"Radio" 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, ...

artist

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Ca ...

. It was released on July 22, 2013 as the third single from his album '' True Believers''. Rucker wrote the song with

Luke Laird Luke Robert Laird (born May 4, 1978 in Hartstown, Pennsylvania) is an American country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 number one ''Billboard'' singles, including Carrie Underwood's "So Small", "Temporary Home", and "Und ...

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 ...

Content

The song is a reflection on the narrator's teenage years; specifically, of borrowing his mother's car to take his girlfriend for a ride, and listening to songs on the radio while doing so.

Critical reception

The song generally received favorable reviews. Bobby Peacock of ''Roughstock'' gave the song four and a half stars out of five, saying that "it sounds like the kind of fun song you would want to hear on the radio at a memorable moment." Peacock praised Rucker's "all-smiles delivery" and the song's "incredibly catchy melody and tight production." He also compared its theme to " I Watched It All (On My Radio)" by

Lionel Cartwright Lionel Burke Cartwright (born February 10, 1960) is an American country music artist. Between 1988 and 1992, Cartwright charted twelve singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, including a 1 single in 1991's "Leap of Fait ...

. Tammy Ragusa of ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overvie ...

'' gave the song an A grade, calling it "the perfect marriage of an artist’s effervescent personality with an upbeat song, this one about the love of music." 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 two and a half stars out of five, writing that "the uptempo tribute to young love, open roads and, of course, the radio is familiar and easy to fall for, especially when powered by Rucker’s unequaled exuberance." However, Dukes also called the song "a little fluffy" and "not difficult to forget."

Chart performance

"Radio" debuted at number 54 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 for the week of August 3, 2013. It also debuted at number 50 on the U.S. ''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 ...

chart for the week of September 14, 2013. It also debuted at number 96 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 November 2, 2013. It also debuted at number 95 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 December 14, 2013.

Year-end charts

References

{{Darius Rucker 2013 singles Darius Rucker songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Songs written by Darius Rucker Songs written by Luke Laird Songs written by Ashley Gorley Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) 2013 songs Songs about radio