Official Country Rankdown Thread

[Darkest Hour]

Hello, since CoJoFan has updated the estimation of what is assumed to be final week of 2024 Billboard Country Airplay YE charts (chart dated 2024-10-19). It's time for a preview of songs to be included in 2024 Country Rankdown.

The songs themselves are ordered by their positions in the estimated airplay YE. Also, there will be some songs exclusive to Hot Country Songs YE that will be highlighted in the rankdown. Take a look and ask me if you have any questions.

Of note, moving High Road to 2025 can be controversial but I predict this will end up high in 2025 airplay YE and the Hot 100 performance feels a bit between the years. Somewhat related but World on Fire (this year's #1) not being here due to being a repeat is partly due to my miscalculation, but no one can see it being a 10-week #1 so...

Darkest Hour (Helene Edit) did not stay on this week's (first week of 2025 YE) chart, so I hope it will re-enter at some point because ranking a song that has not appeared in 2025 YE at all in that rankdown is weird.

92 songs are definitely included in the rankdown after removing repeats and moving songs to 2025. Moreover, 3 songs (Wild Ones, Pink Skies, 28) are added based on Hot 100 YE performance. Wild Ones and Pink Skies are locked but never charted on country airplay, while 28 barely missed the Hot 100 YE. 5 more songs will be added from Canadian Country year-end rankdown.

P.S. I need some suggestions on how to allow the participants to listen to Rodeo Man because Garth.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs list (only 95 songs are selected)}Post Malone f/ Morgan Wallen - I Had Some Help
Bailey Zimmerman - Where It Ends
Morgan Wallen f/ ERNEST - Cowgirls
Chris Young - Young Love & Saturday Nights
Shaboozey - A Bar Song (Tipsy)
Sam Hunt - Outskirts
Dustin Lynch f/ Jelly Roll - Chevrolet
Jordan Davis - Tucson Too Late
Kenny Chesney - Take Her Home
Luke Combs - Ain't No Love In Oklahoma
Tyler Hubbard - Back Then Right Now
Nate Smith - Bulletproof
Chase Matthew - Love You Again
Cody Johnson - Dirt Cheap
Bryan Martin - We Ride
Justin Moore - This Is My Dirt
Jelly Roll - Halfway To Hell
Ashley Cooke - Your Place
Drew Baldridge - She's Somebody's Daughter (Reimagined)
Cody Johnson - The Painter
Jason Aldean - Let Your Boys Be Country
Carly Pearce f/ Chris Stapleton - We Don't Fight Anymore
Parker McCollum - Burn It Down
Kane Brown - I Can Feel It
Luke Bryan - Love You, Miss You, Mean It
Morgan Wallen f/ Eric Church - Man Made A Bar
Scotty McCreery - Cab In A Solo
Tim McGraw - One Bad Habit
Lainey Wilson - Wildflowers And Wild Horses
Parmalee - Gonna Love You
Thomas Rhett f/ Morgan Wallen - Mamaw's House
Luke Combs - Where The Wild Things Are
Dasha - Austin
Marshmello & Kane Brown - Miles On It
Post Malone f/ Blake Shelton - Pour Me A Drink
Megan Moroney - I'm Not Pretty
Jelly Roll - I Am Not Okay
Keith Urban - Messed Up As Me
Thomas Rhett - Beautiful As You
Dan + Shay - Bigger Houses
Lainey Wilson - Hang Tight Honey
Zach Top - Sounds Like The Radio
Morgan Wallen - Lies Lies Lies
Old Dominion & Megan Moroney - Can't Break Up Now
Dierks Bentley - American Girl
George Birge - Cowboy Songs
Chris Stapleton - Think I'm In Love With You
Brett Young - Dance With You
Gabby Barrett - Glory Days
Garth Brooks & Ronnie Dunn - Rodeo Man
Tucker Wetmore - Wind Up Missin' You
Dillon Carmichael - Drinkin' Problems
Ella Langley f/ Riley Green - You Look Like You Love Me
Jon Pardi & Luke Bryan - Cowboys And Plowboys
Zac Brown Band - Tie Up
Kassi Ashton - Called Crazy
Tigirlily Gold - I Tried A Ring On
Miranda Lambert - Wranglers
Brian Kelley - See You Next Summer
Lee Brice, Nate Smith & Hailey Whitters - Drinkin' Buddies
Michael Ray f/ Meghan Patrick - Spirits And Demons
Hailey Whitters - I'm In Love
Kelsea Ballerini & Noah Kahan - Cowboys Cry Too
Lady A - Love You Back
Josh Ross - Single Again
Beyonce - Texas Hold 'Em
Corey Kent - Something's Gonna Kill Me
Joe Nichols - Brokenhearted
HARDY - Six Feet Under (Caleigh's Song)
Joe Diffie f/ Post Malone - Pickup Man
Ryan Larkins - King Of Country Music
HunterGirl - Ain't About You
Runaway June - Make Me Wanna Smoke
Restless Road - Last Rodeo
Hannah Ellis - Wine Country
Ian Munsick & Cody Johnson - Long Live Cowgirls
Lauren Alaina - Thicc As Thieves
Morgan Wallen - Spin You Around (1/24)
Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton - Purple Irises
Conner Smith f/ Hailey Whitters - Roulette On The Heart
Tucker Wetmore - Wine Into Whiskey
Randy Travis - Where That Came From
Annie Bosko - Neon Baby
Walker Hayes - Good With Me
Beyonce - Jolene
Randy Houser - Cancel
Brothers Osborne - Break Mine
The Red Clay Strays - Wondering Why
Kameron Marlowe & Ella Langley - Strangers
Ashley McBryde - The Devil I Know
Eli Young Band & George Birge - Amy's Back In Austin
Larry Fleet - Things I Take For Granted
Jessie Murph f/ Jelly Roll - Wild Ones
Zach Bryan - Pink Skies
Zach Bryan - 28

