Cole Swindell has another major feat on his hands with his latest release, “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.” The catchy tune is currently on its fourth straight week at the top of the Billboard country airplay chart, making Swindell the only artist in 2022 to have a four-week consecutive No. 1 single.
“I continue to be blown away and humbled by the response to this song,” Swindell said in a recent press release. “I knew it was a special song when we wrote it and I knew that it could be a big song, but to now see it happening because of the support of the fans and radio, has just meant so much to me. Thank you.”
While listening to Swindell’s latest record, Stereotype, track number four caused listeners to do a double take with its familiar lyrics and upbeat melody. During his time on the road with fellow country star Thomas Rhett, they had the idea to reimagine country hitmaker Jo Dee Messina’s 1996 debut single, “Heads Carolina, Tails California.”
The result was their creation titled, “She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” which was then produced by Zach Crowell and includes co-writers Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure, and the original writers on “Heads Carolina, Tails California” Mark D. Sanders and Tim Nichols Written.
“Heads Carolina, tails California / Maybe she’d fall for a boy from South Georgia / She’s got the bar in the palm of her hand / And she’s a ’90s country fan like I am / Hey, I got a Chevy, she can flip a quarter / I’d drive her anywhere from here to California / When this song is over, I gotta find her / ‘Cause she had me at Heads Carolina,” Swindell sings in the chorus.
Last month, the nod to ‘90s country also hit No. 1 on Sirius XM’s The Highway Hot 30 Weekend Countdown. In celebration of his fasting-rising single to date, Swindell recently dropped a surprise acoustic version.
“The love and support on this one has been unbelievable… You have taken this song, sang every word, and made it the #1 song on Country Radio for 4 weeks now! We thought we’d celebrate and release a stripped down version 🪙 “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” (Acoustic) is out now! 🤘,” he wrote on social media.
The Georgia hitmaker’s 15-track collection, which is the follow-up to his 2018 project, All Of It, includes two more back-to-back multi-week No. 1 hits, “Single Saturday Night,” and his Gold-certified smash single featuring Lainey Wilson, “Never Say Never.”
He now holds 12 career No. 1’s as an artist, 13 No. 1’s as a songwriter, nine certified Platinum singles, a Platinum-certified debut album and a Gold-certified sophomore album. Plus, he has racked up along with nearly 200 million global streams to date with the largest airplay audience for a country No. 1 this year.
“Never Say Never” was previously his fastest-rising single to date before “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” hit the top spot on the Billboard country singles chart.
Cole Swindell is currently on his headlining Back Down To The Bar Tour with support from Ashley Cooke and Dylan Marlowe. The extended trek kicked off September 23, 2022 and is set to continue through November.
The tour already has several sold-out shows, including his first headlining date at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, which prompted him to add a second show the following night, on Nov. 2.
