Shaboozey, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill & More: Acts Who Topped Country Airplay for 4 or More Weeks with Big Hits

Shaboozey reigns supreme Bulletin boardCountry Airplay chart (dated Aug. 24) for fourth week with “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – earning entry into a select group of hits from artists who have led at least that long during the chart's 34-year run history.

The song from the Virginia native (born Collins Obinna Chibueze) pulled in 30.5 million audience impressions in the Aug. 9-15 schedule, according to Luminate. The single, on American Dogwood/EMPIRE, with country radio airplay from Magnolia Music, concurrently tops the Pop Airplay chart for a second week.

“A Bar Song” is just the ninth career-establishing country No. 1 in the format that has reigned for more than four weeks – and the second among the three most recent country airplay tops, behind his “I Had Some Help” Post Malone (featuring Morgan Wallen) has ruled for four since June. (Prior to that, however, no such song had accomplished the feat in more than 18 years.)

What makes “A Bar Song” so special and a hit in so many formats, from country and pop to rhythm? Travis Daily, who in May became Cumulus Media's country vice president after being named brand and content manager for the chain's WKDF and WSM-FM Nashville in April, says Bulletin board“I have a kid in college who sends me music almost every day and he sent me the song one night as I was packing for my move to Nashville. My first reaction was, “This is exactly what we need to stand out at WKDF when I get to town.”

“After hearing so many times, I'm starting to think this is going to take off before I even get a chance to drive across the country [from Salt Lake City],” says Daily. “Some people think it's a mystery that he's doing so well, which baffles me. We have a great song from a very talented artist that our audience seems to love. The passion for this song is almost unheard of.

“Some country programmers don't like it when pop stations play our country hits,” Daily further says. “I would argue that songs like this give me a chance to convert some audiences into fans of the best genre in the world, which is obviously country.”

Below, browse the songs that have topped Country Airplay for four or more weeks by artists making their first major forays into the format (counting the acts' first chart appearances as a lead artist or their original songs promoted to radio country). They feature memorable rookie anthems from acts that have gone on to become some of the biggest names in country.