Bailey Zimmerman notches his fourth career-opening leader in a row on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Where It Ends” elevates to No. 1 on the ranking dated June 1. It advanced by 18% to 33.3 million audience impressions May 17-23, according to Luminate.
The 24-year-old from Louisville, Ill., co-authored the single with Grant Averill and Joe Spargur. It’s from Zimmerman’s LP Religiously, which opened at its No. 3 high on Top Country Albums in May 2023.
“‘Where It Ends’ was one of the first songs I wrote when I moved to Nashville,” Zimmerman tells Billboard. “Some days it feels like I still have no idea what I’m doing, but, man, the dreams just keep coming true. Four No. 1s … Let’s keep it going. Chase your dreams!”
The track follows Zimmerman’s “Religiously,” which ruled Country Airplay for a week in September 2023. Before that, “Rock and a Hard Place” dominated for six frames beginning that April; his rookie single, “Fall in Love,” reigned for a week in December 2022.
Zimmerman, who worked at a meat processing plant and on a gas pipeline prior to his career in music, made history on the streaming-, airplay- and sales-based Hot Country Songs survey dated Sept. 3, 2022, when he became the first act to place three career-starting entries in the top 10 simultaneously since the list became an all-encompassing genre ranking in October 1958: “Rock and a Hard Place,” “Where It Ends” and “Fall in Love.”
Zimmerman’s streak of four consecutive Country Airplay No. 1s is the chart’s longest active run. Jelly Roll follows with three straight dating to January 2023: “Son of a Sinner,” “Need a Favor,” and “Save Me,” with Lainey Wilson. Since the list launched in January 1990, Luke Combs has the overall record streak: 14 consecutive leaders, from his debut hit “Hurricane” in May 2017 through “Doin’ This” in May 2022.
Read more
