Keith Urban Earns 19th No. 1 With ‘John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16′

Keith Urban is enjoying his 19th time at the time of the charts. The singer-songwriter's latest single, "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16," from his upcoming new album, has sailed to No. 1.

Urban introduced the song to his fans in a performance at the 2015 Country Radio Seminar in February, but he was still unsure at the time if the song was going to be successful for him.

“Maybe two days later, somebody sent me a YouTube link, and that’s the first time I actually heard the crowd react to the end of the first chorus,” Urban recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a good sign.’ It’s sort of like the punch line landed, and they laughed.

“It connected in the way I hoped it would,” he continues, “so I think that’s probably what had all of us start thinking maybe that’s the first song we should get in the studio and work on.”

The song, written by Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Ross Copperman, incorporates several different themes into its three and a half minutes.

“John Cougar references all the sort of sexual tension of teenage angst all of us were growing up in,” McAnally explains. ”John Deere represents the way that our parents worked and what we saw living in the country, and of course [there’s] the element of religion. And [there’s] irony in John Cougar starting the line and John 3:16 ending the line because that was the push and pull of that teenage thing."

Although Urban hasn't announced a title or release date for his new record, he does say it will be a true representation of himself.

“I just think of it in terms of authenticity, just capturing where I’m at,” Urban says. “That’s all my records have ever been about, just capturing where I am.”

Download "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" on iTunes.

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