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Kenny Chesney lands his milestone 100th entry on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart as “Carry On” opens at No. 31 on the May 23 list. It totaled 1.5 million chart-eligible U.S. streams, 10.5 million in radio airplay audience and 2,000 sold May 8-14, according to Luminate.
The track marks Chesney’s first single on Hey Now Records, which launched in March, and previews his 21st album, due later this year. He has scored 55 top 10s, including 23 No. 1s. The song also starts at No. 20 on Country Airplay, where it’s likewise his 100th appearance.
“When I think about ‘American Kids,’ ‘Young,’ ‘You and Tequila,’ ‘When the Sun Goes Down,’ all the way back to ‘The Tin Man,’ it’s hearing my life in music,” Chesney tells Billboard, referencing some of his most beloved hits. “To be told ‘Carry On’ is my 100th charting single, I feel like this is a life that’s not just well-lived, but has so much more great music ahead.”
The 100-title milestone lifts Chesney into elite company among acts with 100 or more hits on Hot Country Songs, which dates to October 1958. George Jones leads with 157. Dating to Chesney’s first charted title, “Whatever It Takes,” in December 1993, he boasts the third-most, after Morgan Wallen (119) and Taylor Swift (108). (The chart adopted its current multimetric methodology — a combination of streaming, airplay and sales — in October 2012.)
On Country Airplay, which began in January 1990 and solely tracks country radio airplay, Chesney’s 100th charted title ties him for the lead with George Strait. Garth Brooks (93), Tim McGraw (91) and Alan Jackson (82) round out the top five.
Chesney also stands out among Hot Country Songs’ most prolific No. 1 artists. His 23 leaders place him 11th overall, behind Strait’s 44, Conway Twitty’s 40, Merle Haggard’s 38, Ronnie Milsap’s 35, Alabama’s 33, Charley Pride’s 29, Jackson and McGraw’s 26 each, Dolly Parton’s 25 and Reba McEntire’s 24. In that legacy-heavy group, Chesney earned a first No. 1 most recently, with “She’s Got It All” in 1997.
Chesney’s power is even more apparent at country radio. His 33 Country Airplay No. 1s put him firmly in first place, ahead of Blake Shelton (30), McGraw (29), Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Jackson, Strait (26 each), Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban (21 each), Brooks & Dunn, Luke Combs, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley and Wallen (20 each).
Plus, since Chesney notched his first No. 1 on Top Country Albums, his Greatest Hits, in October 2000, his 17 leaders are the most among all artists in that span.
The milestones underscore the scope of Chesney’s career, one that has made him both a country radio standard-bearer and one of the most prolific hitmakers in the nine-decade history of Billboard’s country charts.
