Billy Currington

Blessed with a relaxed approach and a taste for mellow atmospheres, Billy Currington established a singular presence inside the mainstream country landscape during the 2000s and 2010s. Well ahead of the bro-country wave, he scored his initial Billboard Country Airplay number one in 2005 with the simmering, soulful “Must Be Doin’ Something Right,” yet an affinity for carefree moments, beer, and everyday good-time companions already signaled the attitude that would dominate the following decade, even if the sonic template differed. A sustained run of hits highlighted an artist equally at home spinning a clever tale—2006’s “Good Directions,” 2009’s “People Are Crazy”—or delivering a polished romantic number such as 2014’s “Don’t It” (not to be mistaken for his earlier 2008 release “Don’t”), and he possessed the nuance and wit to render both modes believable. Entering a second decade, he began folding in touches of polished contemporary production, an evolution epitomized by the 2016 chart-topper “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To,” while retaining his trademark easygoing manner. His seventh album, Intuition, appeared in 2021, and he sustained the run in 2023 with the relaxed single “City Don’t.”

Raised in Rincon, Georgia, Currington made several attempts after high school to establish himself in Nashville. He eventually took a job at a concrete company while continuing to perform at local clubs and refine song demos. A hold placed by singer Mark Wills on one of his compositions led to an introduction and subsequent writing partnership with Wills’ producer Carson Chamberlain, which in turn secured a Mercury Records deal. His debut single, “Walk a Little Straighter,” arrived in 2003 and drew directly from Currington’s upbringing with an alcoholic father—the chorus having been composed when he was twelve.

Mercury Records issued the self-titled debut album Billy Currington in 2003. Three years later Mercury Nashville released the follow-up Doin’ Somethin’ Right. In 2008 Currington returned with the varied, R&B-tinged Little Bit of Everything, also on Mercury Nashville. Enjoy Yourself, his fourth studio set, came out in 2010 and included the Troy Jones-penned single “Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer,” which reached number one, as did “Let Me Down Easy.” “Love Done Gone” and “Like My Dog” likewise landed inside the country Top 40.

Currington resurfaced in 2013 with the March single “Hey Girl” and the September album We Are Tonight. The project entered the Billboard Country charts at number five and yielded the Country Airplay number ones “Hey Girl” and “We Are Tonight.” Summer Forever followed in 2015, led by “Don’t It,” which peaked at number four on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, and supported by “Drinkin’ Town with a Football Problem,” which stalled at number 30 on Country Airplay. Two further Country Airplay number ones arrived in 2016: “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To” and “Do I Make You Wanna.” Over the ensuing years Currington prepared his next album, issuing “Bring It on Over” in 2018 and “Details” in 2019, both of which reached around number 30 on Country Airplay. He offered “Seaside” during the summer of 2020. The year 2021 brought both the EP Summertime and the seventh album Intuition. Currington launched 2023 with the summery single “City Don’t,” a track that toasted the uncomplicated pleasures of small-town living.