Parker McCollum Lands First Country Airplay No.1 With ‘Pretty Heart’
The rising MCA Nashville artist makes the grade with the song, which he wrote with Randy Montana, from his ‘Hollywood Gold’ EP.
Parker McCollum has jumped to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart to earn his first No.1 with his debut single “Pretty Heart.” The track climbs 5-1 in its 50th week on the survey.
The rising MCA Nashville artist makes the grade with the song, which he wrote with Randy Montana, from his Hollywood Gold EP. “To have this song really and truly succeed on big time radio is a dream come true,” says McCollum, who is now based in Austin. “And for it to happen during such an insanely crazy year makes it just that much more special.”
On Twitter, he added: “We did it y’all! Just a kid from Conroe, TX who dreamed about playing country music now has the #1 song in the country this week! No beer songs or dirt roads or trucks or nothin. Just honest songwriting. We did it our way! Best fans in the world made it happen! THANK YOU!”
“Pretty Heart” also received gold certification by the RIAA in October, and has average weekly streams of more than five million streams. Hollywood Gold, which was named for a horse that was owned by the artist’s grandfather, became the highest-selling debut EP of 2020 as it debuted at No.10 on the Billboard country chart.
“McCollum’s voice is twangy and strong and the Texan’s songwriting really stands out,” wrote Billboard. “There’s nothing cookie-cutter about these songs.” American Songwriter added: “Parker McCollum shines bright on his new EP Hollywood Gold.”
“Pretty Heart” is on VEVO’s Most Watched Country Videos for 2020 list, while Sounds Like Nashville has named it as one of its best singles of the year. McCollum was chosen as an Artist to Watch by Pandora and CountryNow, following similar distinctions from Rolling Stone, Billboard, SiriusXM, and CMT.
The Hollywood Gold EP can be bought here.
