Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves’ ‘I Remember Everything’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Gary Trust
·12 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Continuing his chart breakthrough that began in 2022, singer-songwriter Zach Bryan’s “I Remember Everything” featuring Kacey Musgraves launches at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song – each singer-songwriter’s first Hot 100 leader – is from Bryan’s self-titled LP, which concurrently premieres at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” keeps at its No. 2 Hot 100 high and takes over as the most-heard song on radio, a rare feat for a country hit.

More from Billboard

Plus, Miley Cyrus’ “Used to Be Young” debuts at No. 8 on the Hot 100, marking her 12th career top 10.

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 Sept. 9, 2023) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 6, a day later than usual due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. yesterday, Sept. 4). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Here’s a look at the coronation of “I Remember Everything,” the 1,154th song to top the Hot 100 over the chart’s 65-year history, and the 70th to debut at No. 1.

Streams, sales & airplay: Released Aug. 25 on Belting Bronco/Warner Records, “I Remember Everything” drew 33.7 million streams and sold 10,000 downloads in the tracking week ending Aug. 31, according to Luminate. Not being formally promoted to radio, it also tallied 263,000 radio airplay audience impressions, with two-thirds (175,000) from reporters to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

The single also debuts at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart (notably, it snagged the top spot on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist upon its release) and No. 4 on Digital Song Sales.

Bryan, Musgraves’ first No. 1: Bryan and Musgraves each achieve their first Hot 100 No. 1 with “I Remember Everything.” Bryan charted four entries prior to this week, with one hitting the top 10: His first charted song, “Something in the Orange,” reached No. 10 in January; with 66 total weeks on the tally (May 7, 2022-Aug. 5, 2023), it became the longest charting country hit by a solo male in the survey’s history. Plus, the U.S. Navy veteran, born in Okinawa, Japan, and raised in Oologah, Okla., won for new male artist of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May.

Musgraves completes over a decade’s journey to No. 1 on the Hot 100, having first reached the chart with “Merry Go ‘Round” (No. 63 peak, 2013; it’s also her lone Country Airplay top 10 to date). She previously charted highest on the Hot 100 with “Follow Your Arrow” (No. 60, 2014) and added her other entry before this week, “Rainbow” (No. 98, 2019). The Golden, Texas, native has won six Grammy Awards, with her most recent LP, 2018’s Golden Hour, claiming album of the year honors at the 61st Grammy Awards.

A Hot 100, country and rock first: “I Remember Everything” concurrently opens at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts (as well as Hot Rock Songs), which use the same methodology as the Hot 100. It’s the first song to top the Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (dating to 2009, when the lattermost list began).

Bryan tops all three genre charts for a second time, after “Something in the Orange” led Hot Country Songs, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and Hot Rock Songs for six, 20 and 20 weeks, respectively. Musgraves leads each ranking for the first time.

“I Remember Everything” is the 25th song to have topped both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs (dating to 1958, when the Hot 100 originated and Hot Country Songs became the country genre’s singular Billboard chart). Four such songs have led the Hot 100 in 2023, the most in a year since 1975.

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

  • “I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves, 2023

  • “Rich Men North of Richmond,” Anthony Oliver Music, 2023

  • “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

  • “I Can Help,” Billy Swan, 1974

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

  • “Honey,” Bobby Goldsboro, 1968

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

  • “Big Bad John,” Jimmy Dean, 1961

  • “El Paso,” Marty Robbins, 1959-60

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

As Billboard reported in July, 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.)

Four country No. 1s in a row for the first time: On the newest, Sept. 9-dated Hot 100, “I Remember Everything” supplants Anthony Oliver Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” at No. 1, after the latter led the last two weeks (Aug. 26 and Sept. 2). Before that, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” rebounded for the last two of its 16 weeks on top (Aug. 12 and 19), directly following Jason Aldean’s one-week reign with “Try That in a Small Town” (Aug. 5).

Four country songs have topped the Hot 100 consecutively for the first time in the chart’s history, extending a record run for the genre. Previously, country hits reigned back-to-back twice: in 1981 (Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and Eddie Rabbitt’s “I Love a Rainy Night”) and 1975 (Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”).

Zach, Kacey, Kenny and Dolly: “I Remember Everything” is just the second shared Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs No. 1 by a male and female artist together. It joins Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s 1983 classic “Islands in the Stream” (written by the Bee Gees).

Zach, Kacey, Ed and Bey: Bryan and Musgraves also co-wrote “I Remember Everything,” which Bryan solely produced. It’s the first Hot 100 No. 1 by a male and female artist also boasting co-writing credit with no other billed writers since Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé’s “Perfect,” which reached the top of the chart dated Dec. 23, 2017. (Sheeran wrote and originally recorded the love song solo; Beyoncé joined for its remix and gained co-writing credit.)

Bryan begins atop Billboard 200 and Hot 100: Zach Bryan logs just the ninth instance of an act debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 simultaneously. As “I Remember Everything” opens atop the Hot 100, parent LP Zach Bryan soars onto the Billboard 200, likewise as his first No. 1, with 200,000 equivalent album units.

Bryan joins only Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake and Future and having scored such a double debut. Swift initiated the club and has earned the honor four times, while Drake has done so twice.

