Bailey Zimmerman, Zach Bryan, More Among SiriusXM Class Of 2022
Pictured (L-R, top row): Zach Bryan and Jelly Roll; (L-R, bottom row): Nate Smith and Bailey Zimmerman
SiriusXM has revealed its Class of 2022, consisting of artists that SiriusXM was first to commit airplay and playlist support to throughout the year and who subsequently went on to have a major breakthrough year.
Representing country music on the 2022 list are Bailey Zimmerman, Corey Kent, Jelly Roll, Nate Smith and Zach Bryan.
In 2022, SiriusXM’s The Highway played Zimmerman’s music more than 2,500 times and featured multiple singles, including “Fall in Love” in March—which, in less than three months, went on to reach No. 1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown and reached No. 1 on the country charts in early December. The Highway was one of the only outlets in June to play “Rock and a Hard Place,” which also reached No. 1 on the Hot 30 Countdown. Upon the song’s release in mid-September, The Highway became the first and only outlet to play “Never Leave.”
Pandora has also heavily supported Zimmerman by becoming one of the first platforms to add “Fall In Love” to curated playlists, which has led to the track receiving more than 67 million streams. The track also landed on Pandora’s Top Thumb Hundred of 2022, the annual ranking of the most-loved songs by Pandora listeners.
The Highway was first to play Corey Kent’s “Wild As Her” in March, which quickly moved into regular rotation. In August, the song landed at No. 1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown, and in mid-December the song cracked the top 25 on the country charts. Support continued in October when “How You Know You Made It” debuted with The Highway being the only outlet to support the track to date.
SiriusXM’s Octane was the first national, hard-rock outlet to embrace Jelly Roll’s track “Dead Man Walking” by naming it an Octane Accelerator in October of 2021. Since then, it has been played more than 1,500 times. In April, the song reach No. 1 multiple times on the channel’s listener-voted weekly Big Uns Countdown, over a month before it reached No. 1 on the national active rock chart. SiriusXM also championed the artist on The Highway, providing early support for his track “Son Of A Sinner,” which reached No. 1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown.
Starting in early May, The Highway began championing Nate Smith and his music by being the first national outlet to commit significant airplay to his song “Whiskey On You.” The Highway has since gone on to lead the nation in airplay with over 1,200 spins. In September, the song reached No. 1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown and is finishing the year by cracking the top 5 on the country charts. The Highway is the only outlet to support his songs “I Found You” and “Wreckage,” both of which had their national debut on the channel.
In early January, SiriusXM’s The Spectrum became the first to commit airplay to Zach Bryan’s song “Heading South,” and has since played the song–which in late April reached the top 15 at Triple A charts– more than 1,000 times. The Spectrum continued their support in March by becoming the first to play and amplify his song “From Austin.”
Also among the Class of 2022 are Arin Ray, Becky Hill, Fred again.., Jax, Leah Kate, Muni Long, Nicky Youre, Ryan Castro, Sleazyworld Go, Wage War, and Wet Leg.
