In somewhat of a rapid ascent up the country charts, Luke Bryan’s “Waves” pushed past Dan + Shay’s “Glad You Exist” to become this year’s 17th No. 1 hit. “Waves” has only been on the chart for 18 weeks, while the other four songs in the Top 5 have been there for at least 22 weeks. “Glad You Exist” was in the Top 40 for 27 weeks before it reached the top and now sits at No. 2. Filling out the Top 5 is Justin Moore’s “We Didn’t Have Much,” Chase Rice’s “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” and Lainey Wilson’s “Things a Man Oughta Know.”
Cole Swindell’s “Single Saturday Night,” which held the No. 1 spot just three weeks ago, continued its descent off the chart. Last week it dropped out of the Top 5 and Top 10; it dropped from the Top 20 for the first time since May 12.
The one notable exit from the Top 40 was “One Too Many” by Keith Urban & P!nk. Peaking at No. 8 just two weeks ago, “One Too Many” had been on the country chart since we started tracking on January 6, and last week held on at No. 40.
Other trends in this week’s chart:
Biggest movers:
- “If I Didn’t Love You” by Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood (up three from No. 16 to No. 13)
- “Cold As You” by Luke Combs (up three from No. 20 to No. 17)
Biggest drop:
- “Single Saturday Night” by Cole Swindell (down 16 from No. 13 to No. 29, down 27 in the last two weeks)
Debuts:
- “Steal My Heart” by Dan + Shay (No. 36 — one week on the Side Burner chart)
- “One Mississippi” by Kane Brown (No. 40)
Exits:
- “One Too Many” by Keith Urban & P!nk (32 weeks on the chart, peak of No. 8, last week No. 40)
- “Best Thing Since Backroads” by Jake Owen (one week on the chart, last week No. 39)
Here are this week’s “Personal Picks” — songs that haven’t appeared in either of our charts but that we think deserve at least one listen.
| Personal Picks | |
| (Songs that haven’t appeared in our charts … but they deserve a listen.) | |
| Song | Artist |
| star-crossed | Kacey Musgraves |
| I’m Not for Everyone | Brothers Osborne |
| My Person | Spencer Crandal |
Here is the updated chart for the week of August 26, 2021. Each song is linked to its official video on YouTube, where possible. To listen to the full playlist of these songs, visit our page on Spotify.
| Pos | Song | Artist | LW | Chg | Wks | Peak |
| 1 | Waves | Luke Bryan | 3 | 2 | 18 | 1 |
| 2 | Glad You Exist | Dan + Shay | 1 | -1 | 28 | 1 |
| 3 | We Didn’t Have Much | Justin Moore | 5 | 2 | 31 | 3 |
| 4 | Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen | Chase Rice | 2 | -2 | 27 | 1 |
| 5 | Things a Man Oughta Know | Lainey Wilson | 4 | -1 | 22 | 4 |
| 6 | Country Again | Thomas Rhett | 6 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| 7 | You Time | Scotty McCreery | 8 | 1 | 16 | 7 |
| 8 | Cold Beer Calling My Name | Jameson Rodgers | 7 | -1 | 16 | 7 |
| 9 | Memory I Don’t Mess With | Lee Brice | 11 | 2 | 18 | 9 |
| 10 | My Boy | Elvie Shane | 9 | -1 | 25 | 9 |
| 11 | I Was On a Boat That Day | Old Dominion | 10 | -1 | 12 | 9 |
| 12 | Chasing After You | Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris | 12 | 0 | 20 | 12 |
| 13 | If I Didn’t Love You | Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood | 16 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 14 | Forever After All | Luke Combs | 14 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| 15 | Knowing You | Kenny Chesney | 17 | 2 | 16 | 15 |
| 16 | Next Girl | Carley Pearce | 15 | -1 | 32 | 15 |
| 17 | Cold As You | Luke Combs | 20 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| 18 | Famous Friends | Chris Young | 18 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| 19 | Like a Lady | Lady A | 19 | 0 | 12 | 19 |
| 20 | Tequila Little Time | Jon Pardi | 22 | 2 | 12 | 20 |
| 21 | Fancy Like | Walker Hayes | 23 | 2 | 9 | 21 |
| 22 | Freedom Was a Highway | Jimmie Allen & Brad Paisley | 21 | -1 | 11 | 21 |
| 23 | Whiskey and Rain | Michael Ray | 24 | 1 | 11 | 23 |
| 24 | You Should Probably Leave | Chris Stapleton | 25 | 1 | 15 | 24 |
| 25 | Just About Over You | Priscilla Block | 26 | 1 | 22 | 25 |
| 26 | Same Boat | Zac Brown Band | 27 | 1 | 11 | 26 |
| 27 | Thinking ‘Bout You | Dustin Lynch | 28 | 1 | 8 | 27 |
| 28 | Buy Dirt | Jordan Davis | 29 | 1 | 7 | 28 |
| 29 | Single Saturday Night | Cole Swindell | 13 | -16 | 30 | 1 |
| 30 | It’s ‘Cause I Am | Callista Clark | 30 | 0 | 10 | 30 |
| 31 | Home Sweet | Russell Dickerson | 31 | 0 | 11 | 31 |
| 32 | Half of My Hometown | Kelsea Ballerini | 32 | 0 | 12 | 32 |
| 33 | To Be Loved By You | Parker McCollum | 34 | 1 | 8 | 33 |
| 34 | Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) | Elle King & Miranda Lambert | 35 | 1 | 20 | 16 |
| 35 | Lil Bit | Nelly & Florida Georgia Line | 33 | -2 | 21 | 9 |
| 36 | Steal My Love | Dan + Shay | New | New | 1 | 36 |
| 37 | That’s What Cowboys Do | Garth Brooks | 38 | 1 | 2 | 37 |
| 38 | Give Heaven Some Hell | Hardy | 36 | -2 | 4 | 36 |
| 39 | Heart on Fire | Eric Church | 37 | -2 | 2 | 37 |
| 40 | One Mississippi | Kane Brown | New | New | 1 | 40 |
There are nine songs that show signs of invading the chart in the coming weeks. Songs that appeared on this list previously are marked with an asterisk for each week they’ve been on the list. (You can listen to them in our “On the Side Burner” playlist on Spotify):
| On the Side Burner | |
| (Songs that haven’t appeared in our chart but were closest to making it this week) | |
| Song | Artist |
| Sand in My Boots* | Morgan Wallen |
| Tough Ones | Cooper Alan |
| Should Have Known Better | Jessie James Decker |
| Wild Hearts | Keith Urban |
| That Ain’t Me No More******* | Matt Stell |
| Ride the Lightning (717 Tapes)****** | Warren Zeiders |
| Tennessee Whiskey******* | Chris Stapleton |
| Good Things** | Dan + Shay |
| Getting Over Him | Lauren Alaina & Jon Pardi |
Note: “Sand in My Boots” was previously on the chart and fell off on June 16 because it was removed from airplay. As the airplay charts are recognizing it, it will be allowed to re-enter the chart if it scores highly enough in our algorithm.
The American charts all have their whims. We look across the pop music landscape to put together a reliable snapshot of what is truly trending today. We are currently tracking 75 songs that have trended in various ways in the past week.
Copyright © 2021 Doug DeBolt.
