More Than A Decade Since A Female Country Artist’s Debut Singles From First And Second Albums Go No. 1
Black River Entertainment artist Kelsea Ballerini celebrates her fourth No. 1 single at Country radio as “Legends” claims the top spot on both the Mediabase Country and Billboard Country Airplay charts this week. It’s been eleven years since a female Country artist’s debut singles from both of her first and second albums have reached No. 1 on Billlboard’s Country Airplay chart; Carrie Underwood achieved this feat in 2007. “I can’t believe ‘Legends’ is my fourth #1!” says Ballerini. “Country radio. Fans. Co-Writers. Band. Crew. Team. All I can say is THANK YOU. As one of the first songs I wrote for Unapologetically, the song really captures my journey of loss, life, love, and truly is the heartbeat of this record. Seeing radio embrace this story has meant the world to me.” Written by Ballerini, Forest Glen Whitehead and Hillary Lindsey, “Legends” was produced by Whitehead and Jason Massey and is the lead single from her sophomore album, Unapologetically. It follows Ballerini’s history-making debut, GOLD-certified The First Time, which yielded three PLATINUM-certified No. 1 singles – “Love Me Like You Mean It,” “Dibs,” and “Peter Pan” – and the GOLD-certified hit “Yeah Boy.” “We are incredibly proud of Kelsea and the amazing efforts that have gone into this single,” says Black River Entertainment CEO Gordon Kerr. “From the writers of the song, to Black River’s promotion staff and the support of Country radio, this has been one for the record books!” Adding to Kerr’s enthusiasm, Black River Records’ EVP Rick Froio adds, “Congratulations to Kelsea on her amazing song. Also, to our number one promotion staff, who fought and clawed every step of the way to achieve this great accomplishment – congratulations! We are very proud of our team.” Following the Gold Record Label of the Year award presented to Black River Entertainment at this year’s Country Aircheck Awards, Black River’s SVP of Radio Promotion Mike Wilson is especially celebratory this week. “This promo team has worked so hard and so passionately to push ‘Legends’ to No. 1. We couldn’t have done this without Country radio and all of their support throughout the life of this single. It is an honor to be a part of a history-making team. This is a sweet win!” This marks the fourth No. 1 that Black River Records and Black River Publishing share with Kelsea Ballerini on the Mediabase Country and Billboard Country Airplay charts. Ballerini’s headlining UNAPOLOGETICALLY TOUR continues through April ending in Santa Barbara, CA, with some additional stops along the way including Rodeo Houston, C2C, CMC Rocks and Stagecoach. Tickets in select markets are still available as shows continue to sell out. This summer, Ballerini will join Keith Urban on his GRAFFITI U WORLD TOUR 2018. For more information on KELSEA BALLERINI and VIP Experiences for THE UNAPOLOGETICALLY TOUR, visitKelseaBallerini.com and reach out to her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Fans can also follow along the tour with #KB2TOUR. ABOUT KELSEA BALLERINI: Applauded as GRAMMY nominee Kelsea Ballerini’s “grown-up statement” (Rolling Stone), the Black River Entertainment artist’s acclaimed sophomore album UNAPOLOGETICALLY takes listeners on an intimate journey of loss, life, and love. “Legends” is the #1 lead single off the 12-track compilation – all written or co-written by Ballerini. She’s currently on THE UNAPOLOGETICALLY TOUR, following her sold-out first headlining tour, THE FIRST TIME TOUR (2016). The record-breaker skyrocketed to stardom after releasing PLATINUM-certified, #1 smashes – “Love Me Like You Mean It," “Dibs,” “Peter Pan” – from her critically acclaimed, GOLD-certified breakout THE FIRST TIME. Ballerini is the only female artist in Country music history, including female duos and groups, to go #1 with her first three consecutive singles from a debut album. In 2017, she appeared on the cover of Billboard Magazine’s GRAMMY preview issue, was included in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” class, and featured in People Magazine’s “Beauty at Every Age” list in their iconic World’s Most Beautiful issue. Praised by The New York Times as an “elegant songwriter," Ballerini has received the esteemed ASCAP Vanguard Award, CMT’s Impact Award after being chosen to be a part of CMT’sNext Women of Country, Nashville Business Journal’s Artist of The Year, ACM Honor’s Gene Weed Milestone Award, iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Country Artist, ACM Award for New Female Vocalist of the Year (2016), ACCA Award for Breakthrough Female of the Year (2016), multiple Radio Disney Music Awards, and Billboard’s Rising Startitle at the prestigious 2015 Women in Music event. ABOUT BLACK RIVER ENTERTAINMENT: Underneath the Black River Entertainment umbrella is a family of record labels, a management company, a GRAMMY-winning publishing company, and state-of-the-art recording studios. Black River Records, Black River Americana, Black River Christian and Passport Productions make up the family of record labels. The combined roster of artists includes Abby Anderson, Kelsea Ballerini, Jacob Davis, and Ronnie Milsap; Carolina Story; Hannah Kerr and Josh Wilson; and Nikita Karmen. Thrive Management provides artist management services within Black River Christian. Black River Publishing is home to many talented writers including: Hit songwriters/producers Bobby Huff and Josh Kerr, songwriters/artists Ben Caver, Eddie Garcia, Nikita Karmen, Scott Stepakoff, Anna Vaus, and Nick Wayne, songwriters/Black River recording artists Abby Anderson, Carolina Story, Jacob Davis, Hannah Kerr and Josh Wilson, and the catalogues of hit-songwriter/Black River Recording artist Kelsea Ballerini, hit songwriters/producers Doug Johnson, Forest Glen Whitehead, and GRAMMY-winning songwriter Josh Osborne. For more information about Black River Publishing, please visit www.blackriverpublishing.com. Owned and operated by BRE, the historic Sound Stage and Ronnie’s Place studios are located on Nashville’s famous Music Row and have set the standard legendary artists/musicians/producers have appreciated since the late 1960s. Artists from multiple genres have cut hits in these studios including 50 Cent, Kelsea Ballerini, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Casting Crowns, Alice Cooper, Sam Hunt, Miranda Lambert, Jerry Lee Lewis, Reba McEntire, Craig Morgan, PHISH, Taylor Swift, Shania Twain and Keith Urban. Part of the Pegula Sports and Entertainment family, which includes the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, AHL’s Rochester Americans, NLL’s Buffalo Bandits, HARBORCENTER, Buffalo Marriott HARBORCENTER, KeyBank Center, and IMPACT Sports Performance, Black River Entertainment and its entities are based in Nashville, TN. For more information, please visit www.blackriverent.com.
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