Justin Timberlake Earns Country Chart Spot With ‘Drink You Away’
Surprise: Justin Timberlake has scored his first solo spot on the country charts with "Drink You Away."
"Drink You Away," a country-tinged tune from Timberlake's 2013 album,The 20/20 Experience — 2 of 2, was released to country radio in November, following his "we're-not-worthy"-level performance with Chris Stapleton at the 2015 CMA Awards. On the charts for the week dated Feb. 6, the song earned the No. 60 slot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
“The CMAs performance was a great moment, and we followed up by delivering a clean version of the song to radio, so stations didn’t have to play the TV audio [or lengthy five-and-a-half-minute album version],” explains Steve Hodges, executive vice president of promotion / artist development for Sony Music Nashville.
Back in 2014, David Fanning, who is also a well-known songwriter and producer, recorded a version of “Drink You Away” — a version that earned approval from Timberlake himself.
“I went in the studio and knocked it out, and realized when I was in the studio, ‘This is a cool song,’” Fanning tells The Boot of the tune. “It kinda evolved in the studio and came out, and next thing you know Justin’s hearing it, and here we are now.”
"Drink You Away" isn't Timberlake's first time on the Country Airplay chart, however: With *NSYNC, he spent time on the chart with the band's remake of Alabama's "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You." That tune reached the No. 3 spot in 1999.
"Drink You Away" is available for download on iTunes.
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