Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Tops Hot 100, As Country Hits Rank at Nos. 1, 2 & 3 for First Time

Gary Trust
·9 min read
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Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” rises to No. 1, from its No. 2 debut, on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The single, released in May, reigns amid buzz after CMT pulled its video, which premiered July 14, from rotation after three days, resulting in a surge of attention.

Meanwhile, with Aldean at No. 1, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” at No. 2 and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” at No. 3, country hits take the Hot 100’s top three spots in a single week for the first time, dating to the Hot 100’s inception in August 1958.

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Also in the Hot 100’s top 10, Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd’s “K-POP” debuts at No. 7 and Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World,” with Aqua, returns to the region at No. 8, following the premiere of the box office hit Barbie.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Aug. 5, 2023) will update on Billboard.com Wednesday (Aug. 2). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

“Try That in a Small Town” is the 1,152nd No. 1 in the Hot 100’s history. Here’s a deeper look at its coronation.

Streams, airplay & sales: The song, released on Macon/Broken Bow, drew 30.7 million streams (up 165%) and 8.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 21%) and sold 175,000 (down 23%) July 21-27, according to Luminate.

The track tops the Digital Song Sales chart, where it’s Aldean’s second leader, for a second week and vaults 37-3 on Streaming Songs. While below the all-format Radio Songs tally, it holds at No. 25 (after reaching No. 24) in its 10th week on Country Airplay.

A week earlier, the song scored the largest digital sales week – 228,000 – for a country title (defined as by those that have hit Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart) in over 10 years, since Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” featuring Nelly, sold 244,000, as reflected on charts dated July 6, 2013.

CMT decision sparks gains: On July 18, Billboard confirmed that CMT had pulled the official video for “Try That in a Small Town” after three days in rotation; the network declined to say why. Following CMT’s decision, Aldean posted a message to his Instagram Stories regarding the contrasting reactions that the song and video have faced.

The song’s video was released on July 14, featuring footage of an American flag burning, protesters in confrontation with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store; it has since been edited, cutting six seconds. The clip has prompted a firestorm of opinions about it and the song’s intent and messaging.

Aldean further addressed the polarized response during his Highway Desperado Tour stop July 21 at Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center. “It’s been a long week and I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting I’m this, suggesting I’m that,” he told the crowd. “I feel like everybody’s entitled to their opinion. You can think something all you want to; it doesn’t mean it’s true. What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here … I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that, I can tell you that right now.”

Aldean’s first Hot 100 No. 1: Aldean achieves his first Hot 100 No. 1, with his 40th entry on the chart. He first made the list dated Aug. 13, 2005, with “Hicktown”; he tallied one top 10 prior to his new leader, as “Dirt Road Anthem,” which, helped by its remix featuring Ludacris, hit No. 7 in July 2011.

Aldean’s 17-year, 11-month and three-week wait from his first Hot 100 visit to his first No. 1 marks the longest since Billy Ray Cyrus went 26 years and 11 months between the debut of “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1992 and the coronation of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Cyrus, in 2019. Santana holds the record for the most sustained such suspense: two days shy of 30 years, between the group’s arrival with “Jingo” in 1969 and the reign of “Smooth,” featuring Rob Thomas, in 1999.

Broken Bow’s best: Broken Bow also boasts its first Hot 100 No. 1 with “Try That in a Small Town.” Dating to its formation in 1999, the label had previously hit the top 10 via Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem.”

Also No. 1 on Hot Country Songs: “Try That in a Small Town” concurrently rules Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, which uses the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a second week, a week after it became Aldean’s 10th No. 1. He first led with “Why” in May 2006 and had most recently reigned with “Burnin’ It Down” in 2014. His new leader is also his 37th top 10; he has peaked in the top 10 at least once each year dating to his first such hit, “Hicktown,” in 2005 – the longest active streak of annual top 10s on the chart.

Hot 100 & Hot Country Songs No. 1s: “Try That in a Small Town” marks only the 22nd song to have topped both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs. With Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” having begun its 14-week domination in March, 2023 is the first year with multiple shared Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs leaders since 1981.

