Each year the three organizations who keep tabs of songwriter royalties — ASCAP, BMI and SESAC — hold their own awards shows, and each year they select their own Country Song of the Year. But this year history was made, as Lee Brice’s “One of Them Girls” became the first song ever to sweep all three.
Co-written by Brice with Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson and Ben Johnson, and co-produced by Brice with Ben Glover and Kyle Jacobs, the easy-grooving romantic anthem was like the perfect storm of Nashville hits. It was penned and recorded by people represented by all three of those “performance rights organizations,” and it was the most played of all country songs — across both the nation’s radio stations, and online.
“What an incredible and unexpected honor!” Brice says in an official announcement, made after the song’s BMI and SESAC Awards wins competed the trifecta. “It’s hard to tell when a song is going to resonate with folks the way this one has – I know I speak for myself, Ashley, Dallas and Ben when I say thank you to everyone who listened to and requested our song at Country radio and streamed it online. You all gave it a bigger life than we could have ever thought!”
The track hit Number One on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in October of 2020, where it stayed for three weeks. All told, the Platinum-certified tune was on the chart for a total of 39 weeks, and it was featured on Brice’s Hey World album. It’s currently sitting at 148 million+ streams on Spotify alone.
“We are elated to honor our songwriter, artist, friend, family, Lee Brice with this monumental SESAC Song of The Year award for ‘One of Them Girls,’” shares Shannan Hatch, SESAC Vice President Creative Services Nashville. “Congratulations to him and his co-writers on the award and writing an incredible song! Big love to Lee, the writers, and the Curb | Word team!”
“The most performed song of the year is one of the crown jewels of BMI. We are thrilled to represent Dallas Davidson and Ben Johnson in this monumental achievement!” adds Clay Bradley, VP of Creative at BMI Nashville.
“For a song to win Song Of The Year honors at multiple award shows is an extraordinary achievement and a testament to the musical gifts of the songwriters and to the artistry of Lee Brice,” ASCAP CEO Beth Matthews agrees. “ASCAP is so thrilled for our member Ashley Gorley on his ASCAP Song of the Year win and we congratulate all of his co-writers and Lee on theirs, and on a great song and a great recording that won the hearts of country music fans everywhere.”
Congrats to Brice and all his “One of Them Girls” collaborators. Meanwhile, his follow-up Number One is headed in a similar direction, with “Memory I Don’t Mess With” achieving a recent Gold certification.