"Die a Happy Man" is a song co-written 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, ...
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 ...
. It was released on September 28, 2015, by
Valory Music Group as the second single from his second studio album, ''
Tangled Up''. Rhett wrote the song with
Sean Douglas and
Joe Spargur. American singer
Tori Kelly
Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, and voice actress. She first gained recognition after posting videos on YouTube as a teenager, and made it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''Americ ...
is featured on a
pop remix included on the deluxe edition. The song peaked at number 21 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming his highest-charting single on that chart.
Reception
Critical
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 ...
'' reviewed the song favorably, saying that "Thomas Rhett may have just released the love song of the year. "Die a Happy Man" is a slow burner that melts like candle wax. With just a few pulls from a blues-soaked guitar, the mood is set for this increasingly dynamic singer to heat up any room."
Commercial
On the week of its release, the song debuted at number 17 on the
Hot Country Songs chart, number 92 on the ''
Billboard''
Hot 100 and number 41 on the
Country Airplay chart, with 40,000 copies sold for the week. The second week, it rose to number 30 on the Country Airplay chart, and sold 33,000 copies. It reached number one on the
Country Digital Songs chart in its third week, selling 39,000 copies. It topped the Hot Country Songs chart in its sixth week, and then topped the Country Airplay chart in January 2016, staying at number one on all three country charts simultaneously for multiple weeks. On the Country Airplay chart for the week of January 30, 2016, the song logged its fifth consecutive week at number one, making it the first song to spend more than four weeks at number one since
Lady Antebellum
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) ...
's "
Need You Now" stayed at the top for five weeks in 2009, and the first song by a solo male artist to spend five weeks at the top since
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...
's "
Never Wanted Nothing More
"Never Wanted Nothing More" is a song written by Ronnie Bowman and Chris Stapleton and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and g ...
" in August 2007. The following week, it topped the Country Airplay chart for a sixth and final week, becoming the first song to spend six weeks at number one since
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
's "
Our Song" in December 2007 – January 2008. It peaked at number 21 on the Hot 100 for the week of January 2, 2016.
The single was certified 2× Platinum on May 18, 2016, 3× Platinum on February 21, 2017 and by August 2021 was certified 7× Platinum.
The single reached the one million download sales in February 2016. As of September 2017, "Die a Happy Man" had sold 1,914,000 downloads.
Music video
The music video was directed by
TK McKamy
TK McKamy is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor known for directing music videos.
Thomas Knox McKamy III was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia and raised in the small town of Nicholasville, Kentucky
Nicholasville is a home r ...
and produced by Dan Atchison. The video was shot on location on the
North Shore of
Oahu
Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O†...
in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
at the same time as his video for "Vacation". It premiered in June 2015. Rhett's wife, Lauren, appears in the video.
Chart performance
"Die a Happy Man" topped the
Hot Country Songs chart on November 14, 2015. The song remained on top for seventeen weeks before being knocked off by "
You Should Be Here" performed by
Cole Swindell
Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American rock music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashvil ...
.
Thomas Rhett version
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications
Nelly version
"Die a Happy Man" was
covered
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* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
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** Back cover copy, part of co ...
by American rapper
Nelly in 2016 and released as a single on February 5, 2016 by RECORDS and
Epic Records.
His version draws inspiration from
hip hop music and
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...
and employs
synthesizers.
Commercial performance
His version debuted at number 83 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 with first-week US sales of 35,000.
Track listing
*Digital download
#"Die a Happy Man" — 3:34
Charts
Awards and nominations
References
{{authority control
2015 songs
2015 singles
Country ballads
2010s ballads
Thomas Rhett songs
Big Machine Records singles
Republic Records singles
Epic Records singles
Songs written by Thomas Rhett
Song recordings produced by Dann Huff
Music videos directed by TK McKamy
Songs written by Sean Douglas (songwriter)
Nelly songs
2016 singles
Songs written by Joe London
Pop ballads