Many one-hit wonders find their way to the top of the charts, and that’s certainly true for country music, where songs by Rhett Akins, Heartland, and Chad Brock all took the No. 1 spot on the Hot Country Songs Chart.
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Keep reading to learn about the three tunes that spelled one-off success for the country stars.
“More Than Everything” by Rhett Akins
Now best known as Thomas Rhett’s dad, Rhett Akins had a country music career years before his son.
“Don’t Get Me Started” was the lead single off Akins’ sophomore album, Somebody New. The song spent 21 weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart, and even topped the chart for one of those weeks. That song is Rhett’s only No. 1 hit on the country charts, though he enjoyed plenty of Top 40 hits on the country charts through the 90s.
However, it was the song “More Than Everything” from 1997 (a standout addition to What Livin’s All About) that would land him in one-hit wonder territory. This song was Akins’ only single to make it to the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, where it sat at No. 21.
Akins would later find immense success as a songwriter, penning tunes for his son, as well as artists including Dustin Lynch, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean.
“I Loved Her First” by Heartland
Heartland’s debut single, “I Loved Her First”, is a country one-hit wonder that’s become synonymous with the father-daughter dance at weddings. After its 2006 release, “I Loved Her First” spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at No. 34. The song did even better on the Hot Country Songs chart, spending 23 weeks on the ranking, and peaking at No. 1.
When Heartland’s next five singles failed to make it into the Top 40, several members left the band, and little was heard from them again.
“Everything we did was compared to ‘I Loved Her First’. We couldn’t win,” Charles Crawford, the fiddler, acoustic guitarist, and backing vocalist of Heartland, told Pro Country Music. “I don’t regret a thing. For a short time, I got to do what many people can only dream of.”
“Yes!” by Chad Brock
Finally, “Yes!”, the title track off of Chad Brock’s sophomore album, was a great success for the singer. The 2000 track spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at No. 22. Over on the Hot Country Songs chart, “Yes!” spent three weeks at the No. 1 position, spending a total of 36 weeks on the chart.
“All the way [on a bus] out west, we worked up ‘Yes!”, Brock told Pro Country Music. “We had to play it three times that night. People lost their minds. The second time we played it, they were already singing it back to me. We got a board tape made. When we got back to Nashville, I walked into the office and told the label, ‘Here’s your hit.’”
After “Yes!”, Brock didn’t have another hit. He released a third album, III, in 2001, but it did not chart. He put out singles the following year, but was not able to find success with them. After he stopped releasing music, Brock, a former pro wrestler, became a disc jockey.
In 2024, however, he told Pro Country Music that he was back in the studio himself.
“Life is ups and downs, ebbs and flows, but you can’t quit,” he said. “I wasn’t done. God wasn’t through with me. I’m coming back and doing what I love to do. I’m 61 years old, and I’m in the best shape of my life. I’ve just got a white goatee now. I get to be the Chad Brock that I’ve always wanted to be, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”
Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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