He was married. Idk exactly when he got divorced – the internet evidence trail is a bit murky on that. Obviously I don’t condone cheating but the vast majority of people who ‘level up’ like he did will cheat – men and women, it’s just not something he should be cancelled over.
May 12, 2025 @ 2:05 pm
Okay then maybe don’t bring it up. I don’t know.
May 12, 2025 @ 2:19 pm
We need a list of who is off-limits for character issues
May 12, 2025 @ 7:38 pm
1. Johnny Cash
2. Willie Nelson
May 12, 2025 @ 7:39 pm
Jason Aldean survived it. Johnny Cash survived it.
Female fans don’t care if they find the guy attractive. Male fans don’t care if they enjoy the music.
May 13, 2025 @ 9:33 am
Vince Gill and Amy Grant are great examples. And I was just old enough to remember the backlash in the evangelical and christian community.
May 13, 2025 @ 10:19 am
Good recollection.
Amy Grant was a Christian singer, so her fan base’s distaste for the divorce made sense. Then again by 2000, she was more pop than CCM. Still, the title of “Queen of Christian Pop” carried certain responsibilities.
Country music, while overlapping with Christian circles, is predominately secular. Most of Aldean’s fans were rock music refugees.
May 14, 2025 @ 2:36 pm
I find the 90’s CCM drama fascinating. I grew up in an evangelical church in the middle of all that culture. CCM was just entertainment like every other genre. Even as a kid I didn’t see that “scandal” as being reason enough to not listen to either Vince Gill or Amy Grant. I remember relatives throwing out Ray Boltz cassettes when he came out as gay. And my favorite of all is around Carman – I maintain that that dude was slingin’ dick all throughout the 80’s and 90’s because it’s impossible for me to imagine him not with his whole not being married and being the Christian Tom Jones.
May 12, 2025 @ 7:59 am
Congratulations! I hope this opens some doors for more traditional artists.
May 12, 2025 @ 8:03 am
I played at a VFW saturday night and someone in their 60’s or 70’s requested this song. His appeal is very wide.
May 12, 2025 @ 8:05 am
I’m excited. Hoping this has a trickle down effect!
May 12, 2025 @ 8:13 am
I am thrilled for Zach Top, it is well deserved. However, in these days of streaming, does a Number 1 hit really mean that much? Hasn’t radio become a lot less significant than it once was? It used to be that many (including myself) knew who had the number 1 single. That is not so for me and I ma sure many others.
May 12, 2025 @ 8:35 am
Depends on how long at number one.
May 12, 2025 @ 9:01 am
A No. 1 at country radio does not mean what it once did. But that doesn’t mean it means nothing. There are still millions of people who listen to country radio, and it’s their primary consumption and the way they discover artists.
Also as I tried to explain in the article, really this is just icing on the cake for “I Never Lie.” The song has already been Certified Platinum. Most #1s are virtually meaningless because they’ve been pushed there my their major label. This means something more since it rose organically, and was promoted by a new, upstart, independent label who usually struggle in the mainstream radio space.
May 13, 2025 @ 1:48 am
If it gets Zach Top more listeners, which I guess it will, it has to be good. It is great news whatever the state of country radio.
May 12, 2025 @ 8:25 am
Congrats to Zach, some of us were on board a little earlier than others, but great songs will always win and everyone is invited. Glad I saw him twice before he hits arenas. Can’t wait for a new record.
May 12, 2025 @ 8:35 am
Um…I hate to be the chart guy again but on Billboard, “I’m The Problem” has been the #1 song for 4 consecutive weeks now. “I Never Lie” jumped from #4 to #2 which is very promising but wether it’ll make #1 on Billboard remains to be seen, and big singles have recently flamed out at #2, such as “Beautiful As You”, “Forever To Me”, and just last week “Texas”. As for hitting #1 on Mediabase, that’s awesome but we shouldn’t lose sight of how easy it is to hit #1 on Mediabase vs Billboard, and how Billboard is still, for better or worse, THE industry standard the labels care about. So in short, great news but let’s not get too excited just yet
May 12, 2025 @ 8:38 am
ADDENDUM: I just realized you were talking about Hot Country Songs, not Country Airplay. Apologies
May 12, 2025 @ 9:06 am
In my experience, it’s the industry that pays most attention to the Mediabase country radio chart, and the public that pays most attention to the Billboard Country Airplay chart. I agree there is a difference here, and it would be great if Zach Top could get to #1 on Billboard as well. That’s not going to happen as I explained in the article. Morgan Wallen is going to go for max spins this week on “I’m The Problem” since its the title track of his new album coming out Friday. As big as Zach’s “I Never Lie” has been, nobody is going to get in the way of Wallen’s #1. He’s the industry cash cow. That’s just the way it works.
