Stella Lefty's 'Boston' spends second week at No. 1 on Country Airplay
Stella Lefty's "Boston" holds for a second week at No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart dated Oct. 3. Billboard reported the result on 25 September. It is her first chart-topper.
Country Airplay ranks songs by radio audience using audience impressions from monitored country stations. An impression counts a play multiplied by the number of listeners tuned in. "Boston" earned 29.5 million impressions in the tracking week of 18 to 24 September, according to Luminate.
"Boston" is Lefty's first entry on Country Airplay. It reached No. 1 in 22 weeks. That is the quickest climb for a first-time No. 1 by a solo woman since Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" reached the top in 12 weeks in 2004.
Lefty is the first solo-billed woman to reach No. 1 with her first Country Airplay entry since Lainey Wilson topped the chart with "Things a Man Oughta Know", as Billboard previously reported. She is now the sixth solo-credited woman whose debut entry has led for more than one week. The most recent before her was Wilson with "Redneck Woman", which spent five weeks at No. 1 in 2004.
Lefty is also the fifth solo-billed woman this decade to hold No. 1 for multiple weeks. The others on that list are Ella Langley, Lainey Wilson, Gabby Barrett and Maren Morris. Only five solo-billed women have managed a multiweek run this decade.
What makes this stand out is the length of the gap. More than 20 years separate Wilson's debut run and Lefty's. For listeners, it means a first single staying in heavy radio rotation for another week.
Elsewhere on the chart, Kenny Chesney set a new mark for longevity. His song "Remember Me That Way" entered at No. 28 with 5.6 million impressions. It is his 101st career entry on Country Airplay, which began in January 1990, and moves him clear of a tie with George Strait for the most entries in the chart's history.
Luke Bryan and Luke Combs also debut inside the top 30. Their collaboration "Finders Keepers" opened at No. 26 with 6.2 million impressions in the same tracking week. The two debuts sit just behind Chesney's new entry on the dated Oct. 3 ranking.
