Two Tyler Childers Singles Certified Gold
In yet another sign (or two) that Tyler Childers has been on a tear and may turn out to be the man who turns the tables on mainstream country, two more singles from his breakout album Purgatory released in 2017 have been Certified Gold by the RIAA. The first is one of his signature songs about wild Kentucky life in “Whitehouse Road,” and the other is the tribute to his wife and fellow songwriter Senora May called “Lady May.”
Both singles were officially Certified Gold on November 10th for reaching over 500,000 units in sales, downloads, and streaming equivalents. Just on Spotify alone, “Whitehouse Road” has been streamed nearly 44 million times, and “Lady May” almost 50 million. They join Tyler’s song “Feathered Indians,” which was first Certified Gold in February, and then Certified Platinum on September 15th.
Well over three years after it was released, Purgatory by Tyler Childers continues to be one of the most consistently popular albums in all of country music. This week the album once again ended up in the Top 20 at #15, with another nearly 7,000 albums sold, and songs from the album being streamed 7.8 million times. Soon the album itself is likely to go Gold, with other singles from the album heading towards Gold status as well.
Though country singles going Gold is not always the cause for grand celebration, when it’s done by an artist not supported by mainstream radio, it’s unprecedented, at least it was before 2020 when now multiple singles have broken through that ceiling, signaling a major shift in the power dynamic in country music where independent artists can now compete with their mainstream counterparts in sales and streams. It’s one thing to mint a #1 record on a debut week. It’s another to keep up such consistent sales and streams to earn Gold and Platinum status.
And Tyler Childers is not alone. The Cody Jinks single “Loud and Heavy” from Cody’s 2015 album Adobe Sessions went Gold on March 31st. Then “Hippies and Cowboys” from Cody’s 2010 album Less Wise went Gold on August 5th. Then on September 15th, “Loud and Heavy” went Platinum.
Then on September 18th, not one, but two singles from Texas-based Southern rock band Whiskey Myers were Certified Gold by the RIAA. Their song “Ballad of a Southern Man” off the 2011 album Firewater was certified Gold for reaching over 500,000 units in sales, downloads, and streaming equivalents, as was their song “Stone” from their 2016 album Mud.
No longer are Gold and Platinum records the domain of the mainstream, and we can expect more songs, albums, and artists to hit that status in the coming months and years.
November 17, 2020 @ 9:14 am
Cha-ching$$$$$$- in spite of or to spite Trashville Empty Suit pin heads!
November 17, 2020 @ 11:25 am
Two gold records for a Weasley… I never thought I’d see the day.
Will he have room on the walls of The Burrow to display such records?
Fred & George might be pulling a prank on Tyler… Is it real gold?
November 17, 2020 @ 4:54 pm
I love this comment!
November 17, 2020 @ 5:34 pm
We love your comments, Kathy P! Good to see you commenting on a night which there isn’t an awards show live blog.
November 17, 2020 @ 5:53 pm
NO… I love you, Kathy P.
Thank you for your continued support and optimism.
You are a light in this world!!!
November 17, 2020 @ 11:27 am
^^^ Howling… I’ve been up with this Weasley joke for sometime.
I’m just curious if Trigger even gets the reference 😂
November 17, 2020 @ 11:33 am
Trigger doesn’t.
November 17, 2020 @ 11:39 am
Harry Potter/ red head joke?
November 17, 2020 @ 11:59 am
Bingo – Tyler Childers looks a lot like “Charlie Weasley” from Harry Potter.
The Weasleys are modesty lower middle class & famously live in The Burrow.
November 17, 2020 @ 11:32 am
A Gold record is always exciting. I got my first (and only) Gold record way back in 1971, back when Gold meant that you had to sell 1,000,000 copies; though 500,000 is still respectable.
November 17, 2020 @ 1:49 pm
A gold record for what?
November 17, 2020 @ 2:19 pm
For being a great guy
November 17, 2020 @ 9:20 pm
Steve, it’s me Jim. If your the Steve Thompson I’m thinking of, you are the grandson of Ken Thompson (who was my first cousin through my mother), Ken Thompson’s mother was my Aunt Helen Murray (my mother’s sister), who married a Thompson unrelated to me named Joseph Thompson, in 1915, I believe. Ken was born around 1918. I guess you’d be around 45-50 now.
November 17, 2020 @ 9:25 pm
I’m not the Steve Thompson you’re thinking of, but your uncle Joe Thompson was my great-uncle. He was born in 1893, the eldest son of Wilton Thompson and his wife Eva O’Grady, who married in 1892. Including Joe, they had twelve children between 1893 and 1915, the youngest being my grandfather Harry Thompson, born in 1915. Ken Thompson was my dad’s first cousin as well. I guess you are a Thompson from the Thompsonhill area in Renfrew, Ontario; and I’m a Thompson from Matawatchan, Ontario, though I live in Texas currently, my father (also named Jim Thompson), who was born in 1947, moved to Texas after marrying my mother, who was a native of Texas, in 1972, I was born 2 years later. So I’m a different Steve Thompson then you’re thinking of, but we share a first cousin and an uncle!
