Remember When Chris Young Earned His Second No.1 with ‘The Man I Want To Be?’

Chris Young celebrated his second No.1 single this week in 2010 with “The Man I Want To Be.”  Produced by…

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Ally Roden

| Posted on

May 27, 2021

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Chris Young; Photo via YouTube

Chris Young celebrated his second No.1 single this week in 2010 with “The Man I Want To Be.” 

Produced by James Stroud and written by Brett James and Tom Nichols, “The Man I Want To Be” third single from Young’s album of the same name. The track was released in September of 2009. 

“The Man I Want to Be” was the second of five consecutive No. hits released by the country superstar. Selling more than 1 million units in the U.S., “The Man I Want to Be” was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

In addition to his spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, Young’s single reached number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 list, as well as number 81 on Canadian Hot 100.

YouTube video

Brett James shared some insight behind the writing process for “The Man I Want to Be” with The Boot.

“Tim had a couple of lines already about wanting to be a good man and a ‘be like I should man.’ When that came out of his mouth, we started digging into that idea. I said, ‘What if we make it a prayer? What if he’s talking to God about changing his life?’ Make it that he’s having a conversation with God — not just a friend. That’s when we really started finding that song, when we turned it into a prayer,” James explained. 

“We all can relate to that — wanting to be a better person and a better man,” he added. “We wrote it from the heart about wanting to be better people and wanting to make changes in our own life. The second verse, we thought we had to bring in the girl and why he wants to be that better person. It’s a big part of the reason you want to change your life, to make better for people around you.”

Chris Young has gone on to release hit after hit, including “Tomorrow,” “I’m Comin’ Over,” “Who I Am With You,” and “Famous Friends” with Kane Brown. 

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Ally Roden

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Ally Roden