2022 ACM Awards Shine on Billboard’s Country Charts

The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs) shine on Billboard’s country charts, as a bevy of songs and albums showcased on the March 7 show dot the March 19-dated tallies.

For the first time, the ACM Awards were not broadcast on television, and instead, streamed live on Amazon Prime Video. It was the first major awards show to be exclusively livestreamed. The two-hour, commercial-free show began at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on March 7, and was hosted by Dolly Parton, with special co-hosts Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett. In 2021, the ACMs were broadcast on CBS-TV.

Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which won the ACM award for album of the year, holds steady at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart for a 49th nonconsecutive week. The set earned 45,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending March 10 (up 7%), according to Luminate, formerly MRC Data.

Parton’s new album Run, Rose, Run, which was released on March 4, debuts at No. 4 on Top Country Albums. It’s her 47th top 10 on the list – extending her record for the most top 10 albums among women. The set launches with 17,000 equivalent album units. Album sales comprise 15,500 of that sum – enough to launch at No. 2 on Top Album Sales, marking Parton’s highest rank on the 30-year-old chart. On the ACMs, Parton performed the album’s “Big Dreams and Faded Jeans.”

In the week ending March 10, Parton posted a 5.5% gain in U.S. on-demand official streams of her songs (excluding material from Run, Rose, Run, as it would distort comparisons). She tallied 5.34 million clicks in the week ending March 10, versus 5.05 million in the previous week. As for her co-hosts, Barrett was up 4.2% (10.46 million vs. 10.02 million) and Allen rose 3.8% (1.76 million vs. 1.69 million) — again both excluding newly released tracks that would distort comparisons.

The ACM award winner for single of the year, Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood’s “If I Didn’t Love You,” climbs 8-5 on the Hot Country Songs chart – returning to the top five for the first time in over a month. The track earlier peaked at No. 2. It also holds at No. 10 on the Country Streaming Songs chart, and re-enters at No. 7 on Country Digital Song Sales.

In the week ending March 10, the most-streamed country song in the U.S., by on-demand official streams, was Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like,” with 6.9 million (up 2%). The tune was performed on the ACMs and was also nominated for a pair of awards: single of the year and song of the year. Hayes himself was nommed for new male artist of the year.

“Fancy Like” also holds at No. 3 on Hot Country Songs (it peaked at No. 1 for 24 weeks), is steady at No. 3 on Country Digital Song Sales (it spent 25 weeks at No. 1) and rises 2-1 on Country Streaming Songs (for a 26th week atop the list).

Streaming Stars: Focusing just on streaming activity in the three days following the ACMs (March 8-10), there were 11 songs performed on the show (not counting new releases*) that garnered 100,000 on-demand official streams, with a gain of at least 10% (compared to March 5-7). They are:

Artist, Title – March 8-10 Streams – % Gain (March 5-7 Streams)
Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You” – 2.4 million – 17.1% (2.05 million)
Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” – 1.21 million – 17.7% (1.03 million)
Lainey Wilson, “Things a Man Oughta Know” – 1.05 million – 13.7% (921,000)
Parker McCollum, “Pretty Heart” – 809,000 – 12% (722,000)
Chris Young featuring Mitchell Tenpenny, “At the End of the Bar” – 412,000 – 13% (365,000)
Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance” (covered by Barrett on the show) – 393,000 – 13% (347,000)
Luke Bryan, “Up” – 369,000 – 16.3% (317,000)
Chris Stapleton, “Watch You Burn” – 219,000 – 233.1% (66,000)
Dolly Parton, “Big Dreams and Faded Jeans” – 163,000 – 13% (144,000)
Eric Church, “Love Your Love the Most” (part of Church’s multi-song medley) – 146,000 – 13.2% (129,000)
Chris Young, “Raised On Country” – 129,000 – 11.1% (116,000)

* Not including new songs released in the days near the ACMs (Breland’s “Praise the Lord,” featuring Thomas Rhett; Allen’s “Down Home” and Kane Brown’s “Leave You Alone”) as their initial streaming figures distort comparisons.

Daily Streaming Activity: Here’s a look at how the collected songs performed on the ACMs** streamed in the days leading up to the awards, and in the days following.

