Luke Bryan Looks Back On His Career & 30 No. 1 Hits

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Pictured (L-R): Cindy Mabe/Chair & CEO, UMG Nashville, Luke Bryan, Kerri Edwards/KP Entertainment. Photo: Alan Poizner

Industry members gathered at Brooklyn Bowl earlier this week to celebrate country superstar, Luke Bryan.

The five-time Entertainer of the Year recently notched the milestone of 30 No. 1 hits. First topping the charts in 2009 with “Do I,” Bryan has changed the sound of country music in the last 15 years.

The occasion served as a celebration of Bryan’s life and work. So many executives and peers that helped his record-breaking career take shape were in attendance, and Bryan thanked a lot of them by name, telling funny stories about their time together. In short, it was a love fest.

Storme Warren served as the emcee for the event. He let the crowd know that Bryan was in prestigious company as a 30-time chart-topping artist, joining the ranks with such legends as George Strait, Ronnie Milsap, Conway Twitty and Alabama.

Luke Bryan, Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott. Photo: Alan Poizner

Bryan’s longtime partner in crime, KP Entertainment’s Kerri Edwards, spoke about her journey with Bryan from her days of booking his calendar at Roger Murrah‘s publishing company to stewarding him to superstardom.

“I could not be more excited to be here celebrating this moment with this artist, and everything that his been accomplished not only through his hard work, but by the hard work of many of you in the room,” Edwards said.

To honor Bryan’s 30 No. 1 hits, some artists came out to congratulate their friend. Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood from Lady A performed “Do I,” before Dierks Bentley gave a hilarious performance of “Play It Again.” Bentley turned his appearance into a full-blown Luke Bryan roast, tallying their No. 1 hits and playfully making fun of the entertainer. Bryan ate it up.

Up next was Marty Raybon of Shenandoah, a long-time musical hero to Bryan, who performed “Fast.” The final surprise performer was good friend Jason Aldean who sang Bryan’s “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.”

When Bryan got up to the podium to speak, he let us know it was going to take him a while. He generously thanked so many industry members for their contribution to his career.

Bryan also thanked the songwriters who had helped him reach the milestone, calling out frequent collaborators Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Ashley Gorley, Rodney Clawson and more, as well as his longtime co-writer and producer, Jeff Stevens, and his son Jody Stevens. Bryan also thanked the songwriters for the hits that didn’t make it to the top of the charts, hilariously recalling how they should count in the tally.

“There’s a beauty to me writing a song every now and then that I love, and then leaning on Nashville to send me their songs that they love. That’s where I love to be in life,” Bryan shared. “As long as I’m focusing on trying to be important and relevant in music, I will always lean on the songwriting community more than ever.”

He added, “It’s one of the most beautiful, organized machines in this whole world, watching the Nashville songwriting community write songs that change people’s lives and help country music fans through the good times and the bad times.”

Pictured (L-R): MusicRow’s LB Cantrell, Luke Bryan with his MusicRow No. 1 Challenge Coins, MusicRow’s Sherod Robertson. Photo: Alan Poizner

Bryan closed out the performances singing “Country On,” his 30th No. 1 hit.

During his career, Bryan has amassed a total of 21.7 billion global streams, 11.5 million global album sales and 52 million track sales worldwide. He is the most digital single RIAA certified country artist of all time with 83 million units and 15.5 million album certified units for a total of 98.5 million. He was recently presented with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award in recognition of his standing as one of the most streamed artists in SoundExchange’s 20-year history.

Bryan has won more than 50 major music awards, including five wins as Entertainer of the Year. Additional awards include six recognitions as a CMT Artist of the Year, NSAI Artist/Songwriter of the Year, the first-ever recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade Award for Crash My Party, seven CMT Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards and four American Music Awards.

On Nov. 8 Bryan and NFL superstar Peyton Manning will return to host The 57th Annual CMA Awards to be broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena 8:00-11:00 PM/EST on ABC. In 2024, Bryan will once again return as a celebrity judge alongside Katy Perry and Lionel Richie for their seventh season on ABC’s American Idol.

Luke Bryan’s 30 career No. 1 singles:
“Country On” – Written by: Mark Nesler, David Frasier, Mitch Oglesby, Styles Haury 12-12-22
“Buy Dirt” – Written by: Josh Jenkins, Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis, Matt Jenkins 1-24-22
“Waves”- Written by: Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill 8-30-21
“Down To One”- Written by: Dallas Davidson, Justin Ebach, Kyle Fishman 3-1-21
“One Margarita” – Written by: Michael Carter, Matt Dragstrem, Josh Thompson 7-6-21
“What She Wants Tonight”- Written by: Luke Bryan, Ross Copperman, Hillary Lindsey, Jon Nite 3-31-20
“Knockin’ Boots”- Written by: Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson, Jon Nite 9-9-19
“What Makes You Country”- Written by: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley 2-27-19
“Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset”- Written by: Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd, Chase McGill 9-10-18
“Most People Are Good”- Written by: David Frasier, Ed Hill, Josh Kear 3-26-18
“Light It Up”- Written by: Luke Bryan, Brad Tursi 12-11-17
“Fast”- Written by: Luke Bryan, Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird 4-3-17
“Move” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Michael Carter, Jay Clementi 11-7-16
“Huntin’, Fishin’, And Lovin’ Every Day” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip 6-20-16
“Home Alone Tonight” – Written by: Jody Stevens, Cole Taylor, Jaida Dreyer, Tommy Cecil 2-1-16
“Strip It Down” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Jon Nite, Ross Copperman 10-19-15
“Kick The Dust Up” – Written by: Dallas Davidson, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley 8-3-15
“I See You” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird 2-2-15
“Roller Coaster” – Written by: Michael Carter, Cole Swindell 10-6-14
“Play It Again” – Written by: Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley 5-19-14
“Drink A Beer” – Written by: Jim Beavers, Chris Stapleton 2-3-14
“That’s My Kind of Night” – Written by: Dallas Davidson, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley 10-21-13
“Crash My Party” – Written by: Rodney Clawson, Ashley Gorley 7-1-13
“Only Way I Know” – Jason Aldean, Feat Luke Bryan 2-4-13
“Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Jeff Stevens, Shane McAnally 11-5-12
“Drunk On You” – Written by: Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Josh Kear 6-4-12
“I Don’t Want This Night To End” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip 1-16-12
“Someone Else Calling You Baby” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Jeff Stevens 2-13-11
“Rain Is A Good Thing” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson 7-11-10
“Do I” – Written by: Luke Bryan, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley 12-13-09

LB Cantrell
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