Career-Best Start For McEntire; Hunt Posts First Digital No. 1

Thursday, January 15, 2015 - 10:19 AM, CST | WADE JESSEN, BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE

Reba McEntire scores a career-high bow at No. 28 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with “Going Out Like That” (Nash Icon/Valory), her first single in more than three years and the lead track from her as-yet untitled new album, due in April. The song surpasses the 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame honoree’s previous top start, set when “If You See Him/If You See Her” (with Brooks & Dunn) opened at No. 32 in 1998. (The chart was then based solely on airplay; it has measured airplay, sales and streaming since Oct. 20, 2012.) “That” also marks McEntire’s career-high digital sales week and highest rank on Country Digital Songs, where it enters at No. 13 with 21,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music. She set her previous best rank and sales sum when “Consider Me Gone” debuted and peaked at No. 19 with 19,000 sold (Jan. 23, 2010). McEntire’s new song is the first chart appearance for the recently launched Nash Icon imprint, a joint venture between Cumulus and the Big Machine Label Group. Other artists in the Nash Icon stable include Martina McBride and Ronnie Dunn.

Posted by Extreme Reba on 01/15/2015 at 10:19 AM