"Summer Nights" is a song 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, ...

group

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

. It was written by the band's lead singer

Gary LeVox Gary LeVox (born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr., July 10, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for being the lead vocalist of the contemporary country music band Rascal Flatts, and his stage name was taken from the studio-console label ...

, along with

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records ( ...

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 ...

. It was released in May 2009 as the second single from their sixth studio album ''

Unstoppable Unstoppable may refer to: Film and television * ''Unstoppable'' (2004 film), an American film directed by David Carson * '' Unstoppable: Conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis'', a 2005 American television documentar ...

''.

Content

"Summer Nights" is an up-tempo

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

song celebrating summertime by inviting others to join in a party.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock said that the song was "light hearted" and "feel-good" and would appeal to Rascal Flatts' fans, but said that he did not think that it would be well received by those who dislike the band's mainstream sound. Mandi Byerly of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' said that the song sounded like it came from the ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, th ...

'' soundtrack.

Chart performance

"Summer Nights" debuted at number 57 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 for April 18, 2009, based on unsolicited airplay received while their then-current single "

Here Comes Goodbye "Here Comes Goodbye" is a song written by ''American Idol'' season 6 finalist Chris Sligh and Clint Lagerberg and recorded by American country music group Rascal Flatts, who released it in January 2009 as the first single from their album ''Unstopp ...

" was climbing the charts. "Summer Nights" held this position for two weeks before falling from the charts. It re-entered at number 53 on the same chart dated for May 16, 2009, and entered Top 40 at number 30 two weeks later. The song peaked at number 2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. The song did peak at number one on the Canadian country charts.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Rascal Flatts singles Rascal Flatts songs 2009 singles Songs written by Brett James Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Lyric Street Records singles Songs written by busbee Songs written by Gary LeVox 2009 songs