Morgan Wallen Scores Seventh Country Airplay No. 1 With ‘You Proof’

Morgan Wallen notches his seventh No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart as “You Proof” rises 2-1 on the Oct. 15-dated survey. In the week ending Oct. 9, it gained by 5% to 30.8 million impressions, according to Luminate.

Wallen wrote the song with ERNEST, Ashley Gorley, Keith Smith and Charlie Handsome, the latter of whom also produced it with Joey Moi.

“You Proof” hits No. 1 in just its 17th week on Country Airplay, completing the Sneedville, Tenn.-born singer-songwriter’s quickest trip to the top. It surpasses “Wasted on You,” which became his sixth No. 1 when it began a three-week domination in its 21st frame in July.

Wallen’s first of 11 Country Airplay entries, “The Way I Talk,” hit No. 30 in May 2017 and he followed with four straight leaders: “Up Down,” featuring Florida Georgia Line (for one week in June 2018); “Whiskey Glasses” (three weeks, starting in June 2019); “Chasin’ You” (one, May 2020); and “More Than My Hometown” (one, November 2020).

Wallen’s “7 Summers” reached No. 15 on Country Airplay in February 2021, the same month that he was caught on video using a racial slur. His next single, “Sand in My Boots,” led for a week this February.

Wallen has also reached Country Airplay with “Don’t Think Jesus,” which (not promoted as a radio single) hit No. 46 in May, and as featured on ERNEST’s “Flower Shops” (No. 18, June).

On the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs chart, “You Proof,” a standalone single, reigns for an eighth week, as it drew 13.5 million official streams and sold 4,000 downloads in the United States from Sept. 30 through Oct. 6.

Concurrently, Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album rules Top Country Albums for a record-extending 77th week, with 46,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week.

‘Hounds’ Howls

Tyler Childers secures his fourth top 10 on Top Country Albums as Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven arrives at No. 3. Released Sept. 30, the 24-song set starts with 27,000 units, with 16,000 from album sales.

The Lawrence County, Ky., native previously charted on Top Country Albums with Long Violent History, which opened at its No. 6 peak in October 2020; Country Squire, which flew in at the apex in August 2019; and Purgatory, which bowed in August 2017 and hit a No. 9 best this February.

Hounds simultaneously begins at No. 2 on Americana/Folk Albums, marking Childers’ fourth top five title, and No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200, where it’s his first top 10.

New Airplay Top 10s

Bailey Zimmerman’s rookie Country Airplay entry “Fall in Love” becomes his first top 10 as it lifts 11-8 (15.7 million, up 6%). The single, which Zimmerman co-wrote, also ranks at No. 8 on Hot Country Songs, after reaching No. 6 in July, with 12.3 clicks and 3,000 sold in the latest tracking week. Zimmerman boasts two tracks in the Hot Country Songs chart’s upper tier, as “Rock and a Hard Place” holds at No. 7 after it entered at its No. 2 high in June.

Zimmerman has so far achieved three Hot Country Songs top 10s overall, as “Where It Ends” arrived at its No. 7 best on the Sept. 3 chart, when he became the first artist to place three career-opening entries in the top 10 simultaneously since the survey began as an all-encompassing genre ranking in October 1958.

Luke Bryan banks his 34th Country Airplay top 10 as “Country On” pushes 12-9 (14.5 million, up 9%). Bryan has tallied the 13th-most top 10s since the chart began in 1990, a recap headed by George Strait (61).

Plus, Jelly Roll’s freshman Country Airplay hit “Son of a Sinner” rises 13-10 (14.2 million, up 17%). Before his dive into country, Jelly Roll (real name Jason DeFord) scored traction in genres including rock and R&B/hip-hop.