Michael Knox hits No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Producers chart (dated Aug. 7) for the first time, thanks to a pair of hits on the latest Hot Country Songs chart.
Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You,” which Knox solely produced, leads at No. 2 with 11.8 million radio airplay audience impressions, 9 million U.S. streams and 29,500 downloads sold in its debut week (ending July 29), according to MRC Data. It also debuts at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Knox’s 42nd career production credit, and his highest-ranking since Aldean’s “Burnin’ It Down” hit No. 12 on the Hot 100 in 2014.
Knox’s coronation on Country Producers is also aided by Aldean’s “Blame It on You,” which he also solely produced. It places at No. 17 after reaching No. 5 in June.
Knox has a longstanding history on Billboard‘s charts. Of his 42 career production credits on the Hot 100, 37 are via songs by Aldean. He has also reached the chart with singles by Trace Adkins, Montgomery Gentry, Thomas Rhett and Josh Thompson.
Knox earned his first chart credit in 1998 as a producer on Danni Leigh’s “If the Jukebox Took Teardrops,” which reached No. 57 on Hot Country Songs. Since then, he’s logged nine No. 1s on Country Producers (which began in June 2019), all by Aldean, and 24 No. 1s on Country Airplay (which launched in 1990).
Here’s a chronological recap of Knox’s Country Airplay No. 1s as a producer. All are by Aldean unless otherwise noted.
Michael Knox’s Country Airplay No. 1s as a Producer
Artist, Title (peak year)
“Why” (2006)
“She’s Country” (2009)
“Big Green Tractor” (2009)
“The Truth” (2010)
“Don’t You Wanna Stay,” Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson (2011)
“Dirt Road Anthem” (2011)
“Fly Over States” (2012)
“Take a Little Ride” (2012)
“The Only Way I Know,” Aldean with Luke Bryan & Eric Church (2013)
“Night Train” (2013)
“It Goes Like This,” Thomas Rhett (2013)
“When She Says Baby” (2014)
“Burnin’ It Down” (2014)
“Just Gettin’ Started” (2015)
“Tonight Looks Good on You” (2015)
“Lights Come On” (2016)
“A Little More Summertime” (2016)
“Any Ol’ Barstool” (2017)
“You Make It Easy” (2018)
“Drowns the Whiskey,” Aldean feat. Miranda Lambert (2018)
“Girl Like You” (2019)
“Rearview Town” (2019)
“Got What I Got” (2020)
“Blame It on You” (2021)
Over on the Country Songwriters chart, Ashley Gorley spends a 15th week at No. 1, thanks to his six songwriting credits on Hot Country Songs. Cole Swindell’s “Single Saturday Night” leads at No. 5, followed by Rhett’s “Country Again” (No. 10), Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave” (No. 21), Morgan Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots” (No. 31), Hardy’s “Give Heaven Some Hell” (No. 42) and Dan + Shay’s “Good Things” (No. 43).
Gorley surpasses Luke Combs for the second-most weeks spent at No. 1 on Country Songwriters. Blanco Brown holds the record at 18 weeks.
The weekly Country Songwriters and Country Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot Country Songs chart. As with Billboard‘s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).
The full Country Songwriters and Country Producers charts, in addition to the full genre rankings, can be found on Billboard.com.
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