Artists to Have Debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 & Hot 100 Simultaneously:

  • Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan, Billboard 200 & “I Remember Everything” (feat. Kacey Musgraves), Hot 100, Sept. 9, 2023

  • Taylor Swift: Midnights & “Anti-Hero,” Nov. 5, 2022

  • Drake: Honestly, Nevermind & “Jimmy Cooks” (feat. 21 Savage), July 2, 2022

  • Future: I Never Liked You & “Wait for U” (feat. Drake & Tems), May 14, 2022

  • Taylor Swift: Red (Taylor’s Version) & “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” Nov. 27, 2021

  • Drake: Certified Lover Boy & “Way 2 Sexy” (feat. Future & Young Thug), Sept. 18, 2021

  • Taylor Swift: Evermore & “Willow,” Dec. 26, 2020

  • BTS: BE & “Life Goes On,” Dec. 5, 2020

  • Taylor Swift: Folklore & “Cardigan,” Aug. 8, 2020

Zach Bryan also bows at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts.

Warner back at No. 1: With “I Remember Everything,” Warner Records rules the Hot 100 for the first time since the label notched three No. 1s in 2013, when Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” (featuring Wanz) and “Can’t Hold Us” (featuring Ray Dalton) led for six and five weeks starting that February and May, respectively (with the songs on ADA/Warner); in between, Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” (Jeffree’s/Mad Decent/Warner) reigned for five frames beginning that March.

The label formed in 1958 and first reached No. 1 with The Everly Brothers’ “Cathy’s Clown” in May 1960. It rebranded from Warner Bros. to Warner Records in 2019, making “I Remember Everything” its first leader under its newer name.

Bryan’s Belting Bronco imprint scores its first placement atop the Hot 100.

We ‘remember’ ‘everything’: Here’s something to remember. Thanks to “I Remember Everything,” the word “remember” is in the title of a Hot 100 No. 1 for the first time. Previously, Madonna notched the highest charting such song, as “I’ll Remember” reached No. 2 in 1994.

Meanwhile, the word “everything” appears atop the Hot 100 for a ninth time (and for a second time by an artist with Bryan in his name):

  • “I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan feat. Kacey Musgraves, 2023

  • “Give Me Everything,” Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer, 2011

  • “Everything You Want,” Vertical Horizon, 2000

  • “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” Bryan Adams, 1991

  • “I’ll Be Your Everything,” Tommy Page, 1990

  • “Everything She Wants,” Wham!, 1985

  • “I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” Andy Gibb, 1977

  • “Everything Is Beautiful,” Ray Stevens, 1970

  • “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” The Byrds, 1965

Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s self-written 1988 Hot 100 top 10 “Fast Car” adds an eighth week at its No. 2 high, steady in rank. It concurrently crowns the Radio Songs chart, rising 2-1 with 78.8 million in audience.

As it led Country Airplay for five weeks, the song is just the fifth – and the first by a solo male with no accompanying acts – to have topped the Country Airplay and all-format Radio Songs charts, dating to the surveys’ 1990 inceptions (and the latter list’s 1998 expansion to include country panelists, among other format reporters). Here’s a recap, with all five songs having achieved both country and pop radio success.

Radio Songs No. 1s That Also Topped Country Airplay:

  • “Fast Car,” Luke Combs, one week to date atop Radio Songs, 2023

  • “I Hope,” Gabby Barrett feat. Charlie Puth, one, 2020 (Barrett was solely credited on Country Airplay; Puth joined for its pop remix)

  • “Meant to Be,” Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, five weeks, 2018

  • “Need You Now,” Lady A, two, 2010

  • “You Belong With Me,” Taylor Swift, two, 2009

(As a writer, Chapman previously peaked as high as No. 2 on Radio Songs with her own single “Give Me One Reason,” in 1996.)

Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” pushes from No. 5 to a new No. 3 Hot 100 high, as it wins top Airplay Gainer honors (up 25% to 28.2 million in airplay audience). It leads the multimetric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a second week each.

Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” descends 3-4 on the Hot 100, following 16 weeks at No. 1 – the most ever for a non-collaboration; Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” slips 4-5, after reaching No. 3; and Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” falls to No. 6 after spending its first two weeks on the chart at No. 1 (down 8% to 21.2 million streams and 71% to 34,000 sold, although it leads Digital Song Sales for a third week; it’s up 7% to 2.4 million in radio audience).

SZA’s “Snooze” returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, at a new No. 7 best, from No. 11, up 64% to 17.3 million streams following the Aug. 25 premiere of its official video, good for the chart’s top Streaming Gainer award. It leads the multi-metric Hot R&B Songs chart for a seventh week.

Miley Cyrus’ “Used to Be Young” bounds onto the Hot 100 at No. 8, with 25.9 million in airplay audience, 17.8 million streams and 19,000 sold from its release Aug. 25 through Aug. 31. It opens at No. 2 on Digital Song Sales, No. 9 on Streaming Songs and No. 19 on Radio Songs – it’s the second song to start in the Radio Songs top 20 this year, after Cyrus’ “Flowers” began at No. 18 in January (on its way to an 18-week command, the longest ever for a song by a woman).

Cyrus collects her 12th Hot 100 top 10. Her previous top 10s, including one under her former Hannah Montana alter ego: “Flowers” (No. 1, eight weeks, 2023); “Without You,” with The Kid LAROI (No. 8, 2021); “Malibu” (No. 10, 2017); “Wrecking Ball” (No. 1, three weeks, 2013); “We Can’t Stop” (No. 2, 2013); “Can’t Be Tamed” (No. 8, 2010); “Party in the U.S.A.” (No. 2, 2009); “He Could Be the One” (Hannah Montana; No. 10, 2009); “The Climb” (No. 4, 2009); “7 Things” (No. 9, 2008); and “See You Again” (No. 10, 2008).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” holds at No. 9, after reaching No. 7, and Gunna’s “Fukumean” drops 7-10, after hitting No. 4.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Sept. 9), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Sept. 6).

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.

Best of Billboard

Click here to read the full article.