The Song That Made Chris Stapleton Famous Was Never a Single — No, Really!
True story: Chris Stapleton's most famous song to date, the one that essentially launched his career, was never a single. Really.
Stapleton and his record label never released "Tennessee Whiskey" as a single -- not even after his epic performance at the 2015 CMA Awards with Justin Timberlake. The two friends paired Stapleton's now-iconic song with Timberlake's own "Drink You Away," but if they had been picking based on singles, viewers would have heard Stapleton's "Traveller" instead.
Yup, the title track of Stapleton's breakout debut album was the first single from the project. Shortly after the 2015 CMA Awards, he followed it up with ... "Nobody to Blame"?! "Parachute" came next, released as a single in the spring of 2016. All three landed in the Hot Country Songs Top 20 and were certified either gold ("Traveller") or platinum (the other two) -- but they're no "Tennessee Whiskey."
Perhaps "Tennessee Whiskey" never became an official single because it didn't need any more help after that CMA Awards performance. Based on that night alone, the song went to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and to No. 23 on the all-genre Hot 100 (it would reach No. 20 on the latter chart one week later). Stapleton's version of the Dean Dillon-penned song, previously recorded by both David Allan Coe and George Jones, has also been certified multi-platinum.
We'll admit it: Even we did a double-take at that information. Press play above to learn more about Stapleton's famous non-single in the newest installment of the video series The Secret History of Country Music, from The Boot's partner site Taste of Country.
Chris Stapleton's Best Live Shots
Unforgettable Chris Stapleton Moments