May 12, 2025 @ 10:01 am
Yes, I’ve already seen him twice and Coming up a third time. He is good
May 12, 2025 @ 10:22 am
I predict Zach Bryan and Zach Top will cut a single together.
It will be called Zach Zach Top and will feature Billy Gibbons on Guitar.
Any takers?
May 14, 2025 @ 6:50 am
To be honest, I thought they were eagerly anticipating a John Moreland-Jason Isbell collaboration.🤭😘
May 14, 2025 @ 6:52 am
“you” not “they” – typo error
May 12, 2025 @ 11:11 am
Great live cover of “Where Corn Don’t Grow” with Zach and our other SCM favorite Red Clay Strays from The Georgia Rodeo a month ago:
https://youtu.be/D6Y8QS4vdFk
When Brandon says the band did not want to have to play after Zach, you know the guy is something special.
May 12, 2025 @ 11:13 am
This is a good sign, in any case.
May 12, 2025 @ 12:41 pm
This is great, but I don’t anticipate any kind of major shift in the sounds of radio. If I’ve learned anything over the past 10-15 years of paying attention to this, it’s that there are swaths of listeners who like both the traditional stuff and the copy and paste drivel.
I’m also someone who thinks boyfriend country is 10x worse than bro country (because bro country is, at least, honest). If I hear one more dbag crooning about some gal he’s elevated to a deity, I might vomit. Anyway, the point is I haven’t seen radio improve drastically at any point in all these years. It ebbs and flows in each direction.
And sometimes, a great song is a great song, regardless of how it sounds. Most radio artists have had their share of decent songs. I prefer the traditionalists, obviously, but not all of the non-country on country radio is bad music. It just doesn’t belong on country stations.
May 12, 2025 @ 7:42 pm
“Elevated to a deity” is a magnificent description.
Agreed. Bro-country felt more authentic to life than boyfriend country, which is/was insufferable.
Only writers like Dante and Petrarch can make those sentiments work.
May 12, 2025 @ 2:16 pm
This could be a game changer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIcdvdO8pf8
May 12, 2025 @ 4:09 pm
This is his first song that i really like. I have been hearing it a lot on the radio. Great job.
May 12, 2025 @ 5:12 pm
We saw Zach Top a couple of weeks ago in Wilmington, NC. Jake Worthington opened for him and they both put on great shows. While Zach is a more accomplished musician with a bluegrass background and exceptional talent, Jake is finding his sound after success on the Voice under Blake as a coach. I would
go see both of them again. I expect more great music from Zach and am very glad to see a true guitar picker rising organically. If you are a doubter, go see a show. He was exceptional live.
May 12, 2025 @ 5:49 pm
Love this song!
May 13, 2025 @ 12:20 am
…”i never lie” has got everything it takes to become cma single of the year in november. great earworm. still, looking at the top 40 there, zach top is more of an outlier in mainstream country. there is hardly any other younger artist of his ilk – man or woman – in the current charts that would support the notion that a more traditional sound is under way to become more predominant again. even though there’s lots of talent at hand. it would take another two or three of top’s calibre to turn something around/back in mainstream country. and no, hudson westbrook ain’t one of them.
May 13, 2025 @ 7:09 am
Ty Myers is not entirely traditional, but his numbers as an independent artist are incredible. He’s probably a Top 20 artist in country at the moment, and nobody is talking about him. Hudson Westbrook is another.