November 17, 2020 @ 11:20 pm
I am really happy for all these cats!!
I dont know if i wanna even try to label it.
Simply damn good folks playin pickin singin raisin families from the gawd damn road….and doin it well!!
Is Damn good music a category?
I thank yall for makin the world a lil bit better just by remaining true .
You may have just passed aerosmith and another Tyler
Tks again
November 17, 2020 @ 12:33 pm
“Easy, guys.. I put my pants on just like the rest of you — one leg at a time. Except, once my pants are on, I make gold records. ” – The Bruce Dickinson
November 17, 2020 @ 2:20 pm
I actually put my pants on both legs at the same time (I’ve been doing it since the 30s)
November 17, 2020 @ 3:44 pm
So why won’t radio play these singles? They’d attract listeners and sell ads, wouldn’t they?
November 17, 2020 @ 11:31 pm
Cuz the d bags still playin FLG…..swear to gawd my farrier has wamz on same gd music every day last 3 yrs.
i hear these dudes on Froggy
101
Hell yea Froggy.
Far as mainstream…they aint ready nor never will be.. For the likes of this bunch.
Strongest crop across the board….well in my opinion.
Which adds up to music that i can sing dance cry laugh with .. And by people given everything they are into everysingle time they play!! Lucky baatards…..aint we …gettin paid to do our thing!! Tks again
November 17, 2020 @ 4:39 pm
Craziest part is, those are amongst the weakest songs on that album. That’s not to say that they are weak songs. That is to say that album is absolutely amazing from start to finish!
Hell (said in the “old soul radio show” voice), Tyler has a good half dozen songs from that era that aren’t on any album I still play regularly. He was truly on a roll. I liked country squire fine and I’m glad he’s learning fiddle, taking up charitable causes, and standing up for what he believes in if he feels called to do so but, I also think it’s okay to acknowledge songs he was throwing away back then held up better than the more recent singles. I thought he might work himself into a grave there for a while the way they were touring and I know he’s been working on doing things a healthier way lately so, I’m all for giving him all the time he needs. I don’t think another album like that is a given though and, while I understand the desire to back our guys and call everything they do great, I really don’t think it does them any favors when all the hype is gone and the music has to speak for itself. Purgatory will always speak for itself without question. I sure hope red barn and the “throw always” don’t remain the closest thing to standing up next to that album from Tyler. Throw “shake the frost”, “a song while you’re away”, “take my hounds to heaven“, “the wonder and why” (that may be the YouTube name as that’s not even the actual lyric) on an album with the other half dozen “throw away” bangers, one of the great covers, and a new song or 2 and he’s already got another classic album written.
I put the Tyler dive bar days in the running with the most important things I’ve ever witnessed first hand in all of music. I remember thinking “ this is a kid, he didn’t write all these songs” and it’s still hard to believe. He’s objectively wildly successful and deservedly so but, I’ll be dammed if he’s not capable of so much more. I definitely love what he and Cody and, yes, even Sturgill have achieved. “Independent” or “alt” or “outlaw” artists for years to come owe Cody a beer and Tyler and Sturgill a coke for sure!
November 17, 2020 @ 5:36 pm
love his music but he needs to check his virtue signaling BS at the door, send Candace Owen to his house and straighten him out with some facts
November 17, 2020 @ 5:57 pm
Trig, any future article on Conan O’Brien?
He recently announced he’s stepping down as a nightly talk show host after 28 years!! Over the years, he’s been very generous in having country stars & indie artists on his show!!
He’s leaving TBS for HBO Max streaming but will only be doing a weekly, variety show. No more talk show….
November 17, 2020 @ 6:01 pm
Probably not. They 86’d music from his show a while back, though he was a big supporter in the past. Hopefully there is a musical component to the HBO show. I’ll be keeping my eye on it.
November 17, 2020 @ 7:19 pm
I’m a huge Conan fan. They did stop music in 2018..
But hopefully his new HBO Max show will feature live music again and maybe his band leader “Jimmy Vivino” will be back. HBO max probably has a much better product budget than TBS these days
November 17, 2020 @ 9:21 pm
I already loved his music but I loved and respected him so much more for having the courage to speak out like he did, knowing that he risked losing fans, and at a critical point in his career. It took courage to do, and his words showed that he is a man of honor and integrity. We need more of that. Not less.
November 18, 2020 @ 7:11 am
Conan O’Brien is indeed a great guy. He’s been through a lot during his 27+ years as a late night host but he never gave up. He’s a legend
November 20, 2020 @ 8:07 pm
I still don’t get Tyler Childers, and this comment section gets weirder by the week.