Nan Kelley welcomes Lady Antebellum to the set of Top 20 Country Countdown. Photo by Cheryl Ecton.
Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” spent a whopping five weeks at No. 1 on the country singles charts, and no one’s more surprised about that than the band itself. Group members Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood will talk with host Nan Kelley about that song and their upcoming album on this weekend’s edition of GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.
The band thought “Need You Now” had some potential down the road, but for a lot of music-insider reasons, they were shocked when Capitol Records said it wanted the song to be the lead single for their new album, set for release Tuesday. Currently at No. 5 on the Top 20 Country Countdown, the song is awash in great harmonies, and the instrumental track — from Chad Cromwell’s judicious drum fills to Rob McNelley’s economic guitar solo — is a perfect complement. Even if it contradicted some of the unwritten rules of music marketing, it was too good to pass up.
“Not enough credit is given to the players on this record,” Charles said at last week’s No. 1 party. “[Producer] Paul Worley and all the session players completely took this song to another level. I think [co-writer] Josh Kear would agree that when we wrote this we didn’t know what we had until it got into the studio and Paul’s vision and the players’ vision for this thing came alive.”
“Need You Now” has moved into the pop chart, where it’s slipped into the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100, but it’s not the only song there. With iTunes releasing a track a week in advance of the CD, the album cuts have edged into the Hot 100 as well, with “Ready To Love Again” becoming the fourth Need You Now title to reach the list.
All that sets up a very busy calendar for Lady A. The band performs Jan. 31 on the Grammy Awards, where “I Run To You” has two nominations. It’s headlining two sold-out shows for the first time at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. And it has a bevy of dates slated as an opening act for Tim McGraw.
Top 20 Country Countdown counts down the week’s top country videos from No. 20 to No. 1 as voted by viewers on each week on GACtv.com. A new countdown premieres every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on GAC and airs again Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET; Sundays at 1 p.m. ET; and Mondays at 10 a.m. ET. Viewers can vote for their favorite videos, as well as purchase Top 20 artists’ albums and ringtones at GACtv.com.
THIS WEEK’S CHART:
1. Zac Brown Band “Highway 20 Ride”
2. Carrie Underwood “Cowboy Casanova”
3. Kellie Pickler “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You”
4. Miranda Lambert “White Liar”
5. Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins “Hillbilly Bone”
6. Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”
7. Reba McEntire “Consider Me Gone”
8. Toby Keith “Cryin’ For Me”
9. Bucky Covington “Gotta Be Somebody”
10. Keith Urban “‘Til Summer Comes Around”
11. Josh Turner “Why Don’t We Just Dance”
12. Jason Aldean “The Truth”
13. Gary Allan “Today”
14. Chris Young “The Man I Want To Be”
15. Keith Urban “Only You Can Love Me This Way”
16. Trace Adkins “All I Ask For Anymore”
17. Radney Foster “Angel Flight”
18. Taylor Swift “Fifteen”
19. Chris Young “Gettin’ You Home”
20. Billy Currington “That’s How Country Boys Roll”
RSS Feeds
like you
i love the call Bby matt kennon 2 PLEASE PUT IT ON TOP 20
i know! it's the most awesomest song ever! if he keeps it up, he could be another eric church, jason aldean, or george strait! who knows! that song made me cry the 1st time i heard it. the 2cnd time it make me stop and think because 1 of my friends may b in that position 1 day. It made me realize that you need stop and help a friend in need, even though you may not think you'd make a difference, you should still try. you never kno. they could b on the verge of a breakdown
im so happy the zac brown bands number 1 i think that its well deserved i hope the call is 1 next week though
Taylor Swift "Fifteen" is a flop, just like what happened to "White Horse". So, Swift, you better make sure where are you going.
I love Need you Now and I can not find it in the stores do you have any suggestions/
The CD is due out on the 26th of Jan. Next Tuesday. You have to wait till then sweetie.
Suzanne, you can pick up Lady Antebellum"s CD on Tuesday January 26th. The best place I go to is Walmart(that's if you have one near you). angelahilmar
I keep voting for Bomshel's "19 and Crazy" and still I don't see it on the countdown!! I will not give up!!! Please VOTE for their Video!!!!
Enough with Kellie's shrieking! please vote for good songs, not for videos where the bimbo shows her body! please!
I agree that video gets on my nerves have to turn the channel. Please don't waste the votes!!
Good idea. I will vote for the best vocal and song Kellie Pickler "Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You." Carrie shows her body so I won't vote for her.
I don't hear any shrieking and how can you hear Kellie over Carrie's shouting?
Why do you Pickler fans always bring up Carrie? No one said anything about Carrie, just that Kellie shrieks, and her video is all soft porn, no talent there!
Why do you care if anyone brings up Carrie? Because you're a huge Carrie fan. Why did you lie and say no one said anything about Carrie after you did on the same blog? jojo: "Don't agree with this, Miranda and Carrie should be top first and second!" Why did you lie again and say Kellie's video is soft porn and she has no talent? You're a sick perverted woman full of hate and lies! Why do you crazy Carrie fans always bring up and bash Kellie? We know when it's you because no one else is that rabid, hateful, and has bashed her with the same talking points for YEARS. You bash Kellie and Taylor so much that you were banned from CMT and other forums, CMT removes your nasty comments from their blog every day, mods had to close many threads on carriefans.com, and a CMT blogger wrote about it http://blog.cmt.com/2009-12-01/the-bullying-of-ta...
thanks you Lady Atebullum Josh turner
I can't believe it! the top 20 is published before it airs! Where's all the "mystery" now?
and the funny thing is they still haven't posted the Top 50 videos from like 3 weeks ago!!! lol
I agree! Especially with the big surprise at the number 1 spot!
Don't agree with this, Miranda and Carrie should be top first and second!
LOVE Miranda & Carrie! 2 All American women who can sing their freaking butts off! Would LOVE to see them in concert!
i think i would DIE from excitement if they had a concert together!!!!
i also want to see carrie and miranda in concert
thet would be AWESOME and they sure can SING