ABC/Image Group LAGabby Barrett is taking her debut single, “I Hope,” to historic new heights on the Billboard Country Streaming Songs chart for the survey dated April 11, with her song rising from the number-four slot all the way up to the top.
That’s big news, not just for Gabby, but for female artists everywhere: “I Hope” is the first debut single to top the chart since its inception in April of 2013, Billboard reports.
In fact, it’s the first time that a woman has been at the number-one spot on the Country Streaming Songs Chart since the 2019 holiday season, when Brenda Lee ruled for five weeks with her 1958 classic, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Pop artist Bebe Rexha also enjoyed a lengthy, 55-week stay at the top spot, thanks to her massively popular collaboration with Florida Georgia Line, “Meant to Be.” That run wrapped in February of 2019.
But setting aside collaborations and holiday hits, a female artist sitting at the top of the chart has been a much rarer occurrence: It last happened in 2015, when Miranda Lambert reigned with “Little Red Wagon.”
Gabby’s chart-topping milestone comes with a 7% bump in streams of her single, notching a hefty nine million U.S. streams during the week ending April 2.
“I Hope” is also on the rise elsewhere. It ascended from number three to number two on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and from number six to number three on the Country Airplay chart. Gabby is also enjoying some success outside of the country format, entering the all-genre Streaming Songs chart in the 41st spot.
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