The Latest “Country” Song To Reach One Billion Streams On Spotify Is… Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Back Road”

How did we get here?

Despite some competition from Apple Music, there’s no doubt that Spotify has remained the top streaming platform since its official launch in the United States in July 2011. With over 696 million monthly active users, 276 million of whom pay for premium, the platform has become nothing short of a staple in terms of music consumption nowadays. Boasting over 100 million songs available to be streamed right now (excluding Garth Brooks’ entire discography, of course), Spotify has nearly every notable song ever released over the past century.

Out of all the songs throughout the history of music, a little over 1,200 tracks have passed the elusive one billion-stream threshold on the platform. Out of those 1,200+ songs, until today, only 13 of those fall under the country category.

While some of these tracks can hardly be considered country, including the likes of Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber’s “10,000 Hours,” Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant To Be,” you do have some actual quality songs present on the list. These, of course, include Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” and “I Remember Everything,” Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” and “When It Rains It Pours” and Chris Stapleton’s double-diamond hit, “Tennessee Whiskey.”

Unfortunately, we have yet another ridiculous entry into the billion-stream club. Last night, Sam Hunt’s 2017 smash hit, “Body Like A Back Road,” surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, becoming just the 14th country song ever to reach it.

Realistically speaking, it was bound to happen. Despite being one of the most cringe-inducing, overplayed and downright awful songs of the 2010s, which was plagued by the rise of both bro-country and boyfriend-country, the numbers unfortunately speak for themselves.

“Body Like A Back Road” spent a staggering 34 weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, which was the record at the time until Shaboozey’s equally bad “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” spent 45 weeks at #1 from 2024-2025. Additionally, it would spend three weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, peak at #6 on the all-genre Hot 100, chart inside the Top 10 on multiple Billboard Pop charts and receive a diamond certification (11x platinum) from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Look, it’s not like the general public has been a great indicator of quality when it comes to art. For example, look at the monthly streaming numbers for artists like Thomas Rhett, Tucker Wetmore and Jordan Davis compared to the likes of Turnpike Troubadours, Sturgill Simpson, Charles Wesley Godwin and more. Our Country Music Madness Bracket was seeded by monthly Spotify listeners this year, and the seeding was downright shocking in some instances. Numbers, especially on streaming, rarely reflect the quality of the music.

With that being said, however, it’s pretty baffling that a song as universally hated as “Body Like A Back Road” can not only be streamed that many times, but also be one of the 1,200-1,300 most-streamed tracks on a platform as big as Spotify.

A full list of country songs with a billion streams on Spotify is as follows: