Sam Hunt marks a generational shift in country music, both in music and business. Hunt slips hip-hop phrasing and modern R&B rhythms into country-pop, signaling a progression from the boisterous bro-country that had previously defined the 2010s. “Leave the Light On” introduced this blend in 2014 and it became a smash, the first of his many number one singles on the country chart. This success paled in comparison to 2017’s “Body Like a Back Road,” which spent months at number one and broke the record for most weeks in the top spot. Released independent of an album, “Body Like a Back Road” showed that Hunt‘s rise was fueled by a mastery of the digital marketplace. As much as his music, it’s this savviness that has marked Sam Hunt as the start of a new generation.
Initially, Sam Hunt didn’t plan to sing for a living. A native of Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt excelled at sports, specializing in football. His time as a high-school quarterback was acclaimed — he earned a nomination for Wendy’s High School Heisman trophy — and upon graduation, he enrolled at Middle Tennessee State University in 2003. Hunt didn’t play much in either the 2003 or 2004 seasons, so he transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2005, where he graduated in 2007. During his time at UAB, Hunt began to teach himself how to play guitar and sing, so when his 2008 tryout for the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t go anywhere, he decided to head to Nashville to pursue a career in music.
Sam Hunt first made waves in the Music City as a songwriter, receiving his breakthrough in 2012 when he co-wrote the number one Kenny Chesney hit “Come Over.” Hunt seized on this opportunity and released the single “Raised on It” from a mixtape of original songs called Between the Pines in 2013, which helped give him momentum as a performing artist. Two big songwriting credits arrived in 2014 — Keith Urban‘s “Cop Car” and Billy Currington‘s “We Are Tonight” — but so did a contract with MCA Nashville. He signed with the label in January and released the digital EP X2C in August. Not much later, “Leave the Night On” — a sleek, R&B-inflected country-pop tune he co-wrote with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally — was released as a single and it quickly became a staple on country radio, reaching the top spot on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and getting certified as platinum twice.
“Leave the Night On” was so successful that MCA decided to rush the release of Montevallo, Sam Hunt‘s full-length debut. Upon its release on October 27, 2014, Montevallo debuted at three on Billboard’s Top 200, and it was a fixture on the charts for the next two and a half years. Part of the reason it stayed on the charts is because it kept generating big hits. “Take Your Time” reached number one on the Country Airplay chart early in 2015, followed by “House Party” shortly afterward. All three singles stayed on the airwaves through the bulk of 2015, which meant MCA didn’t release another single until September of that year, when “Break Up in a Small Town” became the record’s fourth single. It only peaked at two, but “Break Up in a Small Town” sold more than “House Party.” While it was on the charts, the Between the Pines mixtape was reissued on the year anniversary of Montevallo‘s release.
“Make You Miss Me,” the fifth single from Montevallo, kept Hunt on the airwaves through 2016, but he didn’t release a new single until “Body Like a Back Road.” A smash upon its February 2017 release, “Body Like a Back Road” stayed on the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for 34 weeks, crashing the previous record held by Florida Georgia Line‘s “Cruise,” which topped out at 24 weeks. It also spent three weeks at the top of the Country Airplay chart. “Body Like a Back Road” was such a hit that Hunt decided to take his time delivering a follow-up album, or even a second single from the second album. “Downtown’s Dead” finally appeared in May 2018, winding up peaking at 15 on the Country Airplay chart. Hunt‘s sophomore album, Southside, arrived in April 2020 and included “Downtown’s Dead,” as well as the tracks “Kinfolks,” “Hard to Forget,” and “Body Like a Back Road.”
On February 4th, with great anticipation from fans, Sam Hunt officially announced a full track list for Southside, his second album set to be released April 3rd. This will be Hunt’s second piece of work since his debut album, Montevallo, in 2014.
Hunt Joins Luke Bryan and Jon Pardi for What Makes You Country Tour XL This Summer Sam Hunt released his brand new single, “Downtown’s Dead“, dropping hints on his socials all day Tuesday. Hunt’s new song, co-written by Hunt with Zach Crowell, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally and Charlie Handsome, is now available HERE and made its world premiere with iHeart country radio. “Downtown’s Dead” is the first new single from the critically-acclaimed, GRAMMY-nominated superstar since last year’s record-breaking, 5x Platinum-selling smash, “Body Like A Back Road.” At 34 weeks, Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” set the record for the most weeks at No. 1 in the six-decade history of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and earned Hunt the 2017 Academy of Country Music Award for “Single Record of the Year.” Hunt will also receive the ACM Gene Weed Milestone Award at the ACM Honors ceremony this summer in recognition of this unprecedented achievement. Additionally, “Body Like A Back Road” was the No. 1 most-streamed and the No. 1 most-downloaded country song of 2017, received CMT’s inaugural Song of the Year Award for 2017, and it is nominated for twoBillboard Music Awards – Top Selling Song and Top Country Song. Hunt is also nominated for the Billboard Chart Achievement Award, Top Country Artist and Top Country Male Artist at this weekend’s celebration. Fans can vote for Hunt’s Chart Achievement nomination HERE and tune in to the 2018 Billboard Music Awards live on Sunday, May 20 at 8pm ET on NBC. Hunt hits the road this month as a special guest on Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country Tour – XL Stadium Sized along with country star Jon Pardi and opening artists Morgan Wallen (May-Aug) and Carly Pearce (Sep-Oct). Kicking off May 31 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ONT., Hunt, Bryan and Pardi will hit 13 of North America’s biggest and best sports stadiums including MetLife Stadium (NYC), Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati), Raymond James Stadium (Tampa), Heinz Field (Pittsburgh), Fenway Park (Boston), Target Field (Minneapolis), Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles), Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Denver), Busch Stadium (St. Louis), Wrigley Field (Chicago), BC Place Stadium (Vancouver) and Ford Field (Detroit). For more information on music, tour dates and tickets, please visit www.SamHunt.com.
Hunt Earns 10.5M in RIAA Single Certifications including Platinum for “Make You Miss Me” NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Tuesday, August 30, 2016) – MCA Nashville’s Multi-Platinum-selling country star Sam Hunt continues to make history. “Make You Miss Me” lands at the top of both the Billboard and the MediaBase country airplay charts this week making it Hunt’s fourth No. 1 radio hit off of his critically acclaimed, GRAMMY-nominated debut album, Montevallo. According to Billboard, Hunt is the first solo male, and only the fourth artist overall, to peak its Country Airplay chart four times with singles from a debut album since the chart’s January 1990 launch. “Make You Miss Me,” written by Hunt, Josh Osborne and Matthew Ramsey, is an impressive fifth single from the Double Platinum-selling Montevallo and Hunt’s fifth consecutive title to surpass 1M in single sales. It follows the Top 5 hit “Break Up in a Small Town” and Hunt’s three back-to-back No. 1 smash singles “Leave the Night On,” “House Party” and “Take Your Time.” Since Montevallo‘s 2014 release, Hunt has accumulated a whopping 2.53B streams and has earned an additional 10.5M in RIAA single certifications with the recent recognitions of “Take Your Time” going Triple Platinum; “Leave the Night On,” “Break Up in a Small Town” and “House Party” each earning Double Platinum;” “Make You Miss Me” reaching Platinum status and album track “Ex to See” hitting Gold. This summer has seen Hunt take his dynamic live show across the country including the massive Spread the Love 2016 Tour with Kenny Chesney and Miranda Lambert. When not on the road, Hunt has been hard at work writing and in the studio for his highly-anticipated new music expected out in the upcoming months. For more information, touring news and updates on Sam Hunt, please visit www.SamHunt.com.
