Pictured (L-R): Bekah Digby (SiriusXM), Benny Brown (Brown Sellers Brown),
Joe Nichols, Buzz Brainard (SiriusXM)
Photo courtesy of Brown Sellers Brown
Multi-platinum-selling Quartz Hill Records artist Joe Nichols was honored Friday evening (2/28) with a Pandora Billionaire Plaque after his performance at SiriusXM The Highway’s weekly Music Row Happy Hour at Margaritaville in the heart of downtown Nashville.
Nichols was surprised with the coveted plaque – which is presented to artists that have achieved OVER ONE BILLION song streams on Pandora – by SiriusXM The Highway host Buzz Brainard. Joining Nichols and Brainard onstage was Bekah Digby, Associate Director of Talent & Industry Relations – Country & Christian at SiriusXM and Pandora, who also represented Johnny Chiang, Vice President of Music Programming – Country at SiriusXM and Pandora.
You can now listen to Joe Nichols’ music on Pandora’s Country Billionaires station.
“Joe Nichols’ music has been a staple for country fans for over two decades,” said Chiang. “Hitting a billion streams on Pandora is a testament to his staying power and the deep connection he has with his listeners. We’re thrilled to celebrate this incredible milestone with him.”
“This means the world to me,” said Nichols. “To the Pandora listeners, thank you for caring enough to engage with my music, which is what I’ve wanted most from the time I was a kid. And to Pandora, thank you for giving me a platform to play my music on and giving me the chance to go out there and meet the fans.”
The Music Row Happy Hour’s live audience enthusiastically sang along to Nichols’ three-song set, which included two of his No. 1 country classics, “Brokenheartsville” and “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” as well as a new fan favorite, “Helpless in a Honky Tonk,” from Nichols’ 11th studio album, Honky Tonks and Country Songs, released this past Fall.
The Pandora Billionaire honor came the same week that the album’s first radio single, “Better Than You,” a powerhouse duet with rising star Annie Bosko, broke into the Top 40 at U.S. Country Radio (Mediabase).
The steamy, emotionally charged “Better Than You” entered the airwaves as a Top 5 Most Added Song at U.S. Country Radio (Mediabase)for five consecutive weeks, including one week before the track’s official impact date. Additionally, the duet has been a Top 10 Most Added Song for nine non-consecutive weeks and has earned triple-digit radio adds to-date.
STREAM / LISTEN TO “Better Than You” HERE.
“Better Than You” has garnered critical praise, including from legendary MusicRow critic Robert K. Oermann, who described the vocal chemistry between Nichols and Bosko as “Goosebump-thrilling sounding” and awarded Bosko his DISCovery Award “for her sterling work alongside the mighty Joe Nichols.” New Music Weekly, meanwhile, gushed that Nichols and Bosko have delivered “what has to be one of the best duets in town.”
Penned by chart-topping songwriters Derek George (Darius Rucker’s No. 1 “For the First Time”) and John Pierce (Zac Brown’s No. 1 “Sweet Annie”), and produced by George with Mickey Jack Cones (Dustin Lynch, Trace Adkins), “Better Than You” is about love at first sight, your last first kiss, and realizing that nothing else could compare with the magic you’ve found in your lover’s arms
Nichols returns to the road in March with shows in Belle Glade, FL (3/22), Orange Park, FL (3/27) and Tallahassee, FL (3/28) before heading to the Midwest in April.
For a full list of upcoming tour dates, visit www.joenichols.com/tour.
About Joe Nichols
Multi-platinum Quartz Hill Records’ Joe Nichols is one of country music’s most-lauded recording artists. A 21st century traditionalist, Nichols is an artist who is both timely and timeless – one who has racked up more than TWO BILLION cumulative audio streams/views including a half-dozen No. 1 singles and ten Top 10 hits with a sound that blurs the boundaries between country music’s past and present. It’s an approach that has earned Nichols three GRAMMY nominations, a CMA award, an ACM trophy, a CMT “Breakthrough Video of the Year” Award as well as multiple gold and platinum-certified records. Nichols’ additional honors include awards from Billboard, Radio & Records and Music Row Magazine as well as a New York Times “Best-Albums-of-the-Year” nod. The celebrated star has appeared on national media programs ranging from the ACM Presents: Superstar Duets in CBS primetime to The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The View, Entertainment Tonight and Austin City Limits. He also made his big screen debut in the feature film Murder at Yellowstone City.
Nichols’ 11th career studio album, Honky Tonks and Country Songs, is available now across all digital retailers and streaming partners. The first single from the album, “Better Than You,” is a Top 40 hit and rising at U.S. Country Radio.
For the latest news on Nichols visit www.JoeNichols.com and follow him at @JoeNichols on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.
About Sirius XM Holdings Inc.
SiriusXM is the leading audio entertainment company in North America with a portfolio of audio businesses including its flagship subscription entertainment service SiriusXM; the ad-supported and premium music streaming services of Pandora; an expansive podcast network; and a suite of business and advertising solutions. Reaching a combined monthly audience of approximately 160 million listeners, SiriusXM offers a broad range of content for listeners everywhere they tune in with a diverse mix of live, on-demand, and curated programming across music, talk, news, and sports. For more about SiriusXM, please go to: www.siriusxm.com.
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