As North Carolina native Scotty McCreery celebrates his thirtieth birthday (Oct. 9), he has additionally notched simply over a dozen years within the nation business and 5 albums’ price of music.
In early 2011, the North Carolina native started to make his presence identified within the music world together with his performances on American Idol, reflecting a expertise and vocal maturity far past his years, beginning with not solely his cowl songs selections on Idol, however the songs he’s chosen within the years since.
His latest songs proceed to showcase the indelible affect of traditional-minded nation artists together with George Strait, Randy Travis and Keith Whitley on McCreery’s music. But McCreery has lengthy shed his early-career picture as merely a baby-faced singer with a basement-deep voice.
Notably, after parting methods together with his former label Interscope/Mercury, McCreery launched the track “Five More Minutes” independently; after the track started gaining traction on nation radio, McCreery signed with Triple Tigers Records, which put its promotional weight behind the track, serving to McCreery take the track to the highest of Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart.
Since then, McCreery has added 4 extra No. 1 Country Airplay hits to his arsenal. He’s additionally demonstrated his prowess as each vocal interpreter and expert songcrafter — he’s a co-writer on 10 of the dozen songs on his 2021 album Same Truck and is a author on a number of of his Country Airplay chart-toppers.
Along the way in which, McCreery’s music has taken an more and more private flip, taking inspiration from his life with spouse Gabi and most not too long ago, the addition of their first baby collectively, son Merrick Avery McCreery, born on Oct. 24, 2022.
Here, we have a look at 10 of McCreery’s greatest songs.
[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in September 2017 and was updated in October 2023.]
-
“Feelin’ It”
Upon the discharge of McCreery’s 2013 LP See You Tonight, Billboard stated of this future high ten hit: “The song has a definite contemporary sheen. It’s probably not going to win any Song of the Year prizes, but it’s just 3:19 of fun. Sometimes, that’s as it should be!” The monitor, written by Frank Rogers and Matthew West, nonetheless matches that description. It makes for a melodic track to roll down the home windows to.
-
“The Trouble With Girls”
This dramatic ballad — all in regards to the impact that the other gender can have on a person — undoubtedly made an influence on the followers who had simply voted him because the American Idol winner a number of months earlier upon this track’s launch in August 2011.
-
“I Love You This Big”
This track hit nation radio and digital retailers at some point after his Idol win in May 2011. The constructive love track was one which merely made the listener really feel good. If you look actual carefully within the video for this track, you will notice an look by the singer’s mom. All in all, the track was an ideal method to introduce McCreery to a world past Idol.
-
“Water Tower Town”
The last Scotty McCreery single to be launched from his debut album Clear As Day discovered the singer in high quality type, speaking in regards to the attraction of small-town life. He may have been singing about his hometown of Garner, North Carolina, but on the identical time, he may be referencing Glennville, Georgia – the hometown of a pre-stardom Cole Swindell, one in every of three writers listed on the track.
-
“See You Tonight”
The singer co-wrote this 2013 single, which wound up being the primary launch and title monitor from his sophomore album. The track may need been somewhat bit cliched, however the lyrics a few man who was counting down the minutes till he sees his lover undoubtedly made for an entertaining second — each on nation radio in addition to in live performance, the place this track has impressed numerous singalong collaborations since its unique launch.
-
“In Between”
McCreery notched his third Country Airplay No. 1 with this track in 2020. With key lyrics together with “I ain’t all holy water/ And I ain’t all Jim Beam,” McCreery particulars an outlook of a younger man balancing accountability with the urge for some wilder moments. McCreery wrote the track with Frank Rogers, Jessi Alexander and Jonathan Singleton.
-
“You Time”
McCreery gives a easy romantic want to put duties apart for some a lot overdue high quality time spent together with his lover. In 2021, this track turned McCreery’s fourth Country Airplay No. 1 hit.
“I wrote this track with Frank [Rogers] and Aaron [Eshuis] in 2019, however it nonetheless feels model new, McCreery advised Billboard in 2021. “Now that I’m again on the street, it’s been enjoyable to see the viewers get excited and dance after we play ‘You Time.’ It will get an ideal response from the group each night time. I admire nation radio for enjoying and supporting the track, my label [Triple Tigers] and administration. Most of all, my gratitude is to the followers who’re all the time there for me. Having ‘You Time’ hit No. 1 is an effective way to rejoice 10 years of creating music.
-
“This Is It”
In 2019, McCreery’s “This Is It” spent two weeks atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
McCreery co-authored the track, with Frank Rogers and Aaron Eshuis, for his then-longtime girlfriend Gabi Dugal, earlier than they wed in 2018. “Two weeks before I proposed, we wrote ‘This Is It’ as a love song for Gabi,” McCreery tells Billboard. “It’s our story. If the song existed solely for she and I, that would be completely fine with me. But to have our story on the radio and then reach No. 1 on the Billboard chart just makes my heart sing. Gabi is my world, she inspires me every day, and I think people can feel the realness of our love story when they listen to the song and watch the video. The fact that so many couples are now using ‘This’ in their own weddings gives me chills.”
-
“Five More Minutes”
This track earned McCreery his first Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hit in 2018. The sobering composition reminds us all to savor the second – whether or not or not it’s a number of additional minutes exterior at play, along with your important different, within the recreation, or with a beloved one. McCreery penned the track after shedding his grandfather, and it has the potential to endure as a traditional.
-
“Damn Strait”
In 2022, McCreery’s “Damn Strait” spent three weeks entrenched on the high of the Country Airplay chart with this intelligent ode to George Strait. The track marked McCreery’s fifth complete and consecutive No. 1 Country Airplay hit.
“My first country music concert was George Strait, and along with my love for Elvis [Presley], he inspired me to become a country music singer myself,” McCreery advised Billboard when the track reached the chart pinnacle. “When I did American Idol, George called me and requested I sing his [1995] hit ‘Check Yes or No,’ and I still sing it from time to time in concert. Now, having my fifth straight No. 1 on a song that pays tribute to George, while at the same time being a classic country heartbreaker such as he might have sung, is such a full-circle moment that means the world to me. Trent Tomlinson and Jim Collins wrote a clever song that reaches beyond name-dropping Strait hits to tell a meaningful story.”
Discussion about this post