On This Day in 1999, Lonestar’s “Amazed” Notched a Record-Setting Eight-Week Love Affair at No. 1

On this day in 1999, Lonestar‘s “Amazed” notched a record-setting eight-week reign at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart—a stretch that hadn’t been matched in 30 years.

Written by Marv Green and couple Chris Lindsey and Aimee Mayo, the sweeping love ballad defined Lonestar’s career and became one of the biggest country hits of the last several decades.

“You never know,” said then Lonestar singer Richie McDonald. “It’s just crazy to think that down the road that you are going to have a song as big or bigger than a song like that. We sure didn’t think that at the time.”

McDonald said he and his Lonestar bandmates thought “Amazed” was a beautiful song and knew it touched their hearts.

“We felt if we felt that way about it, that hopefully our fans would feel the same way—and they did,” McDonald said. “It’s crazy that it went on to do what it did.”

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Lonestar’s “Amazed” Matched a 30-Year Record

He told SmoothRadio that artists can wait their entire career for a song like that to come along and take their career to the next level, as “Amazed” did for Lonestar.

“That’s something that we’ll never forget,” he said. “And it’s not just the impact that it had on our careers, but the impact that it has on the fans. That song to me is just a classic, timeless song. We will never, ever get tired of playing that song.”

Lonestar recorded “Amazed” for the band’s third studio album, Lonely Grill, which they released in 1999. The ballad spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 1999—the longest run at the top for any country single in 30 years. The song’s popularity swelled far beyond country radio. In 2000, “Amazed” crossed over to the pop market and ascended to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lonestar and “Amazed” were the first from country music to achieve the feat since Kenny Rogers and “Lady” in 1980.

Like “Lady,” “Amazed” stood out for its blend of country storytelling and pop ballad sensibilities.
McDonald’s vocals paired with sweeping instrumentation to give the track both an intimate and performing-for-a-packed-house quality. Both country fans and pop audiences were drawn in by its universal love song appeal.

That’s No Lady, That’s Lonestar

In 1999, “Amazed” won the ACM Single of the Year trophy and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song.

The song’s writers didn’t expect its record-setting success, either.

“We loved the song, but we had no idea it would get such a great response,” Mayo told Songwriter Universe. “Everyone was calling and wanting them to play it on the radio. I’d get in my car and turn on the radio, and they’d be saying, ‘We’re gonna play it, quit calling.’ I loved it.”

In addition to what “Amazed” meant to country music fans, the ballad was special to Mayo and Lindsey, too. They wrote when they first started falling in love.

“We were still mostly friends,” Mayo said. “We got together with Marv to write the song, and our feelings for each other just started coming out as we were writing.”

Songwriters “Loved Hearing it On Rock Stations”

“Amazed” was Mayo and Lindsey’s first No. 1 as songwriters, and it stayed at No. 1 almost the entire summer of 1999.

“We were so excited,” she said. “That was a great summer for us. We were so excited when it crossed over to the pop charts. We loved hearing it on the rock stations.”

Decades later, “Amazed” remains the defining country love ballad of the ’90s. It remains a staple at weddings, a mainstay on radio playlists, and showcases late-1990s country’s ability to break into the mainstream. For Lonestar, the song wasn’t just a hit; it was the moment that secured their place in country music history and pop culture.

(Taylor Ballantyne/Courtesy of Milestone Publicity)