"I Quit Drinking" is a song by American singer

Kelsea Ballerini Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...

and American pop band

LANY LANY (, an acronym for "Los Angeles New York") are an American pop rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in Nashville in 2014, the band consists of Paul Jason Klein and Jake Clifford Goss. Signed to Polydor and Interscope Records, the band have re ...

. It was released on June 9, 2021, via

Black River Entertainment Black River Entertainment is an independent record label in Nashville, Tennessee, specializing in country music. The company is a partially owned subsidiary of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which otherwise specializes primarily in professiona ...

and

Warner Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

. Ballerini co-wrote the song with

Nicolle Galyon Nicolle Anne Galyon (born July 22, 1984) is a singer, songwriter, producer, record label executive, & publishing executive from Sterling, Kansas. She has written songs for Lady A, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Florida Ge ...

and Paul Jason Klein, while

Jimmy Robbins James Michael Robbins (born September 3, 1989, in Raleigh, North Carolina) is a country music Award-winning American songwriter and producer. Biography In addition to having penned ten number-one singles, he won a CMA Triple Play Award in 2014 ...

and Noah Conrad produced it.

Background and content

Ballerini first performed the song with Paul Klein of pop group LANY at the

2021 CMT Music Awards The 2021 CMT Music Awards, the 55th edition of the awards ceremony, were held in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini were hosts of the ceremony. Background The CMT Music Awards are a fan-voted awards s ...

. According to a press release, "I Quit Drinking" is a "break up anthem about quitting drinking" due to it "bring ngback too many memories of a past relationship". A press release by Black River Entertainment mentioned the song "describe a couple whose relationship was centered around being the life of the party. When the giddy romance fizzles out, it seems, so does the appeal of the booze."

Critical reception

Rob Costa of ''Music Talkers'' praised the combination for doing "a great job painting a picture of reflection, relationships, sacrifice, and the reasons for getting sober. The work put into creating conversational lyrics has paid off here, making the lyrics a real highlight of the song."

Music video

The music video was released on June 15, 2021, and directed by Blythe Thomas. The video was filmed in "the hills of California". It shows Ballerini and Klein as "former lovers recalling happier times together" who can no longer "enjoy the taste of champagne, whiskey, or other alcoholic beverages now" due to it "remind ngthem of their days as a couple". Finally they sing face-to-face in a rainstorm.

Commercial performance

"I Quit Drinking" debuted at number 30 on the ''

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 ...

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 ...

chart dated June 26, 2021, after its release.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2021 songs 2021 singles Kelsea Ballerini songs LANY songs Songs written by Kelsea Ballerini Songs written by Nicolle Galyon Black River Entertainment singles Warner Music Group singles