"Hey Girl" is a song written by

Rhett Akins Thomas Rhett Akins Sr. (born October 13, 1969) is an American singer and songwriter. Signed to Decca Records between 1994 and 1997, he released two albums for that label (1995's '' A Thousand Memories'' and 1996's '' Somebody New''), followed by ...

Chris DeStefano Christopher Michael DeStefano is a Grammy Award-winning American singer/songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist currently living in Nashville. As a songwriter, he has multiple #1 songs with artists Carrie Underwood ( “Good Girl ...

, and

Ashley Gorley Ashley Glenn Gorley (born April 29, 1977) is an American songwriter, publisher, and producer from Danville, Kentucky, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Gorley has written 60 number 1 songs and has over 300 songs recorded by artists including ...

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

Billy Currington William Matthew Currington (born November 19, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Mercury Records Nashville in 2003, he has released seven studio albums for the label: his self-titled debut (2003), '' Doin' Someth ...

. It was released in March 2013 as the first single from Currington's 2013 album '' We Are Tonight''. The song became Currington's seventh number one hit on the U.S. ''

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 ...

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 ...

chart. It also peaked at numbers 5 and 39 on the

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 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts, respectively.

Reception

Critical reception

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 rating of three-and-a-half stars out of five, writing that " helayers of electric guitar and a lengthy (by country radio standards) solo before the bridge add unnecessary distractions, but ultimately Currington’s satisfying delivery brings back a delectable groove." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' also gave the song three-and-a-half stars out of five. He said that "while completely reminding me of those great hook-filled mid/late 1980s adult pop songs melodically, 'Hey Girl' still features a strong vocal and fiddle and steel guitars that are audible more than one might expect." Ben Foster of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a C grade, writing that it "has some infectious guitar work going for it, but it’s not enough to elevate the song beyond what it is – regular dime-a-dozen radio filler with a total lack of a lyrical hook."

Commercial

"Hey Girl" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. ''

chart for the week of March 23, 2013. It also debuted at number 47 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

chart for the week of May 11, 2013. It even debuted at number 75 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week of May 18, 2013, and it debuted at number 87 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 for the week of October 5, 2013. On the Country Airplay chart dated October 19, 2013, "Hey Girl" became Currington's seventh number one country hit. The song was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on September 11, 2013, became Currington's sixth single to be certified as so. As of February 2014, the single has sold 836,000 copies in the United States.

Music video

The accompanying music video for this song was directed by Kristin Barlowe and premiered in July 2013. The video follows Billy being attracted to a woman and follows her to a carnival to get her to be with him. It ends with the woman waiting on his motorcycle for him to get out the place there in. Intercut are scenes of Billy and his band playing in an empty parking lot.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs Billy Currington songs Mercury Nashville singles Billboard Country Airplay number-one singles of the year Songs written by Rhett Akins Songs written by Ashley Gorley Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Songs written by Chris DeStefano