"1994" is a song written by

Thomas Rhett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, Luke Laird, and Barry Dean and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Jason Aldean Jason Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released ten albums and 40 singles. His 2010 ...

. It was released in March 2013 as the third single from Aldean's 2012 album '' Night Train''. A tribute to Joe Diffie referencing many of his songs, the song has received mixed reviews from music critics. The song peaked at numbers 10 and 14 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

and

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

charts respectively. It also reached number 52 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was certified Gold by the

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(RIAA), denoting sales of over 500,000 units in that country. It garnered similar chart success in Canada, reaching number 18 on the

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chart and number 65 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

chart. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Wes Edwards.

Content

The song, a tribute to Joe Diffie, refers to many of his songs: " Third Rock from the Sun", "

John Deere Green "John Deere Green" is a song written by Dennis Linde, and recorded by American country music artist Joe Diffie. It was released in November 1993 as the third single from his album ''Honky Tonk Attitude''. The song peaked at number 5 on the countr ...

", "

Ships That Don't Come In "Ships That Don't Come In" is a song recorded by American country music singer Joe Diffie that reached the Top 5 on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart in 1992. It was released in Apri ...

", " Honky Tonk Attitude", " Pickup Man", " So Help Me Girl", " A Night to Remember", and " C-O-U-N-T-R-Y". Upon being sent a copy of the song by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', Diffie said, "What else can you say but what an honor it is to have the larger part of a song reference songs of mine. To think all of Jason's fans will be chanting my name… pretty dang cool." He also praised Aldean's overall musical styles, saying that Aldean is "pushing the envelope."

Critical reception

The song has received mixed reviews from music critics. Tammy Ragusa of '' Country Weekly'' gave it a B+ grade, saying that it "serves to further his penchant for upping the musical ante," also praising the musical arrangement and calling the song "pure fun." In her review of ''Night Train'', Jewly Hight of '' American Songwriter'' said that the song was "as ridiculous, and fun, a song as Aldean’s ever done." Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' gave the song a one-star review, saying that "Aldean’s recording would lead one to believe 1994 was a watershed year in country music. It wasn't." Ben Foster of ''Country Universe'' gave the song an F grade, saying that its lyrics "comprise little more than a hodgepodge of radio-baiting backwoods clichés" and "are so haphazardly thrown together that’s it’s hard to tell what the song is even meant to be about."

Music video

The music video was directed by Wes Edwards and premiered on CMT on March 25, 2013. The music video starts off with two women going into a coin-operated photo booth. When they put in a coin, the song begins. The music video features country music artists Lady Antebellum,

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...

, Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, Hayden Panettiere, co-writer

, Little Big Town, and Jake Owen and has scenes of Aldean performing at a barn party.

Chart performance

"1994" debuted at number 42 on the ''Billboard''

Country Songs Country song may refer to: *National anthem, known as a "country song" in some languages * "Country Song" (Jake Bugg song), a 2011 song by British singer songwriter Jake Bugg * "Country Song" (Pink Floyd song), an untitled song by Pink Floyd from th ...

chart for the week ending of March 9, 2013. On the

chart for the week ending of March 2, 2013, it debuted at number 60. It also debuted at number 93 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart for the week of March 30, 2013. It also debuted at number 100 on the

chart for the week of April 13, 2013. It peaked at number 14 on the Country Airplay chart dated May 4, 2013, making it Aldean's first single to miss the top 10 since 2008's " Relentless" and the second-lowest-peaking single of his career.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

{{authority control 2013 singles Jason Aldean songs BBR Music Group singles Song recordings produced by Michael Knox (record producer) Songs written by Luke Laird Songs written by Thomas Rhett Music videos directed by Wes Edwards 2012 songs Songs written by Barry Dean (songwriter) Songs about musicians Songs about country music