"Storm Warning" is the debut song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Hunter Hayes. It was released in May 2011 as the first single from his debut album '' Hunter Hayes''. Hayes co-wrote the song with

Gordie Sampson Gordon Francis Sampson (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia. Beginning his career as a performer on his hometown island of Cape Breton, both in bands and on his own, Sampson has gone on to ...

and

busbee Michael James Ryan Busbee (June 18, 1976 – September 29, 2019), known professionally as Busbee, was an American songwriter, record producer, publisher, record label executive, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his work in both po ...

. The song garnered positive reviews from critics who praised Hayes' lyricism and vocal performance. "Storm Warning" peaked at numbers 14 and 78 on both 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 ...

and

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 ...

charts respectively. It was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America 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 ...

(RIAA), denoting sales of 500,000 units in the country. An accompanying music video for the single, directed by Brian Lazzaro, features Hayes performing various instruments while singing the song.

Content

The song is about a woman whom the singer compares to a hurricane, singing that he wishes that he had a "storm warning" for her.

Critical reception

Amanda Hensel of ''Taste of Country'' gave the song an eight out of ten rating, describing it as "light and airy, upbeat and catchy, but easy for anyone to relate to" while adding that "it's inevitable that Hayes is about to take country music by storm." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' gave the song three stars out of five, writing that the song has a "clever enough lyric, magnetic melody and charisma to burn, both vocally and melodically." Storm Warning also picked up a Top 50 Song award during the 2012 BMI awards.

Music video

The music video was directed by Brian Lazzaro and premiered in April 2011. It features Hayes playing various instruments such as the guitar, drums, and banjo as he sings the song.

Chart performance

"Storm Warning" debuted at number 60 on the ''

'' Hot Country Songs chart for the week of May 14, 2011. It also debuted at number 98 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the week of November 12, 2011 but left the next week. It reappeared in the same position on the week of December 10, and peaked at number 78 the week of January 14, 2012. The song remained on the chart for fourteen weeks.

Year-end charts

Certifications

External links

Storm Warning Music Video

References

{{Hunter Hayes singles 2011 debut singles 2011 songs Hunter Hayes songs Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Songs written by busbee Songs written by Hunter Hayes Songs written by Gordie Sampson