Another career milestone for Combs. From the beginning of the album’s rollout, it was clear that Luke Combs was playing for keeps with the release of The Way I Am. After diverting from his typical formula back in 2024 with the release of his incredibly personal album, Fathers & Sons, some fans were questioning whether the “Hurricane” singer still had the ability (or desire) to deliver the massive, stadium-level hits he built a career on over the past 9 or so years. It’s safe to say that mindset paid dividends for Combs. Back on March 20th, Combs finally released the sprawling, 22-song album, which he called the biggest of his career, to some massive success both commercially and critically. Fans have been absolutely loving it, praising Combs for blending his tried and true style on standouts such as “My Kinda Saturday Night,” “Daytona 499” and “Alcohol of Fame” with some unique tracks like the gorgeous Alison Krauss duet, “Ever Mine,” as well as “Be By You” and “Give You Away.” It’s been a hit chart-wise, too. Debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, The Way I Am sold 101,000 equivalent units in its first week. Typically, it would have been a shoo-in for the #1 spot on the all-genre Billboard 200; however, the “1, 2 Many” singer was blocked by Korean superstars, BTS, and their return album, ARIRANG, which debuted at #1 with a staggering 641,000 total units. View this post on Instagram After the success of “My Kinda Saturday Night” and “Back In The Saddle,” it only seemed like a matter of time until his long-awaited, pre-released single, “Sleepless in a Hotel Room,” secured Combs yet another #1 hit. And it looks like today is the day. Less than two weeks after scoring a top album with The Way I Am, “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” has officially risen to #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart just three months after its release on January 9th, moving up from the number three spot with 30.4 million impressions according to Billboard. Joining the likes of past hits such as “She Got the Best of Me,” “Beautiful Crazy,” “Forever After All” and his Twisters smash, “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma,” “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” marks Combs’ 20th career #1 on the chart since his debut with “Hurricane” in May 2017. With 20 #1s, Combs has now tied Morgan Wallen, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley and the late, great Toby Keith for the 10th most #1 hits on Country Airplay since its conception back in January 10. Additionally, the North Carolina native has now spent 56 weeks at #1 on the chart, which is good for seventh-most behind the likes of Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson and more. Diving further into Combs’ dominance on country radio, with “Sleepless in a Hotel Room,” Combs has now gone #1 with a staggering 20 out of 35 entries on the chart, with 26 of them at least charting in the Top 10. Even more incredibly, on solo, non-feature songs, he’s scored #1s on 18 out of 21 entries, which is good for 86%. The artists with the most #1s on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart is as follows: Kenny Chesney – 33 Blake Shelton – 30 Tim McGraw – 29 Jason Aldean – 26 Luke Bryan – 26 Alan Jackson – 26 George Strait – 26 Thomas Rhett – 21 Keith Urban – 21 Luke Combs – 20 Morgan Wallen – 20 Toby Keith – 20 Brooks & Dunn – 20 Brad Paisley – 20 “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” My Kinda Saturday Night Tour Dates April 4 Scott Stadium – Charlottesville, VA April 11 Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, IA April 18 Notre Dame Stadium – South Bend, IN April 25 Ohio Stadium – Columbus, OH May 2 Neyland Stadium – Knoxville, TN May 9 Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium – Norman, OK May 15 Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 16 Lambeau Field – Green Bay, WI May 30 Parc Jean-Drapeau – Montreal, QC June 5 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON June 6 Rogers Stadium – Toronto, ON July 4 Ullevi – Gothenburg, Sweden July 7 Accor Arena – Paris, France July 11 Johan Cruijff ArenA – Amsterdam, Netherlands July 18 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 19 Slane Castle – Slane, Ireland July 25 Scottish Gas Murrayfield – Edinburgh, UK July 31 Wembley Stadium – London, UK August 1 Wembley Stadium – London, UK The post Luke Combs Scores 20th Career #1 Hit On Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart With “Sleepless In A Hotel Room” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

I can’t wait to hear the full studio cut. Ernest is gearing up to release a new album called Deep Blue on May 1st, which will be very beach-inspired and, as he put it before, it will sound like “Alabama and Jimmy Buffett had a baby,” and described it as a grown-up version of his 2019 debut album, Locals Only: “It’s kind of a grown-up version of the first project I put out called ‘Locals Only,’ which was all heavily inspired by and largely written in Saint Thomas and Saint John. It’s 10 years later since a lot of the songs got written, and I’ve done a lot of growing. My voice has gotten deeper. I’ve had a lot of smoke in my throat since then. (My voice) is weathered, and my technique… I’ve sang a million songs since then.” The full tracklist will include 13 songs and one feature from Lukas Nelson, which is on a song called “Time Is A Thief.” Ernest and