‘Shinedown Is Everyone’s Band’: The Rock Kings Make Their Country Chart Debut
Categoria: Musica
“We’ve always felt a good song is a good song,” the group’s Zach Myers tells Billboard.
Por Billboard | 24/06/2026
After nearly a quarter century of ruling Billboard ’s rock charts, Shinedown crosses over to its first entry on a country ranking, as “Searchlight” debuts at No. 54 on Country Airplay (dated June 27). The song drew 980,000 audience impressions in the June 12-18 tracking week, according to Luminate. The band holds the record for the most No. 1s in Mainstream Rock Airplay history (dating to 1981), with 23, but its Country Airplay debut reflects a broader reach that the group says is central to its identity — and, in the case of “Searchlight,” rooted in the way the song was reshaped in the studio. “It was a bit more of a power ballad, and then the guys let me come back in the studio, and I re-sang it with kind of a different intention built around more of that authentic country, really old-school country vibe,” lead singer Brent Smith tells Billboard . “But at the end of the day, we always say that Shinedown is everyone’s band, and it’s been incredible to see the country format and just the audiences embrace the song. Everything we did with it was built from authenticity.” That thinking was on display this week in Philadelphia, where Beasley Media Group paired country WXTU — which gave “Searchlight” 17 plays in the tracking week, according to Mediabase — and rock WMMR for a joint Shinedown acoustic event. Chuck Damico, who programs both stations, as well as classic rock WMGK, says the promotion, which was on the books well before he took the reins at ‘XTU, brought together listeners from both sides of the building. “We had never done anything like that before,” he tells Billboard . “Two guys from Shinedown, Brent and Zach [Myers], came in and performed five songs and did an interview in front of an audience of about 50 or 60 listeners.” No divide among the crowd, Damico says, was evident. “Nicole Michalik, who’s the afternoon-drive host for ’XTU, asked the room who listens to both ’XTU and ’MMR, and every single person raised their hand,” he says. “We like to think of people as being rock listeners or country listeners or whatever, but they’re spanning the dial.” Still, that kind of welcome has been uncommon on Country Airplay, particularly for acts arriving from outside the format without a country collaborator attached. Unlike the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart, which also factors in streaming and sales, Country Airplay reflects country radio playlists, where artists primarily known outside the genre have historically been more likely to break through alongside established country acts. Those cross-format collaborations have included Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber’s “10,000 Hours,” which reached No. 1 in 2020; Kenny Chesney and P!nk’s “Setting the World on Fire,” which led in 2016; Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles’ “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” which topped the chart in 2006; and Chesney’s Uncle Kracker team-up “When the Sun Goes Down,” which spent five weeks at No. 1 in 2004. Garth Brooks and Huey Lewis’ “Workin’ for a Livin’” hit No. 19 in