Two songs on the American country chart clearly separated themselves from the pack this week. One of those is No. 1 — again. Luke Bryan’s “Waves” remained at the top for the third straight week, becoming only the fourth song to have three weeks at No. 1 this year. It’s also only the second song to hold No. 1 three weeks in a row. The other dominant song this week remained hovering behind “Waves” again — Lainey Wilson’s “Things a Man Oughta Know.” The No. 2 song narrowly missed out on moving to No. 1 and could bridge that gap next week. The remainder of the Top 5 was a little different from last week: Thomas Rhett’s “Country Again” moved up one to No. 3, Jameson Rodgers’ “Cold Beer Calling My Name” moved up two to No. 4 and Justin Moore’s “We Didn’t Have Much” slipped two spots to No. 5.
“Glad You Exist” by Dan + Shay, which was No. 1 just three weeks ago, dropped all the way of the Top 20 by falling 18 places to No. 23. The song had been in the Top 20 since April 7.
Other trends in this week’s chart:
Biggest movers:
- “Freedom Was a Highway” by Jimmie Allen & Brad Paisley (up four from No. 20 to No. 16)
- “Thinking ‘Bout You” by Dustin Lynch (up five from No. 25 to No. 20)
- “Same Boat” by Zac Brown Band (up six from No. 27 to No. 21)
Biggest drops:
- “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” by Chase Rice (down six from No. 13 to No. 19)
- “Glad You Exist” by Dan + Shay (down 18 from No. 5 to No. 23)
- “Next Girl” by Carley Pearce (down 13 from No. 21 to No. 34, down 18 in the last two weeks)
- “Forever After All” by Luke Combs (down 11 from No. 24 to No. 35, down 21 in the last two weeks)
Debut:
- “South On Ya” by Luke Combs (No. 38, one week on the Side Burner chart)
Exits:
- “Wild Hearts” by Keith Urban (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 |
| What Do You Think Of? | Lauren Alaina & Lukas Graham |
| Back Then, Right Now | Tenille Arts |
| Good Times Roll | Jimmie Allen & Nelly |
Here is the updated chart for the week of September 9, 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 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 2 | Things a Man Oughta Know | Lainey Wilson | 2 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| 3 | Country Again | Thomas Rhett | 4 | 1 | 19 | 3 |
| 4 | Cold Beer Calling My Name | Jameson Rodgers | 6 | 2 | 18 | 4 |
| 5 | We Didn’t Have Much | Justin Moore | 3 | -2 | 33 | 3 |
| 6 | Memory I Don’t Mess With | Lee Brice | 7 | 1 | 20 | 6 |
| 7 | You Time | Scotty McCreery | 8 | 1 | 18 | 7 |
| 8 | If I Didn’t Love You | Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood | 10 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | Chasing After You | Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris | 9 | 0 | 22 | 9 |
| 10 | I Was On a Boat That Day | Old Dominion | 11 | 1 | 14 | 9 |
| 11 | My Boy | Elvie Shane | 12 | 1 | 27 | 9 |
| 12 | Cold As You | Luke Combs | 14 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| 13 | Knowing You | Kenny Chesney | 15 | 2 | 19 | 13 |
| 14 | Fancy Like | Walker Hayes | 16 | 2 | 11 | 14 |
| 15 | Like a Lady | Lady A | 17 | 2 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | Freedom Was a Highway | Jimmie Allen & Brad Paisley | 20 | 4 | 13 | 16 |
| 17 | Tequila Little Time | Jon Pardi | 19 | 2 | 14 | 17 |
| 18 | Famous Friends | Chris Young | 18 | 0 | 35 | 1 |
| 19 | Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen | Chase Rice | 13 | -6 | 29 | 1 |
| 20 | Thinking ‘Bout You | Dustin Lynch | 25 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| 21 | Same Boat | Zac Brown Band | 27 | 6 | 13 | 21 |
| 22 | Whiskey and Rain | Michael Ray | 22 | 0 | 13 | 22 |
| 23 | Glad You Exist | Dan + Shay | 5 | -18 | 30 | 1 |
| 24 | You Should Probably Leave | Chris Stapleton | 23 | -1 | 17 | 23 |
| 25 | Just About Over You | Priscilla Block | 26 | 1 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | Buy Dirt | Jordan Davis | 28 | 2 | 9 | 26 |
| 27 | One Mississippi | Kane Brown | 29 | 2 | 3 | 27 |
| 28 | It’s ‘Cause I Am | Callista Clark | 30 | 2 | 12 | 28 |
| 29 | Home Sweet | Russell Dickerson | 31 | 2 | 13 | 29 |
| 30 | Half of My Hometown | Kelsea Ballerini | 32 | 2 | 14 | 30 |
| 31 | To Be Loved By You | Parker McCollum | 33 | 2 | 10 | 31 |
| 32 | Sand In My Boots | Morgan Wallen | 35 | 3 | 12 | 22 |
| 33 | Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) | Elle King & Miranda Lambert | 34 | 1 | 22 | 16 |
| 34 | Next Girl | Carley Pearce | 21 | -13 | 34 | 15 |
| 35 | Forever After All | Luke Combs | 24 | -11 | 26 | 1 |
| 36 | Give Heaven Some Hell | Hardy | 36 | 0 | 6 | 36 |
| 37 | That’s What Cowboys Do | Garth Brooks | 37 | 0 | 4 | 37 |
| 38 | South on Ya | Luke Combs | New | New | 1 | 38 |
| 39 | Heart on Fire | Eric Church | 38 | -1 | 4 | 37 |
| 40 | Memory | Kane Brown & Blackbear | 40 | 0 | 3 | 40 |
There are six 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 |
| That Ain’t Me No More********* | Matt Stell |
| Tennessee Whiskey********* | Chris Stapleton |
| Getting Over Him** | Lauren Alaina & Jon Pardi |
| Justified | Kacey Musgraves |
| Joy of My Life | Chris Stapleton |
| Ride the Lightning (717 Tapes)******** | Warren Zeiders |
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.
