Apropos 2022 ...

"When you see me, you don’t get it initially — then you meet me, and hear the story and hear the music. I just feel like I represent the guy who looks at himself in the mirror every day and goes, ‘Yeah, guys like me don’t make it.’" 

(Jelly Roll / billboard.com, December 8, 2022)

 

It's the time of the best-of listings, which actually are not that. For in reality they are just collections of favorites. For me it would have the project "Tumbling Down" of the Nashvillains at the very top for 2022. But to be really replicable, they need to be based on hard facts, like sales- and streaming-numbers.  Such as the Hot Country Songs Year-End chart, which is anually published by Billboard Magazine. According to it, it is ranked based on streaming activity, radio airplay and sales data. In other words, resulting in the 100 commercially most successful songs in the country format for 2022.

So let's take a closer look at this chart. At first sight, one might notice, that mega-hit 'Fancy Like' by Walker Hayes, which already ranked at No. 2 last year, can still be found at No. 4 in 2022. Generally the term timeless should be used with careful consideration, but undeniably that song is an earworm, that the public obviously has not gotten tired of. And what artist does not look for something like that?

Looking further at the Top-15 of the chart, it represents a fairly good insight on the topics and trends that have characterized the year of 2022.

At the very top we find Morgan Wallen holding the Number 1 and Number 2 positions. This is more than just a slim indication, that the drunken fiasco around the use of the N-word in January of 2021, has been digested for good it seems. It makes the second half of 2022 look like a seamless extension of his success with "Dangerous: The Double Album" from January of 2021.

While the album was the commercially most successful in all of pop and country in the US in 2021, it extends that reign in 2022 for country, and surprisingly still holds at Number 3 for all pop albums. Meanwhile it has gone 4-times platinum, received the Academy of Country Music (ACM) award for Album of the Year in March of 2022 and still sits at the Number One spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

It has also given us the most successful single of 2022 with 'Wasted on You'. Being the first fully promoted single of Morgan Wallens comeback (if you like). The song with its modern production and desperate lyrics reached the Top of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) charts at the beginning of July and remained there for 3 weeks. By now it has also gone 3-times platinum, underpinning the most successful country single of 2022.

Right behind it on Number 2 sits 'You Proof', which has set a new record by holding the top spot of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart for 9 weeks (with breaks). The song is not part of the Dangerous-album, but most likely will be included on an upcoming project. So while Morgan Wallen has more or less dominated the second half of 2022, his team has set even bigger goals for the coming year.

One Night At A Time World Tour – Verified Fan Presale 12/7
2023 is gonna be a special year… I got a lot in store for y’all and thought we’d start with this… pic.twitter.com/zDEBd1vnro

— morgan wallen (@MorganWallen) December 1, 2022

By carefully looking at the tour poster for the One Night At A Time World Tour, one will notice among the supporting acts, in smaller print the name Bailey Zimmerman. And because this young artist has to be considered the biggest discovery of the year, his first ever single 'Fall In Love' already ranks at Number 8 on the year-end chart (with his second and current single 'Rock And A Hard Place' already at Number 17).

In the Country Music Talk podcast interview with Baylen Leonard from December 2, 2022, the enthusiasm and youthful impetuousness of the nearly 23-year old was hard to contain, when asked about his short but steep career so far: "So my first time getting on stage was with Luke Combs. If I can be completely honest, I feel like I am meant to do this. I love everything about it. When they said to me you are going to play with Luke Combs, I said, well ok, great. Perfect. And I had never played live. I had never worn in-ears. I was just gonna go out and do my best."

That makes the cometlike rise of the unexperinced Bailey Zimmerman even more fairytale. It was only 2 years ago that his name appeared on TikTok for the first time. Shortly after that he released the song 'Never Comin' Home' and quit his job with a union gas pipeline. In February of 2022 his first official single 'Fall In Love' and a video were released, 2 months later he signed a record deal with Warner Music Nashville / Elektra, released his first EP "Leave The Light On" in October and by December 5 of 2022 'Fall In Love' had reached the top of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) charts in record time.

At the end of 2022 the follow-up single 'Rock and A Hard Place' has started moving up the charts and just like 'Fall In Love', it has already reached platinum-status. One can only wish the best for the young man with the raspy voice and the songs about bad love, hoping that all the success does not go to his head too much.

Coming back to the year-end chart of 2022, we can find but 2 duets inside of the Top-15 ('Wishful Drinking' by Ingrid Andress with Sam Hunt at Number 13 and 'If I Didn't Love You' by Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood on Number 14). Nevertheless, collaborations were a strong contender for trend of the year in country music during the past 12 months.

Apart from the typical male-female-duet, we got to hear all sorts of combinations. This resulted in 1/3 of all 30 Number-1 hits on the radio charts this year being collaborations! Among them for the first time in a long time even 2 female duets ('Never Wanted to Be That Girl' by Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde, and 'Drunk (I Don't Want to Go Home)' by Elle King and Miranda Lambert), as well as a trio collaboration on 'Beers On Me' by Dierks Bentley, Hardy and Breland. 

And then there is Zach Bryan! In May of 2022 the former U.S. Navy soldier stepped out into the spotlight of the general public with the release of his first album "American Heartbreak". He had already been signed the previous fall of 2021 by major label Warner Records. Yet the 34 songs on the project released, represent only part of all the self-written songs, he flooded the audience with over the past year.

Among them an impressively atmospheric live-album recorded in the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver (with a title of "All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster" protesting high ticket prices), released on December 25, 2022, whose 24 tracks provide a good impression of the frenetic atmosphere the songwriter-singer creates at his shows (in spite of the snowfall during the concert in this particular case).

