Chris Stapleton Joins The Billions Club Thanks To His Biggest Hit

“Tennessee Whiskey” has a rich history in country music. Written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove, the song was first recorded by outlaw country icon David Allan Coe for his 1981 album of the same name. Two years later, the legendary George Jones released his own version, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. In 2015, Chris Stapleton brought his unique gritty, R&B-tinged sound to the classic. “Tennessee Whiskey” put Stapleton on the map, selling nearly 2 million copies in the United States as of March 2020. And fans’ love affair with the song continues nearly a decade later, as “Tennessee Whiskey” recently eclipsed 1 billion streams on Spotify.

Chris Stapleton Joins Elite Club

Streaming giant Spotify announced this week that Chris Stapleton’s cover of “Tennessee Whiskey” has been played a staggering 1 billion times.

[RELATED: 3 Immortal Chris Stapleton Songs That Have Stood the Test of Time]

Stapleton becomes just the fourth country act to reach this milestone, and only the second-ever solo artist. Dan + Shay’s “10,000 Hours” collaboration with Justin Bieber has also achieved this feat. So has Florida Georgia Line’s 2017 duet with Bebe Rexha, “Meant to Be.”

Morgan Wallen became the first solo country act to earn this distinction with his 2023 single “Last Night.”

That Time Chris Stapleton Made Garth Brooks Cry

Country music would look very different without Garth Brooks. The Oklahoma native has literally outsold Elvis Presley. (He’s still trailing The Beatles, but give him time.) In 1991, Brooks notched his seventh No. 1 hit with his cover of Billy Joel’s “Shameless.” In the liner notes for his 1994 compilation The Hits, the country legend called the cover “the longest shot we took with a song.” “My hope is that Billy, as writer, hears this cut and says, “Yeah, man, the guy’s got balls,” Brooks wrote.

Nearly 30 years later, “The Dance” singer might say the same of Chris Stapleton. The “White Horse” singer took the stage during a 2020 tribute concert honoring Brooks with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Stapleton performed “Shameless in his trademark velvety rasp, and the results had the “Friends in Low Places” star all choked up.

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