- #1 Song, Lady Antebellum's I Run to You - Flickr.com User kittysocks, CC Attrib. License
Country music trio Lady Antebellum’s song I Run to You won the #1 spot on the Billboard country songs chart, capping a very good couple of years for a group that was only founded in 2006.
I Run to You was the second single on the group’s self-titled 2008 debut album, Lady Antebellum. The album’s first single, Love Don’t Live Here Anymore, topped out at #3 on the Billboard country songs chart in June of 2008. The album also won high honors among the year’s best-selling country albums, coming in at #3 on the Billboard 2009 top country albums chart.
Billboard's Top 25 Hot Country Songs for 2009
Here’s the whole Top 25 country singles list for 2009:
- Lady Antebellum, I Run to You, on the album Lady Antebellum
- Zac Brown, Whatever it Is, on the album The Foundation
- Randy Houser, Boots On, on the album Anything Goes
- Darius Rucker, It Won’t Be Like This for Long, on the album Learn to Live
- George Strait, River of Love, on the album Troubadour
- Dierks Bentley, Sideways, on the album Feel that Fire
- Billy Currington, People are Crazy, on the album Little Bit of Everything
- Darius Rucker, Alright, on the album Learn to Live
- Keith Urban, Sweet Thing, on the album Defying Gravity
- Jason Aldean, Big Green Tractor, on the album Wide Open
- Justin Moore, Small Town USA, on the album Small Town USA
- Chris Young, Gettin’ You Home, on the album The Man I Want to Be
- Taylor Swift, You Belong with Me, on the album Fearless
- Jason Aldean, She’s Country, on the album Wide Open
- Brad Paisley, Then, on the album American Saturday Night
- Brooks & Dunn featuring Reba McEntire, Cowgirls Don’t Cry, on the album Cowboy Town (bonus tracks)
- Rodney Atkins, It’s America, on the album It’s America
- Toby Keith, God Love Her, on the album That Don’t Make Me a Bad Guy
- Keith Urban, Only You Can Love Me This Way, on the album Defying Gravity
- Rascal Flatts, Summer Nights, on the album Unstoppable
- George Strait, Living for the Night, on the album Twang
- Toby Keith, American Ride, on the album American Ride
- Blake Shelton, I’ll Just Hold on, on the album Startin’ Fires
- Brad Paisley, Welcome to the Future, on the album American Saturday Night
- Keith Urban, Kiss a Girl, on the album Defying Gravity
Love is King, but Traditional Country Music Themes are Popular Too
Like the pop music charts, Billboard’s country song charts always include a heavy rotation of songs about falling in and out of love. The top country music singles of 2009 also featured songs on other perennial country music themes:
- Love of family (Darius Rucker's It Won't Be Like This for Long, #5)
- Love of country (Rodney Atkins' It's America, #17, and Toby Keith's American Ride, #22)
- Small town life (Jason Aldean's Big Green Tractor, #10, and Justin Moore's Small Town USA, #11)
- The simple joys of cutting loose (Dierks Bentley's Sideways, #6, and Rascal Flatts' Summer Nights, #20).
How Billboard Tracks the Top Country Songs
Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart is based on sales and radio airplay. Rating agency Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems measures airplay, while Nielsen SoundScan provides sales data. The 2009 chart year ran from December 2008 through November 2009.
Other Billboard Country Music Charts
Country music lovers may be interested in a number of other Billboard charts, including a list of the Hot 100 all-time top 10 country songs and Top 25 hot country songs for 2008.
Readers might also be interested in Rock Stars Cross over to Country Music Charts. Darius Rucker, Kid Rock, The Eagles, Robert Plant, Jewel, and Jon Bon Jovi are the latest in a long line of rock and pop stars to find success with country music.
Christine Mann - Christine Mann writes about quilting, home decor sewing, and creativity in daily life.
