Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” earned a rare Billboard trifecta this week. The soulful waltz is simultaneously No. 1 on three Billboard charts: Country Airplay, Hot Country Songs (airplay/sales/streaming) and Country Digital Song Sales. The tripled-up triumph was accomplished twice in 2016 with Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man” (January) and Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.” (August).
One of the more traditional songs on Ripcord and the album’s fourth single, “Blue Ain’t Your Color” is a Don Williams-inspired tune written by Steven Lee Olsen, Hillary Lindsey and Clint Lagerberg.
“‘Blue’ is basically a waltz with a doo-wop feel,” said Keith to Nash Country Daily. “Neither really felt right for me, but there was something in this song that I loved. So we programmed this really cool, simple, drum loop that became the rhythmic bones of the song, providing a yin and yang to the minimalist vocal that I wanted to feature.”
“Blue Ain’t Your Color” is Keith’s 21st Billboard Country Airplay No. 1, placing him sixth all-time—since the inception of the chart in 1990—behind Blake Shelton (22), Alan Jackson (24), George Strait (24), Kenny Chesney (27) and Tim McGraw (29).
