Tucker Wetmore’s single “Brunette” has reached No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart this week, capping a steady rise that accelerated after his performance at the Academy of Country Music Awards and his win for New Male Artist. The milestone spotlights how televised moments and streaming momentum still feed radio success in country music today.
This is Wetmore’s third top-10 entry at country radio; two earlier singles climbed to the runner-up position last year. “Brunette” — written by Chris LaCorte, Coop McGill, Josh Miller and Blake Pendergrass — reached the apex in its 23rd week on the chart, a pace that beats many recent chart-toppers and underscores the slow-burn path some songs take to radio dominance.
The track has amassed substantial streaming figures, registering more than 203 million on-demand U.S. streams so far. Across his catalog, Wetmore has generated roughly 1.7 billion streams to date, a sign of sustained listener engagement beyond linear radio spins.
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Programmers point to multiple factors behind the single’s lift. Tim Roberts, who oversees country programming at Audacy and leads WYCD Detroit, says early live reaction and streaming signals made the song an obvious radio add, adding that its tight, sub-three-minute runtime is ideal for airplay. KBAY San Jose operations manager J. Love said the record “clicked immediately” with local audiences, noting the kind of communal singalong response that programmers look for.
Luke Combs inches into the Top 20
At the same time, Luke Combs’ latest promoted single, “Be by You”, moved into the Country Airplay top 20 this week, jumping from No. 24 to No. 19 with a 20% increase in audience impressions (10.2 million). The track follows “Sleepless in a Hotel Room,” which became Combs’ 20th country radio No. 1 in April and held the summit for five weeks.
Both songs come from Combs’ album The Way I Am, which debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums in April. That record has already produced multiple high-charting singles, including the No. 1 “Back in the Saddle” and the No. 2 hit “Days Like These.”
- “Brunette”: No. 1 on Country Airplay in week 23; 203.1M on-demand U.S. streams
- Wetmore catalog total: ~1.7 billion streams
- Luke Combs — “Be by You”: moved 24→19; 10.2M audience impressions this week, up 20%
- Combs’ album The Way I Am: recent No. 1 on Top Country Albums; multiple top-2 Country Airplay singles
What to watch next: radio programmers will be monitoring whether Wetmore can sustain multi-format support now that he has a No. 1, and whether Combs’ newest single can convert rising audience impressions into a longer climb. With streaming still shaping radio playlists and awards-season visibility providing immediate boosts, the interplay between platforms will likely determine the next moves on the Country Airplay chart.