May 13, 2025 @ 8:16 am
Westbrook’s “House Again” is slowly inching up the airplay chart. His voice reminds me of Parker McCollum, whose “What Kinda Man” is also picking up momentum. Both positive signs for country radio, although given radio’s preference for party and beach songs in the summer, we might be waiting until the fall for either one to peak.
I miss the days when a new country album meant at least four singles sent to radio in less than a year. No wonder so many of the artists on the current chart have trouble filling seats on their own. Few people are going to turn out to see a headlining act with only one or two familiar songs to their name. If “House Again” goes top 10 in, say, November, his next single might not peak until the following September. That’s no way to establish any kind of identity, and likely means that his second single (like Top’s “I Never Lie”) will need to be a smash or radio will forget about him entirely.
And don’t think I’m exaggerating the time it takes for songs to peak. Some take more than a full calendar year to do so, the most extreme example being Brett Young’s “You Didn’t,” which cracked the top ten some 70 weeks after entering the chart and lingered there for weeks afterward.
The only way around this is to flood the radio pipeline with new music well before the previous single has peaked, either with a new solo song or a collaboration. That’s what Big Loud does with Morgan Wallen and BBR does with Jelly Roll. If every label would do that with every artist, chaos would erupt on the charts — and that might be a good thing.
May 14, 2025 @ 7:38 am
In my opinion there are some outstanding young women who have a more neo-traditional style, such as the Castellows. But it seems women have a harder time getting noticed and recognized.
May 13, 2025 @ 2:36 am
That’s a Brent Mason signature Tele he’s holding in the pic…I knew I liked this guy
May 13, 2025 @ 11:55 am
I’d LOVE for them to take a risk and release “Use Me” as the third single as I feel this album is steadily selling and streaming consistently week to week to warrant a third single: even though objectively I think his label may play it a bit safer just so he successfully establishes himself a bit more before challenging listeners more with something more waltz-y and understated.
Still a girl can dream, right?
May 14, 2025 @ 10:49 pm
Use me is EXCELLENT.
May 13, 2025 @ 8:48 pm
I wish Daryle Singletary had gotten this kind of push back in the day.
May 14, 2025 @ 6:45 am
I’m not from the US and actually have no idea about the things you, Trigger, described above. So I’m asking: Why does most media loathe country music and country fans?
The music (independent country, neo-trad, roots etc) is absolutely great and I love this music so much.
I don’t know other country fans or the American country fan scene, but why are they universally loathed by the media?
May 14, 2025 @ 7:08 am
Country music typically harbors traditional American values (God, patriotism, family ties, etc). The “tolerant” coastal elites, which dominate American media, view those values as a threat.
“You’re not supposed to say the word, “Cancer” in a song
And tellin’ folks that Jesus is the answer can rub ’em wrong
It ain’t hip to sing about tractors, trucks, little towns and mama
Yeah, that might be true
But this is country music and we do.”
May 14, 2025 @ 7:45 am
I don’t want to represent that ALL media loathes country music. Unfortunately though, it’s most of the journalists that work at most of the largest, legacy institutions that do. The primary reason for this is since you have such significant cutbacks in arts and entertainment coverage, you often have journalists who are more pop and hip-hop-oriented fans who are then tasked to cover country as a side hustle whenever anything big happens. So when Beyonce or Post Malone releases a country album, they go right along. They think Jelly Roll is the kind of “country music that country music needs” because it appeals more to them while most country fans couldn’t care less. They miss most of the nuance about country fans because they don’t interact with them. And though I think CountryKnight is overblowing it and a lot of this media is actually based in Nashville, there is definitely a political element to it, where the media does not have the same cultural values as a lot of the artists and fans, and as opposed to understanding this and trying to be impartial or represent that contrast, they feel it’s their need to attempt to orientate the audience to their own values, similar to how they think the music needs to go more pop to orientate to their tastes.
You see this inherent misunderstanding happening over and over again. I try to draw attention to this not from looking down my nose at my colleagues in music media, but to attempt to explain to them why they’re often being counter-productive to their causes. Also, during the first Trump Administration, you had outright political operatives embedding themselves in country music media in express political projects to reshape America’s rural political electorate. That project spectacularly backfired. But still, some continue to attempt to implement those principles, and it causes undue acrimony in the country community.
