Hot 100 First-Timers: Dylan Gossett Debuts With Breakthrough Hit ‘Coal’

Dylan Gossett’s breakout single “Coal” arrived on Billboard’s charts last August, and now, after steadily gaining over the past five months, the track reaches the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first entry.

The song debuts at No. 89 on the Jan. 20-dated chart with 5 million official U.S. streams (up 16%) in the Jan. 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate. It also climbs 27-26 on Hot Country Songs, returning to its peak.

Gossett self-released “Coal” on July 27, 2023, after acoustic initial snippets of the song went viral on TikTok — one such clip has generated more than 6 million views on the platform. After releasing the full song on streaming services, it debuted on the Country Digital Song Sales chart following its first full week of activity.

The song later appeared on Gossett’s debut six-track EP, No Better Time, which he likewise self-released on Oct. 27. In addition to recording the songs himself, he also wrote, produced and mixed the entire EP from his bedroom in Austin, Texas. The set has since reached No. 6 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 17 on Americana/Folk Albums and No. 39 on Top Country Albums.

The release drew the attention of several major labels, and in November Gossett signed with Big Loud Texas/Mercury Records in collaboration with Range Media Partners — Big Loud Texas recently launched as a venture between Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall and Big Loud Records. A month later, Gossett signed with UTA for global representation.

“Tyler [Arnold] and Jake [Levensohn] from Mercury flew down to Texas to meet with me, and we instantly clicked,” Gossett told Billboard of his signing. “After meeting with Jon, Miranda and Seth [England] from Big Loud, it was a dream scenario to be able to combine forces and do this all together as a team.”

Though he released “Coal” in July, Gossett wrote the song two years ago and at the time had no plans to make music professionally. His biggest goal was playing for family gatherings at his grandfather’s lake house.

“Whenever holidays like Thanksgiving or Easter come around, my brother, parents, cousins, we all sit around a campfire and pass guitars around,” Gossett told Billboard in November. “Mainly, me, my brother and my cousin would play songs we wrote, but everyone would sing.”

Gossett has since toured with Wyatt Flores, Brent Cobb, Kolby Cooper and Luke Grimes, and beginning Jan. 17, he’ll open for Noah Kahan at six sold-out shows in Australia. Up next, his first headlining trek, the No Better Time Tour, kicks off next month in Dublin and runs through April.