Lukas has played it before, debuting it at the Grand Ole Opry over the summer, and it’s a beautiful classic country ballad that sounds like it could’ve been played on the Opry stage 40 years ago but still sounds fresh and current now, making it timeless in every sense. These two have worked together before, as Lukas was featured on a song called “Why Dallas” which was on Ernest’s 2024 Nashville, Tennessee album, and it was superb, and I can already tell by the sound of this one that we can expect the same thing on their second duet. Ernest shared a part of the studio version on Instagram yesterday, and I can’t get enough: View this post on Instagram He also shared another clip today, saying it’s one of his favorites on the album and explained that they recorded it in one day. He also said that the vocal you hear on the final product is the one they sang as the band played it that day. Lukas did one pass on the guitar for it too, and that’s what they went with: “This is one of my favorite songs on the album. I had the pleasure of getting to sing it with my friend Lukas Nelson. We recorded it one day, and the vocal you hear on the record is the vocal we sang down as the band played it that day. I told Lukas to take a pass down on guitar, and that’s what you hear… 1 pass from Mr Lukas.” These two in particular have such a reverence and respect for classic country music, so the fact that they decided to cut one themselves doesn’t surprise me, and I already know I’m going to love it and it will probably be my favorite too: View this post on Instagram Deep Blue Tracklist “Lorelei” “Edge of The U.S.A.” “What’s A Little Rain” “Lucky” “Quit While We’re Behind” “Somewhere In The Caribbean” “End Of The Night” “Waste A Day” “Deep Blue” “If I’m Not Careful” “Same Moon” “Boat Named After You” “Time Is A Thief” (with Lukas Nelson) The post Ernest Shares Studio Cut Of Classic Country Song With Lukas Nelson, “Time Is A Thief” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

How we feeling about the new album so far? Ella Langley dropped her highly-anticipated sophomore album Dandelion today, firmly cementing herself as one of the leading ladies of country music. Of course Ella is already riding high from the success of her latest single, “Choosin’ Texas,” which has spent five weeks at #1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart and is poised to become not only the biggest single of her career but one of the biggest songs – of any genre – of 2026. The reactions have been quickly pouring in for Dandelion, which was produced by Ella’s fellow country superstar Miranda Lambert. But for those who haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, the Atlanta Braves are giving fans heading to tonight’s game a special opportunity to hear it for the first time. The free listening party will start at 4 PM in The Plaza at Battery Park, ahead of tonight’s matchup between the Braves and the Cleveland Guardians at Truist Park. Join us to listen to @ellalangleymsic’s new album Dandelion on Friday, April 10 at 4pm at @BatteryATL!  Enjoy exclusive Dandelion promo items, compliments of Ella, while supplies last. pic.twitter.com/vURBDn7zhG — Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 10, 2026 In case you didn’t know, Ella is a Braves fan herself, growing up in Hope Hull, Alabama just a couple hours away from Atlanta. With no MLB team in Alabama, the Braves are pretty much the hometown team for the state of Alabama – so it makes perfect sense that the country superstar will also be headlining the first ever Braves Country Fest this summer. The festival will be taking place at Truist Park on June 13, and will feature Ella along with Cody Johnson, ERNEST, Mackenzie Carpenter and more. Pretty cool stuff, and you’ve gotta think Ella is excited to headline the first ever country festival in her favorite baseball team’s stadium. Country music meets Braves baseball Join us for the first-ever Braves Country Fest — a full day of live music featuring @codyjohnson, @ellalangleymsic, @ernest615, and @mackcarpmusic, plus free activations & performances at The Battery Atlanta! ALL INFO »… pic.twitter.com/yjplkedBv0 — Atlanta Braves (@Braves) January 28, 2026 The album is easily one of the most highly-anticipated of the year, and the intro and outro on the 18-song tracklist are extremely personal. Dandelion both opens and closes with the centuries-old folk song, “Froggy Went A Courtin’,” which dates back to at least 1548. It’s very popular in the South and Appalachia, and before the release, Ella revealed the very personal reason she had for cutting this one in the studio as she shared an adorable video of her as a young girl, maybe three or four-years-old or so, on home video dancing around as her grandfather plays the song and sings with an acoustic guitar: “If you’re wondering where the intro & outro for this record come from…” View this post on Instagram Dandelion Tracklist “Froggy Went A Courtin’ – Intro” “Dandelion” “Choosin’ Texas” “We Know Us” “Low Lights” “Be Her” “You & Me Time” “Loving Life Again” “Bottom Of Your Boots” “Speaking Terms” “I Gotta Quit” “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” “Last Call For Us” “Broken” “Somethin’ Simple” “Butterfly Season” (feat. Miranda Lambert) “Most Good Things Do – Acoustic” “Froggy Went A Courtin’ – Outro” The post Atlanta Braves Hosting Free Ella Langley ‘Dandelion’ Listening Party Ahead Of Tonight’s Game first appeared on Whiskey Riff.