Eddy Arnold May Chart Again
May 16, 2008
- Country
By Ken Tucker, Nashville
The late Eddy Arnold may chart again. To commemorate what would have been his 90th birthday on May 15, RCA Nashville shipped "To Life," a cut from his 100th album, 2005's "After All This Time," to country radio and asked them to play the song. The goal was to chart the song on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, extending Arnold's chart run that began in the 1940s.
Radio responded. Stations in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Nashville, Cleveland, Kansas City, Miami, Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Seattle, among dozens of other markets, played the song between one and five times on May 15, according to Nielsen BDS.
While it's not yet known whether the push will ultimately be successful since Billboard's BDS-powered charts capture a seven-day period ending on Sunday night, the song is at No. 47 on a building chart ranked by audience impressions.
A Country Music Hall of Famer, Arnold died on May 8 one week shy of his 90th birthday. He is considered the top country artist ever in terms of overall chart performance in Billboard.
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