"I’m like a [Jack] Kerouac guy,” he told the New York Times about his contemplating the meaning of life and putting it to music with folky instrumentation. "Like, I think life is reckless and it should be insane. It all ends in agony. It’s all about the outcome, so like, do it, you know? Do whatever it is."

That all resulted in his song 'Something In The Orange' about the desperate hope in a broken relationship ending up at Number 6 on the Billboard year-end chart 2022. The production of the song makes it easier to swallow and lets the color of the rising  and the setting sun become a metaphor for hope and disillusionment at the same time.

To you I'm just a man, to me you're all I am,
where the hell am I supposed to go?
I poisoned myself again,
something in the orange tells me you're never coming home. 

(Something in the Orange / Zach Bryan)

On Number 11 of the year-end chart, sits '5 Foot 9', the first solo single by Tyler Hubbard. It stands for a surprising quick new beginning, when it reached the Top of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart in November, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of Florida Georgia Line. A success that the second half of the former duo, Bryan Kelley, still has to wait for. In that respect the song is also connected to one of many chapters, that have ended in 2022.

Among them the end of the Stadium Tour by Garth Brooks with his 5 epic performances at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, as well as the passing of Loretta Lynn in October 2022 at the age of 90. As a daughter of a miner, she had her most successful years in the 1970s, when she even stood up for women's emancipation with some of her songs. In 1980 Sissy Spacek received an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter, the Biopic based on her autobiography.

2022 also became the year, when Jeff Cook, guitarist of legendary country band Alabama passed with Parkinson's at the age of 73. In addition we lost Rock'n'Roll legend with a strong country connection, Jerry Lee Lewis at the age of 87 in October of 2022. And Naomi Judd (mother of Wynonna and member of the successful 1990s mother-daughter duo The Judds), who ended her life in April at the age of 76. Among others, the year also saw the passing of Bobbie Nelson (91), sister of Willie Nelson and C.W. McCall (93), known for his hit title song to the movie 'Convoy' (1978), starring Kris Kristofferson.

Also in 2022 Paramount Network (Paramount+) has run the fourth season of the hit series Yellowstone with Kevin Costner. Apart from big city urban areas, it has become the most popular scripted series of the year in the US. A success that has already initiated the spin-off series "1883" with another one ("1923") in the works. In addition, the carefully selected soundtrack has become a hit maker for lesser known artists and songs. For instance it helped propel the debut single  'Don't Come Lookin'' by Jackson Dean all the way to Number 3 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart this year.

No wonder, the topic of Cowboys has also become a popular one in the country format over the past year, with many songs (or videos) playing on the Cowboy theme ('If I Was A Cowboy' / Miranda Lambert, 'Trouble With A Heartbreak' & 'Rock And Roll Cowboy' & 'Ain't Enough Cowboy' / Jason Aldean, 'Love Is A Cowboy' / Kelsea Ballerini, 'Cowboy Kind of Way' / Drake Milligan, 'Still A Few Cowboys Left' / Ben Gallaher, 'Cowboy For Christmas' / Runaway June). One of them, Kameron Marlowe, has released his full-length debut album to much praise in August of 2022 on major label Sony Music Nashville. The 16 track album not only represents another trend of the year (pandemic-induced projects with way more than just 10 songs), but it is also named after the song 'We Were Cowboys'. A track that is built on memories of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and carefree times of years gone bye.

Finally, on December 9, 2022 38-year old Jason DeFord stepped onto the stage of the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, packed with 19.000 fans. It became the culmination of an unexpected success-story of an artist, who is starting to make a name for himself in the country format as well. In reference to his appearance he calls himself Jelly Roll and his first ever official country single titled 'Son Of A Sinner' is currently not only in the Top-3 of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart, but it also locks in at Number 18 on the Billboard year-end chart.

Born south of Nashville, he has been releasing (mostly rap) music since around 2010. It has become an outlet and subsequently a passion in his life, after he was doing time in a juvenile detention center for several years for drug-related misdemeanors.

hitsdailydouble.com describes him as: "A former addict and drug dealer, the genre-bending singer/songwriter/rapper has dropped over 24 albums throughout his career, toured extensively, topped charts and garnered 3b+ streams in the process. Last fall, he released Ballads of the Broken, which pairs deeply personal lyrics with music that blends elements of old-school rap, classic rock, country and soul."

His deeply-honest, self-revealing 'Save Me' (2020) has been certified platinum and currently holds at 74 Mio. streams on Spotify. With 'Dead Man Walking' he had a first Number-1 hit on the mainstream rock (Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs) charts in 2021 and a new contract with Nashville label Broken Bow Records (BBR) will bring his very first country album next year.

Clean by now, married to social media model Bunnie XO and father of 2 children, he had well known stars Chris Young, Sam Hunt, Riley Green and songwriting-partner Ernest join him on stage at the Bridgestone Arena. And Marcus Dowling of tennessean.com says about him: "Jelly Roll's bluesy, gritty Joe Cocker-style crooning vocal performances have unexpectedly dominated country and rock music in 2022."

But not everything from 2022 is new and has to still prove itself. With 'She Had Me At Heads Carolina' Cole Swindell had one of the most successful hits of the year, holding the top spot of the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) charts for 4 weeks. Thereby helping Jo Dee Messina, on whose hit 'Heads Carolina, Tails California' from the 1990s the song is based on, to a fine little comeback (and a cameo appearance in the new video). The latter song being one, that definitely has long proven itself and allows for the term timeless to be used without regrets!