Nearly a decade after first topping the charts at Country radio, multi-Platinum superstar Eric Church has earned his 8th solo career No. 1 with “Hell Of A View,” the endearing ode to rebellious love featured on his critically acclaimed new triple album Heart & Soul. This is his 11th chart-topping song overall, having hit No. 1 with Keith Urban on “Raise ‘Em Up,” Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan on “The Only Way I Know” and the most recent “Does To Me” with Luke Combs.
The hit song – celebrated by Entertainment Weekly as reigning among Church’s “most liberating and freewheeling work” and by Rolling Stone as a “kaleidoscopic jangle” that “further refines the melodic, mid-tempo storytelling Church excels at,” – sees him join forces with powerhouse vocal partner Joanna Cotten for what Billboard describes as “blazing their own path more reliant on adventure than safe choices.”
“This ain’t for everybody / Toes hanging off the ledge / Like we got nothin’ to lose / Ain’t always heaven, baby / This livin’ on the edge / You holdin’ me holdin’ you / It’s a hell of a view,” Church croons in the tender mid-tempo track written together with Casey Beathard and Monty Criswell.
This latest No. 1 hit for the man praised by The Wall Street Journal as “knowledgeable and respectful of Country’s history, but not shackled by it” comes nearly a decade after he first topped the charts. Despite earning 10 No. 1 hits in nearly as many years, he has never shied away from the unconventional – yet with unabashed honesty and a Church Choir as loyal to him as he is to them, the Chief has still found radio success while writing his own rule book.
Earning his first chart-topper via 2012’s Chief, Church broke through with rowdy blue-collar anthem “Drink In My Hand” and quickly followed with his 5x Platinum smash hit, “Springsteen.”
List of solo No. 1 Hits:
“Drink In My Hand”
“Springsteen”
“Give Me Back My Hometown”
“Talladega”
“Record Year
“Round Here Buzz”
“Some Of It”
“Hell Of A View”
Now, with his most-recent No. 1 born from his most aggressive recording process yet, Church is already dreaming up ways to push the limit further.
“This is my favorite project of my career,” Church shared with Billboard of the triple album, which features “Hell Of A View” on its final chapter, Soul. “I really appreciate radio’s support to bring attention to it. I can’t wait to see where we go next!”
First on that journey will be a chance for fans to see these songs and more live, as the reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year returns to the road with a vengeance on his 55-city The Gather Again Tour where he will perform in-the-round sets for the first time in his career, touring full-capacity arenas through the U.S. and Canada. Tickets are on sale now and a full list of dates is available HERE.
For more information, visit www.ericchurch.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter @ericchurch and Instagram @ericchurchmusic.
Audio / Eric Church talks about the song – and his latest single – “Hell of a View.”
DownloadEric Church (Hell of a View) 2 OC: …next day. :49
“So, ‘Hell of a View’ – we were in the mountains of North Carolina and we would write a song the same day. We’d record the song that night, which is an incredibly hard thing to do and do it well. I came back one day from a jog, my manager was there, a few people walked into the room and Casey Beathard, the co-writer on this song, was working on something. And I remember walking in, and I remember he had reading glasses on and he pulled ‘em down and he looked at me and he goes, ‘This is good. Listen to this.’ And he started, (I was no Daddy’s dream’ you know, the whole deal and to the Bronco, smoke my Bronco tires line, and I go, ‘This is really good.’ So, we wrote that song that day and the next day.”
