Welcome home, Kane Brown. Happy to have you back in the chart penthouse.
All this is a roundabout way of saying that Brown’s “Homesick” has arrived at No. 1 on Billboard’s country airplay chart after a 31-week slog. It’s Brown’s fifth song to reach that peak, following “Good as You,” “Lose It,” “Heaven,” and “What Ifs.”
Luke Combs seems to have found permanent homes on the albums chart. By now, he’s probably planted shrubs and installed tennis courts. Just as they have for the past innumerable weeks, his What You See Is What You Get and This One’s for You continue to lodge, respectively, at No. 1 and No. 2.
There are no new or returning albums in the Top 25 this week, but we see two new singles and one comeback.
In what must surely be a satisfying “up yours” gesture, Dixie Chicks stride back into the country arena with “Gaslighter.” It debuts at a respectable No. 36 on the airplay charts, and it’s the Chicks’ first charting country single since “Everybody Knows” tanked at No. 45 in 2006. The trio was basically exiled from country music in 2003 for its anti-war remarks and, specifically, its criticism of then-President George W. Bush. There’s nothing in “Gaslighter” to suggest the Chicks have become more even-tempered.
Also making its first appearance this week is Russell Dickerson’s “Love You Like I Used To,” which bows at No. 60. Dustin Lynch’s “Momma’s House” rebounds at No. 58.
Following “Homesick” in descending order in the Top 5 songs parade are Jake Owen’s “Homemade,” Sam Hunt’s “Kinfolks,” Maren Morris’ “The Bones” and Luke Bryan’s “What She Wants Tonight.” Ingrid Andress’ “More Hearts Than Mine” rises into the Top 10, at No. 9. Last week’s No. 1 song, Jimmie Allen’s “Make Me Want To,” has slipped to No. 10.
Rounding out the Top 5 albums are Morgan Wallen’s If I Know Me, Blake Shelton’s Fully Loaded: God’s Country and Brown’s Experiment.
Stay tuned.