Luke Bryan got a little help from his friends in celebrating his 30 No. 1 hits at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville on Tuesday (September 12). Jason Aldean, Lady A’s Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, and Dierks Bentley were among Bryan’s peers and friends who honored him with performances of some of his biggest hits.
Videos by American Songwriter
Scott and Haywood were the first to surprise Bryan, performing a stripped-down rendition of his pivotal first hit, “Do I.” Bryan co-wrote the tune with Haywood and Lady A bandmate Charles Kelley on the front porch of the 980-square-foot house he and his wife Caroline were living in at the time.
“We’re so honored to be here on such an amazing celebration,” Scott, who provided background vocals on the original recording, said. “Luke, we love you. Thank you so much for the years of friendship.”
Bentley then covered Bryan’s seven-times platinum single “Play it Again,” which he chose because it’s his wife’s favorite song. “Luke, I love you, I’m so proud of you, you’re one of my favorite singers,” Bentley praised. “Huge fan, always have been.”
Shenandoah’s Marty Raybon, one of Bryan’s musical heroes, sang “Fast,” which made Bryan the first artist to have six No. 1s on the Billboard Country Airplay chart off the same album when “Fast” was released in November 2016. Aldean closed out the surprise sets with a cover of “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” that suited his voice.
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Prior to the event that took place almost 22 years to the day that Bryan moved to Nashville in 2001, the superstar reflected on the jaw-dropping number of chart-toppers he’s enjoyed over the past 14 years, beginning with “Do I” in 2009 to his most recent hit, “Country On”, in December 2022. This puts him in an elite club with George Strait, Conway Twitty and Ronnie Milsap who’ve also had 30 or more No. 1 hits.
“I think when you’re so focused in the trenches of it all, it’s days like this where your career flashes in front of your eyes,” Bryan told American Songwriter and other media. “It’s pretty surreal to think about all the people that have been involved in the mix to make this all happen.” Among the most important people are the songwriters. Bryan co-wrote nearly half of the 30 hits, with heavy-hitting songwriters like Ashley Gorley, Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Chris DeStefano showing up multiple times on the list of songwriting collaborators.
“When I moved to Nashville, I moved for all the right reasons because I loved country music and I loved being onstage,” he observed. “From the second I got here, it felt like I’d finally found the place for me. To have dreams of hopefully writing No. 1s and performing No. 1s and being an artist to present day, you look at that and it’s kind of hard to wrap your head around.”
Admitting that he never thought he’d make it to 30 No. 1s, Bryan said he expected to achieve eight to 10 hits at best. But when he started having multiple No. 1s off blockbuster albums like Crash My Party in 2013 and Kill the Lights in 2015, he started to notice the impact his music was having. “You’re focused on everything going on around you, you don’t sit back and actually think about [how] you’re piling up quite a few No. 1 songs,” he recalled of his mentality at the time.
“I think it’s really important to think about songwriters today,” he added, also acknowledging the writers he didn’t have a No. 1 with who “helped me grow as a writer.” “You have down days in this industry, but these are the days where everybody gets to celebrate hard work. It’s a fun day.”
See the full list of Luke Bryan’s 30 No. 1 hits:
“Country On” – written by Mark Nesler, David Frasier, Mitch Oglesby, and Styles Haury 12-12-22
“Buy Dirt” Jordan Davis Feat. Luke Bryan 1-24-22
“Waves”- written by Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd and Chase McGill 8-30-21
“Down To One”- written by Dallas Davidson, Justin Ebach and Kyle Fishman 3-1-21
“One Margarita” – written by Michael Carter, Matt Dragstrem and Josh Thompson 7-6-21
“What She Wants Tonight”- written by Luke Bryan, Ross Copperman, Hillary Lindsey and Jon Nite 3-31-20
“Knockin’ Boots”- written by Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson and Jon Nite 9-9-19
“What Makes You Country”- written by Luke, Dallas Davidson and Ashley Gorley 2-27-19
“Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset”- written by Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd and Chase McGill 9-10-18
“Most People Are Good”- written by David Frasier, Ed Hill and Josh Kear 3-26-18
“Light It Up”- written by Luke Bryan, Brad Tursi 12-11-17
“Fast”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird 4-3-17
“Move”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Michael Carter, Jay Clementi 11-7-16
“Huntin’, Fishin’, And Lovin’ Every Day”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip 6-20-16
“Home Alone Tonight”—Written by: Jody Stevens, Cole Taylor, Jaida Dreyer, Tommy Cecil 2-1-16
“Strip It Down—Written by: Luke Bryan, Jon Nite, Ross Copperman 10-19-15
“Kick The Dust Up”—Written by: Dallas Davidson, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley 8-3-15
“I See You”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird 2-2-15
“Roller Coaster”—Written by: Michael Carter, Cole Swindell 10-6-14
“Play It Again”—Written by: Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley 5-19-14
“Drink A Beer”—Written by: Jim Beavers, Chris Stapleton 2-3-14
“That’s My Kind of Night”—Written by: Dallas Davidson, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley 10-21-13
“Crash My Party”—Written by: Rodney Clawson, Ashley Gorley 7-1-13
“Only Way I Know” Jason Aldean, Feat Luke Bryan 2-4-13
“Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Jeff Stevens, Shane McAnally 11-5-12
“Drunk On You”—Written by: Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Josh Kear 6-4-12
“I Don’t Want This Night To End”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip 1-16-12
“Someone Else Calling You Baby”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Jeff Stevens 2-13-11
“Rain Is A Good Thing”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson 7-11-10
“Do I”—Written by: Luke Bryan, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley 12-13-09
Photo Credit: Alan Poizner/Courtesy of Capitol Records Nashville
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