May 14, 2025 @ 8:28 am
Trigger,
A good chunk of Nashville doesn’t like country music and hasn’t since the beginning. The city views itself as the Athens of the South. Hillbilly singers clash with that facade.
And you have to remember these media writers are graduating from coastal schools.
May 14, 2025 @ 8:52 am
I agree. Just wanted to clarify since you said “coastal elites.” A lot of people that loathe country are definitely based in Nashville.
Another issue is a lot of the media run in tight, cloistered circles both socially and on social media no matter where they’re located. This creates reality bubbles and personal friendships that get in the way of important intellectual repartee that can be healthy for all parties. So when a journalist’s opinions are challenged, there’s no intellectual dialogue. There’s just a circling of the wagons, a blocking and shunning of the dissenting party, and a complete eradication of a counter-perspective, making these social circles even more closed off to the actualities of country music. We saw this in my recent criticism of Ian Munsick and backing tracks.
May 14, 2025 @ 11:45 am
Thank you for the detailed answer.
May 14, 2025 @ 8:04 am
Thank you very much for your answer. You’ve cited Brad Paisley. That guy is a great example that black/white thinking or loathing regards country music is totally out of place imo.
Without kicking off a political discussion here: As far as I know Mr Bailey is a strong advocate for Ukraine and promoted Anti-COVID vaccines. The “elites on the coasts” can’t be against that, can they? And that shows that clichés and attributions like “They’re all like that and we’re completely different” are nonsense, right?
May 14, 2025 @ 8:24 am
Those lyrics from Paisley came in 2011.
Country music has never been a monolith. I cited those lyrics to show that, even a singer like Paisley who leans more liberal, respects and understands the genre’s core concepts. He released “This is Country Music” two years after “Welcome to the Future,” which touched upon the Civil Rights movement and American-Japanese relations.”
“My grandpa was in World War II
He fought against the Japanese
He wrote a hundred letters to my grandma
Mailed them from his base in the Philippines
I wish they could see this now
The world they saved has changed, you know
‘Cause I was on a video chat this morning
With a company in Tokyo”
Maybe Paisley has released a pro-COVID vaccine or Ukraine song. I have no idea. I haven’t kept track of his career in years.
The difference is, that the media I cited, doesn’t consider those stances. They view the genre as uniformly White and traditionally American, which means it needs to be terraformed into something acceptable. Plainly speaking: they want country music not to be country music. CountryUniverse, a review site, promotes that belief.
King Honky has spoken about the topic.
May 14, 2025 @ 9:19 am
Thank you so much. But why is the genre viewed as uniformly “white” or “traditional” or “conservative” or whatever when it is very obviously much more differentiated? Even from the other side of the pond I can see how diverse, varied and nuanced the country scene is.
May 14, 2025 @ 8:04 am
Bad luck is the better song but wow a #1. beating out MW
May 14, 2025 @ 1:48 pm
It was only temporary, Top was at No. 1 on Sunday, which got him the “prize,” but that ended his “push week” and when Monday rolled around, Wallen was back at No. 1 and Top was at No. 2, down by more than 1,000 spins from the previous day. The true test of the song’s organic popularity will be whether it now plummets into oblivion in less than a month, or hangs around the upper reaches of the chart for a long time, then goes on to continued airplay as a “recurrent.”
May 24, 2025 @ 11:40 am
I have to admit that I have not listened to Zach Top’s music but I would not choose him to listen to based on his opening for Alan Jackson in Milwaukee. The extreme base heavy mix dominated and overwhelmed the rest of the band and Top’s vocals. Maybe he’s better in smaller venues. Even when cruising his music on Spotify I didn’t hear much of anything that inspired me to listen for more than a minute. My wife told me she much preferred Cody Jinks performance live vs Top. I was expecting more and was underwhelmed. Maybe the studio version of Top is the real deal, but damn, he needs to bring that to the live shows.