"What Mattered Most" is a song written by Gary Burr and Vince Melamed, 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, ...

singer

Ty Herndon Boyd Tyrone Herndon (born May 2, 1962), known professionally as Ty Herndon, is an American country music singer and songwriter. His music career began in the 1980s as a member of the Tennessee River Boys, a predecessor to the country band Diamon ...

. It was released in February 1995 as Herndon's debut single and served as the lead single and title track from his debut album ''

What Mattered Most ''What Mattered Most'' is the debut studio album by American country music artist Ty Herndon, issued in 1995 on Epic Records. The album's title track, which was Herndon's debut single, reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & ...

''. It became Herndon's first number-one single 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 Singles & Tracks 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.

History

Upon its release, the song was added to the playlists of 133 radio stations surveyed by ''Billboard'', breaking a record set by Tracy Lawrence for the most adds in one week. The song was later included as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to Herndon's early-1996 single "In Your Face," which peaked at 63 on the country charts.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price of ''

'' magazine reviewed the song unfavorably saying that while Herndon turns in a "credible vocal performance", it is "a shame that this formulaic, by-the-numbers song, written by two Nashville pros, doesn't make much of an impression." Michael McCall of ''New Country'' was more positive, calling it "a powerful, sensitive song about a man who realizes, too late, that he noticed everything about his lover except what was in her heart."

Personnel

From ''What Mattered Most'' liner notes. * Gary Burr - background vocals * Joe Chemay -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Dan Dugmore -

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

* Paul Franklin -

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

* Rob Hajacos -

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

* Kraig Hutchens -

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

* Mike Jones - background vocals *

Paul Leim Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Terry McMillan -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Steve Nathan -

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Brent Rowan - electric guitar * Biff Watson -

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

Music video

The music video was directed by Steven Goldmann and premiered in early 1995.

Chart positions

"What Mattered Most" debuted at number 62 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of February 25, 1995.

Year-end charts

2019 version

On June 4, 2019, Herndon re-released the song for Pride Month. For this version, Herndon swapped the gender pronouns to reflect his status as an openly gay man. The single is the first released from his

Got It Covered Boyd Tyrone Herndon (born May 2, 1962), known professionally as Ty Herndon, is an American country music singer and songwriter. His music career began in the 1980s as a member of the Tennessee River Boys, a predecessor to the country band Diamon ...

record, released in August. Its release marks Herndon's return to his standard country pop after the release of four dance singles. Herndon revealed in an interview with NPR that he was in a closeted relationship with a man at the time of the song's original release in 1995. That relationship and that of his parents inspired his performance of the track. After coming out of closet, Herndon began performing the song with mixed genders, beginning the song with its traditional lyrics and switching to male pronouns before the end.

Music video

The music video for the updated version of ''What Mattered Most'' features Herndon singing in a studio and surrounded by sound engineers and producers. He introduces the video by saying that he is now "brave enough" to record the song the way it should have been recorded.

References

{{Ty Herndon 1995 songs 1995 debut singles Ty Herndon songs Songs written by Gary Burr Songs written by Vince Melamed Song recordings produced by Doug Johnson (record producer) Music videos directed by Steven Goldmann Epic Records singles LGBT-related songs