Kelsea Ballerini’s “Love Me Like You Mean It” will not be forced to settle for only one of the major country radio crowns.
In addition to claiming the top spot on the latest Mediabase country radio singles chart, Ballerini’s debut single also ascends to #1 on Billboard’s corresponding, audience-driven Country Airplay chart. Not since Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus, Take the Wheel” has a solo female artist’s single topped either country chart.
Viewed through the lens of solo female artists, Ballerini’s ascent on the Billboard chart is even more impressive.
While interim songs like Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic,” Carrie Underwood’s “See You Again” and Carrie Underwood’s “Two Black Cadillacs” reached the top spot on the Mediabase chart, no solo female record since Underwood’s 2012 “Blown Away” has topped Billboard.
In reaching #1, “Love Me Like You Mean It” therefore achieved what a handful of songs from heavy hitters like Lambert, Underwood and Taylor Swift, let alone new female artists, were unable to achieve.