SPOILER: Click to show

{Repeats from 2023}Nate Smith - World On Fire
Warren Zeiders - Pretty Little Poison
Jelly Roll ft. Lainey Wilson - Save Me
HARDY - Truck Bed
Morgan Wallen - Thinkin' 'Bout Me
Chayce Beckham - 23
Jackson Dean - Fearless (The Echo)
Riley Green ft. Luke Combs - Different Round Here
Chris Stapleton - White Horse
Dan + Shay - Save Me The Trouble
Chris Janson - All I Need Is You
George Birge - Mind On You
Conner Smith - Creek Will Rise
Dylan Scott - Can't Have Mine (Find You A Girl)
Morgan Wallen - Everything I Love
Luke Bryan - But I Got A Beer In My Hand
Carrie Underwood - Out Of That Truck
Dustin Lynch - Stars Like Confetti
Tim McGraw - Standing Room Only
Russell Dickerson - God Gave Me A Girl
Jason Aldean - Try That In A Small Town
Mitchell Tenpenny - We Got History
Zach Bryan ft. Kacey Musgraves - I Remember Everything
Luke Combs - Fast Car
Brothers Osborne - Nobody's Nobody
Lainey Wilson - Watermelon Moonshine
Kelsea Ballerini - If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too)
Tyler Childers - In Your Love
Ashley McBryde - Light On In The Kitchen
Kassi Ashton - Drive You Out Of My Mind
Easton Corbin - Marry That Girl
Dalton Dover - Giving Up On That
Dierks Bentley - Something Real

