Billy Currington Celebrates 11th No. 1 With ‘It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To’
Billy Currington celebrated another No. 1 single, "It Don't Hurt Like it Used To" on Dec. 6 in Nashville, marking the 11th chart-topping track of his career.
Currington and the song's co-writers Shy Carter ("Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland, "Someday" by Rob Thomas) and Cary Barlowe sat down with Taste of Country and other media before the No. 1 party to talk about the significance of the song.
"For this one, it was just a gut feeling, it was just like 'this feels right,'" Currington said of the track.
Barlowe — the writers behind hits like Lady Antebellum's "American Honey" and "Sun Daze" by Florida Georgia Line — explains that the trio were not scheduled to write together that day. The song came about when Currington stopped by to say hello after Carter and Barlowe's writing session earlier in the day.
"The song literally fell out of the sky, like God just wanted the song to come out," Barlowe says. "This kind of felt like just this natural, organic thing."
Though Currington had already selected the songs he wanted for his latest album, Summer Forever, when his manager sent along the mix of the song from programmer Jesse Frasure, he knew it had to be included on the project.
"It kind of changed my album a little bit," the singer adds. "I'm thankful that it did."
Though the country crooner is best known for a more traditional country sound, he feels this No. 1 a natural fit in his catalogue. "It's definitely more on the edgier side, but it still works" Curringston says when comparing "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To" to traditional hits like "Must Be Doing Something Right" and "People are Crazy."
"In the live show, it don't matter where you put it in the set, it still works just as good as 'People are Crazy,'" he furthers.
The guys received a host of presentations from members of their teams at the No. 1 celebration, including a custom BMI guitar for Carter — a tradition the company carries out the first time one of its artists earns a No. 1 country song. The song's producer and 2016 CMA Musician of the Year Dann Huff was also on hand to celebrate.
"What a gift of interpretation," Huff said to Currington about the latest No. 1. "It's when the perfect song hits the perfect singer."
Currington is heading home to Georgia for the holidays, winding down from a busy year and spending time with family and friends and continuing his tradition of making smoked duck soup. He's currently promoting his new single "Do I Make You Wanna," the final release off of Summer Forever. He also reveals that he'll be starting a new project in spring of 2017, with hopes of completion by summer.