In what is easily the biggest country song of 2017, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Back Road” released to country radio Feb. 1 and raced to the top of the charts in only twelve weeks. The three-week No. 1 still remains in the Top 5 titles for country radio airplay and is currently climbing pop radio’s Top 15.
“Body Like A Back Road” is also on a 20-week streak at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the longest command for a song by a solo male ever on the nearly 59-year-old chart. Sales and streams of this song juggernaut quickly surpassed the Gold and Platinum sales standards and “Body Like A Back Road” is now RIAA-certified Double Platinum in record time for the Georgia native.
“I can’t say that I expected for it to do as well as it has done,” Hunt says of his chart topping song. “It’s not that polarizing of a song, so fortunately I think it’s palatable to a lot of tastes and people have enjoyed it, hopefully.” In fact, the singer/songwriter is relieved that the track has been so widely embraced.
“Your second record is always the thing that everybody’s saying, ‘Well, let’s see if he can do it again’ or whatever. They call it the ‘Sophomore Slump,’ I think.” Laughing, Hunt continues to share, “I’m just so glad that this song has reacted right off the bat and I don’t feel like I’m behind the eight ball.”
Written by Hunt, Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, “Body Like A Back Road” is the No. 1 most-downloaded country song of 2017 so far and is the No. 3 most-downloaded song across all genres year-to-date. The “playfully flirty love song” (Billboard) is the fastest country song in history to reach 100M total streams (10 weeks) and with over 212M total streams is the Top Streaming Country Song of 2017.
Additionally, Hunt’s monumental 2014 debut album, Montevallo, is now RIAA–certified Triple Platinum. Montevallo topped the Billboard Country Albums Chart in its first week and remains the best-selling debut album for a country artist since 2011. The album landed on multiple “Best of” lists including the Associated Press, Billboard, Country Weekly, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, SPIN Magazine, Village Voice and The Washington Post. It also produced a record-breaking four No. 1 singles and five Platinum and Multi-Platinum-selling hits including “Leave the Night On,” “House Party,” “Take Your Time,” “Break Up In A Small Town” and “Make You Miss Me.”
This summer, fans can find Hunt selling out venues across the country on his 15 In A 30 Tour with special guests Maren Morris, Chris Janson and Ryan Follese. Upcoming dates include St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati.
For information on Sam Hunt, “Body Like A Back Road,” the 15 In A 30 Tour and more, visit www.SamHunt.com.