Songs to Have Hit No. 1 on Both the Hot 100 & Hot Country Songs Charts:

  • “Try That in a Small Town,” Jason Aldean, 2023

  • “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen, 2023

  • “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Taylor Swift, 2021

  • “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Taylor Swift, 2012

  • “Amazed,” Lonestar, 1999-2000

  • “Islands in the Stream,” Kenny Rogers, duet with Dolly Parton, 1983

  • “I Love a Rainy Night,” Eddie Rabbitt, 1981

  • “9 to 5,” Dolly Parton, 1981

  • “Lady,” Kenny Rogers, 1980

  • “Southern Nights,” Glen Campbell, 1977

  • “Convoy,” C.W. McCall, 1975-76

  • “I’m Sorry,” John Denver, 1975

  • “Rhinestone Cowboy,” Glen Campbell, 1975

  • “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” John Denver, 1975

  • “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” Freddy Fender, 1975

  • “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” B.J. Thomas, 1975

  • “The Most Beautiful Girl,” Charlie Rich, 1973

  • “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” Jeannie C. Riley, 1968

  • “Honey,” Bobby Goldsboro, 1968

  • “Big Bad John,” Jimmy Dean, 1961

  • “El Paso,” Marty Robbins, 1959-60

  • “The Battle of New Orleans,” Johnny Horton, 1959

Of the 22 songs listed above, 12 were concentrated in 1973-83. Meanwhile, Glen Campbell, John Denver, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Taylor Swift are the only acts with two songs each that have crowned both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs.

Wallen’s “Last Night” rebounds 3-2 on the Hot 100 after 14 weeks at No. 1; it’s tied for the fifth-longest command in the chart’s history. It lands a ninth week atop Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart, having ranked at No. 1 each week since the seasonal recap returned.

Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” rises 4-3 on the Hot 100, after three weeks at its No. 2 high.

Country hits at Nos. 1-2-3 on Hot 100 for first time: Notably, with “Try That in a Small Town” at No. 1, “Last Night” at No. 2 and “Fast Car” at No. 3, country hits (as defined by those that have hit Hot Country Songs) claim the Hot 100’s top three spots in a single week for the first time in the survey’s history, which hits 65 years as of this chart week, dating to the list’s Aug. 4, 1958, start. (Hot Country Songs adopted the Hot 100’s current multi-metric methodology in October 2012.)

As Billboard reported July 6, country music has surged this year: consumption for the genre in the United States was up 20.3% year-over-year in the first 26 weeks of 2023, according to Luminate. (Comparatively, country grew by 2.5% over the same period in 2022.)

Gunna’s “Fukumean” rises 6-4 for a new Hot 100 high – and ties his best career rank, after “Drip Too Hard,” with Lil Baby, hit No. 4 in October 2018. “Fukumean” tops both the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a third week each.

Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” holds at No. 5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 3, as it logs a sixth week atop Radio Songs (90.7 million, down 2%). It tops Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs for a 48th week, the longest reign since the chart began.

Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” climbs 8-6 for a new Hot 100 high. As previously reported, it becomes her record-breaking 12th leader on the Pop Airplay chart.

Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd’s “K-POP” launches at No. 7 on the Hot 100, with 19.4 million streams, 10.6 million in airplay audience and 35,000 sold in its first week. (It was available as a vinyl single for $10 and on CD for $3.50; consumers could download its original, explicit, instrumental, sped-up and “Chopped & Screwed” versions for 69 cents each.) It concurrently opens at Nos. 3 and 6 on Digital Song Sales and Streaming Songs, respectively.

Scott adds his 12th Hot 100 top 10, Bad Bunny, his 11th, and The Weeknd, his 17th. The song is from Scott’s album Utopia, released Friday (July 28).

Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World,” with Aqua, returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, roaring 27-8 with an 87% gain to 23.2 million streams, as it charges 13-4 on Streaming Songs. It also bounds 27-8 on Digital Song Sales (6,000, up 167%) and debuts at No. 46 on Radio Songs (13.6 million, up 51%). The song is from the soundtrack to the movie Barbie, which, along with its soundtrack, featuring the collab, arrived July 21. The track debuted at its No. 7 Hot 100 high on the July 8-dated chart.

Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, falls to No. 9 on the Hot 100, a week after it debuted at No. 1, marking each act’s first leader, and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” dips 7-10, three weeks after it arrived as her third No. 1.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Aug. 5), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com Wednesday (Aug. 2).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

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