SPOILER: Click to show

{Likely to be ranked in 2025}Riley Green - Damn Good Day To Leave
Dylan Marlowe & Dylan Scott - Boys Back Home
Chris Lane - Find Another Bar
Dylan Scott - This Town's Been Good To Us
Matt Stell - Breakin' In Boots
Chris Janson - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get
John Morgan ft. Jason Aldean - Friends Like That
Koe Wetzel & Jessie Murph - High Road
Cole Swindell - Forever To Me
Kelsey Hart - Life With You
Post Malone ft. Luke Combs - Guy For That
Kenny Chesney - Just To Say We Did
Bailey Zimmerman - Holy Smokes
Old Dominion - Coming Home
Jordan Davis - I Ain't Sayin'
Scotty McCreery - Fall Of Summer
Randy Houser - Country Back
LOCASH - Hometown Home
Jason Aldean - Whiskey Drink
Lainey Wilson - 4X4XU
Megan Moroney - Am I Okay?
Carly Pearce - Truck On Fire
Chayce Beckham - Everything I Need
Corey Kent - This Heart
Brantley Gilbert ft. Ashley Cooke - Over When We're Sober
Cody Johnson & Carrie Underwood - I'm Gonna Love You
Tyler Braden - Devil You Know
Jon Pardi - Friday Night Heartbreaker
Drew Parker - Love The Leavin'
Russell Dickerson - Bones
Eric Church - Darkest Hour (Helene Edit)
Sam Hunt - Country House
Brad Paisley - Truck Still Works
Parker McCollum - What Kinda Man
Tyler Hubbard - Park
Jackson Dean - Heavens To Betsy

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

^Excited for this!

A few thoughts;

- Chris Lane should be ranked in 2024, given that it went for adds in Aug 2023, and it was charting throughout 2024. It better retire soon by early 2025.
- As a replacement, Ballerini or Miranda could go to 2025, but also understandable to keep it in 2024, as they are both struggling and not sure how long they last.
- Amy's Back in Austin and Jolene could also be removed; last year I argued for granting a spot for every song that appeared on the airplay chart, but neither Amy nor Jolene was a single + they did not have any significant performance on Hot Country chart. I would be happy to rank them but if some has to go, they could be the one. 

- I'm close to finalizing the Canadian Country RD list and to be opened soon.
- I also had an idea to run another rankdown for flop singles (Kacey Musgraves, Kylie Morgan etc) and minor streaming hits, (Ole60, Bayker Blanket etc) and one winner proceeds to the YE RD, as this gives opportunities to songs like Architect to shine. If people are interested in this idea, I can definitely host, but looking at the low interest in RD these days, maybe not happening after all. 

[Darkest Hour]

Oct 21, 2024 15:52:26 GMT -5 🌺CountryLineDancer said:

^Excited for this!

A few thoughts;

- Chris Lane should be ranked in 2024, given that it went for adds in Aug 2023, and it was charting throughout 2024. It better retire soon by early 2025.
- As a replacement, Ballerini or Miranda could go to 2025, but also understandable to keep it in 2024, as they are both struggling and not sure how long they last.
- Amy's Back in Austin and Jolene could also be removed; last year I argued for granting a spot for every song that appeared on the airplay chart, but neither Amy nor Jolene was a single + they did not have any significant performance on Hot Country chart. I would be happy to rank them but if some has to go, they could be the one. 

- I'm close to finalizing the Canadian Country RD list and to be opened soon.
- I also had an idea to run another rankdown for flop singles (Kacey Musgraves, Kylie Morgan etc) and minor streaming hits, (Ole60, Bayker Blanket etc) and one winner proceeds to the YE RD, as this gives opportunities to songs like Architect to shine. If people are interested in this idea, I can definitely host, but looking at the low interest in RD these days, maybe not happening after all. 

Good point at moving Chris Lane to this year regarding the adds date. My first thought is that it looks like to sustain until early 2025 because of current radio single runs trend so it may be technically bigger in 2025 than 2024 lol, but then I remember putting 23 and Fearless in the 2023 list despite they were still on 2024 charts for a while.
I prefer putting both Kelsea and Miranda in 2024 so that they won't have repeated entries in 2025 (the single switch probably happens before the first half of 2025 Billboard chart i.e. April).
So I guess I should delete both non-singles (tbh Purple Irises, despite being a radio single, is the biggest offender with the random af radio deal). I'll put The Architect directly in the rankdown because the parent album had remarkable debut on country album chart this year and this was the representative song intended for country airplay.
(It looks like Darkest Hour may re-enter Billboard on this Friday's chart so a possible dilemma may be solved)

Can't wait for 2024 Canadian Country RD

Meanwhile, Higher album rankdown (due November 22nd) is up.