Jason Aldean Just Joined an Elite Club With His Latest Country Airplay No. 1

It took him nearly a decade after moving to Nashville from his hometown of Macon, Georgia, but Jason Aldean finally launched his career in 2005 with the Top 10 debut single “Hicktown.” Two decades later, the 48-year-old is a country music mainstay, selling more than 20 million albums and currently reigning as the Academy of Country Music’s most recent artist of the decade. Now gearing up to release his 12th LP, Songs About Us, this spring, Aldean just celebrated another milestone thanks to the album’s lead single, “How Far Does a Goodbye Go.”

Jason Aldean Ties These Country Stars

Released in September, “How Far Does a Goodbye Go” debuted in the top 20 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Steadily rising through the ranks, the song just reached No. 1 on the chart dated Feb. 21.

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With that, Jason Aldean notches his 26th career No. 1 Country Airplay song, and his first since “Trouble With a Heartbreak” spent three weeks atop the chart in 2022. That milestone puts him even with Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson and George Strait for the fourth-most No. 1 hits since the Country Airplay chart began in 1990.

Only Kenny Chesney (33), Blake Shelton (30) and Tim McGraw (29) have sent more songs to the top of the chart.

In a recent Instagram video, Aldean said it was “no-brainer” to release “How Far Does a Goodbye Go”—written by Kurt Allison, John Edwards, Tully Kennedy, and John Morgan—as the album’s lead single.

“It got me excited to go in the studio and cut it,” said the “Try That in a Small Town” crooner. “As soon as I heard it, I’m like, ‘That’s our first single. That’s what’s gonna launch the album.’”

[RELATED: 3 Jason Aldean Songs That Are True Heartbreakers]

‘Songs About Us’ Due Out Soon

Ahead of its April 24 release date, Jason Aldean has already dropped six songs—including “Easier Gone,” a duet with his wife, Brittany—from Songs About Us. And Brittany Aldean isn’t the album’s only cameo, as the “She’s Country” singer also teamed up with longtime friend Luke Bryan on the title track.

“It means the world when one of my songs helps someone through a hard time—or celebrates their best moments,” Aldean said. “This album is about all of that—the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Every track started with a real story or feeling, and together we turned those experiences into music. In the end, I realized this album is about all of us. These are songs about us.”

Featured image by Jason Davis/Getty Images for ABA