Date – U.S. On-Demand Official Streams (Audio & Video Combined)
Thursday, March 3 – 8.82 million
Friday, March 4 – 9.59 million
Saturday, March 5 – 9.57 million
Sunday, March 6 – 8.17 million
Monday, March 7 – 8.32 million (day of ACMs)
Tuesday, March 8 – 8.83 million
Wednesday, March 9 – 8.79 million
Thursday, March 10 – 8.94 million

The ACM-performed songs logged 26.56 million on-demand official streams in the three days following the ACMs (March 8-10) – a gain of 2% compared to the 26.06 million the same songs registered in the three days previous (March 5-7).

In recent times, streaming gains gleaned from awards shows tend to emerge in the days following the broadcast, instead of on the day of the show. In 2021, for example, the ACMs and Grammy Awards both saw dips in streaming activity for the performed songs on the day of the show, but then tallied gains in the days following. (Digital sales reaction, however, continues to occur on the day of an awards show – and beyond.)

**Streaming volume numbers include all songs performed on the show, not counting newly released songs, nor performances from that show that were later released individually (like Kelly Clarkson’s “I Will Always Love You”). Numbers include all of the songs in Eric Church’s medley performance, as well as popular earlier versions of songs covered on the show, like Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston’s renditions of “I Will Always Love You” and Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance.”

Sales Story: Collectively, the ACM-performed songs sold 21,300 downloads in the U.S. on March 7-10 (the day of the show, plus three days following) – a gain of 75.5% compared to the 12,100 downloads the songs sold in the four days earlier (March 3-6).

Date – U.S. Digital Song Sales
Thursday, March 3 – 2,300
Friday, March 4 – 3,000
Saturday, March 5 – 3,500
Sunday, March 6 – 3,300
Monday, March 7 – 5,800 (day of ACMs)
Tuesday, March 8 – 6,600
Wednesday, March 9 – 4,700
Thursday, March 10 – 4,100

Chart Recap: Lastly, here’s a recap of all the songs performed on the ACMs (or were covered) that appear on the Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales charts dated March 19:

Hot Country Songs (dated March 19; reflecting sales, streaming and airplay activity in the week ending March 10)
March 12 Rank – March 19 Rank – Artist, Title
1-2 – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt”
3-3 – Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”
8-5 – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You”
13-9 – Walker Hayes, “AA”
22-13 – Thomas Rhett, “Slow Down Summer”
18-15 – Maren Morris, “Circles Around This Town”
17-16 – Eric Church, “Heart on Fire”
20-18 – Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
Debut 24 – Kane Brown, “Leave You Alone”
39-28 – Luke Bryan, “Up”
Debut 43 – Breland featuring Thomas Rhett, “Praise the Lord”

Country Airplay (dated March 19; reflecting airplay audience in the week ending March 13)
March 12 Rank – March 19 Rank – Artist, Title
10-10 – Eric Church, “Heart on Fire”
12-11 – Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
18-17 – Thomas Rhett, “Slow Down Summer”
23-20 – Walker Hayes, “AA”
21-20 – Luke Bryan, “Up”
24-24 – Maren Morris, “Circles Around This Town”
32-31 – Chris Young & Mitchell Tenpenny, “At the End of a Bar”
53-58 – Lady A, “What a Song Can Do”

Country Streaming Songs (dated March 19; reflecting streaming activity in the week ending March 10)
March 12 Rank – March 19 Rank – Artist, Title
2-1 – Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”
1-3 – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt”
6-6 – Walker Hayes, “AA”
10-10 – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You”
Re-entry 11 – Thomas Rhett, “Slow Down Summer”
13-12 – Maren Morris, “Circles Around This Town”

Country Digital Song Sales (dated March 19; reflecting sales activity in the week ending March 10)
March 12 Rank – March 19 Rank – Artist, Title
Debut 1 – Kane Brown, “Leave You Alone”
3-3 – Walker Hayes, “AA”
4-5 – Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like”
6-6 – Jordan Davis featuring Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt”
Re-entry 7 – Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You”
Re-entry 10 – Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance” (covered on the ACMs by Barrett)
23-13 – Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”

The 57th Academy of Country Music Awards is produced by MRC Live & Alternative, which is owned by MRC. MRC is a co-owner of Billboard through a joint venture with Penske Media titled P-MRC.

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