"Be a Light" is a song 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, ...

singer

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 A ...

and featuring guest vocals from Reba McEntire,

Hillary Scott Hillary Dawn Scott-Tyrrell (born April 1, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the co-lead singer of Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, a country music group that was formed in 2006, and is signed to Big Machine Records ...

Chris Tomlin Christopher Dwayne Tomlin (born May 4, 1972) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, and worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas, United States, who has sold over 7 million records. He is a member of Passion Conferences ...

, and

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

. It was released on March 30, 2020. Rhett performed the song live at the

54th Annual Country Music Association Awards The 54th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee and was hosted by CMA Award winners Darius Rucker and Reba McEntire. Background Darius Rucker is ...

alongside McEntire and Tomlin for the first time.

Content and history

Rhett said that he wrote the song in 2019, but chose to release it because he thought its message would be well received in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. He told '' Billboard'' that the song "was really just about being a light in a dark place; being an encouragement to people." He co-wrote the song with Matt Dragstrem, Josh Thompson, and Josh Miller. The song was sent to country radio on March 30, 2020. On April 5, 2020, he performed it on ''ACM Presents: Our Country'', a television special put on by the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

. Rhett also announced that proceeds from the song will be donated to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Personnel

Credits by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

*David Angell -

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

*Monisa Angell -

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

*Jenny Bufano - violin *Zeneba Bowers - violin *Janet Darnall - violin *David Davidson - violin *Matt Dragstrem - programming *Conni Ellisor - violin *Alicia Engstrom - violin *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, programming *Charlie Judge -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, piano *Chris Kimmerer - drums *Anthony LaMarchina -

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

*Betsy Lamb - viola *Tony Lucido -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Reba McEntire - featured vocals *Carole Rabinowitz-Nueun - cello *Justin Niebank - programming *Sari Reist - cello *

- lead vocals *

- featured vocals *

Ilya Toshinsky Bering Strait was a Russian country music band, whose style was sometimes called "redgrass". In 2003, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award and appeared on the TV show ''60 Minutes''. The group disbanded in 2006. The lineup on their first alb ...

- acoustic guitar *

- electric guitar, featured vocals *Mary Kathryn Van Osdale - violin *

Derek Wells Derek M. Wells, KC, (born 28 November 1946) is a Canadian former politician who served a Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of South Shore from 1993 to 1997. Early life and education Born in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, he graduate ...

- electric guitar *Kris Wilkinson - viola, string arrangements

Chart performance

''Be a Light'' entered the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 71 on the chart dated for the week ending April 18, 2020. In doing so, it became the first entries on that chart for both Scott and Tomlin (though the former has charted repeatedly with

Lady A Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar), ...

). It is also McEntire's first top-10 hit since " Turn On the Radio" peaked at No. 1 in January 2011, and her most recent top-10 hit to date. With a peak of number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart, it became Rhett's first single to miss the top spot since "

Vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

" peaked at number 30 in 2016.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2020 songs 2020 singles Country ballads 2020s ballads Thomas Rhett songs Hillary Scott songs Keith Urban songs Reba McEntire songs Songs written by Thomas Rhett Songs written by Matt Dragstrem Songs written by Josh Thompson (singer) Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Big Machine Records singles Chris Tomlin songs Songs about the COVID-19 pandemic Vocal collaborations