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Gabby Barrett Makes Country Music History as ‘I Hope’ Returns to No. 1 on Charts

Breakout country star Gabby Barrett is ending 2020 with another milestone under her belt.

Barrett has started her twenties off with a bang after receiving her first chart-topping hit and releasing her premiere album. She’s already shattered records: her song, “I Hope,” spent more time on “Billboard’s Hot Country Songs” chart than any other solo female artist.

On Dec 19, Barrett officially made a name for herself when “I Hope” returned to the top for the Hot Country Songs chart, signifying the 20th week that the song’s been at No. 1. In total, the song has spent 85 weeks on the chart— highly impressive considering the Pennsylvania native is only 20-years-old.

Gabby Barrett “Blown Away” By Success

Reflecting on her achievement, Barret said, “Wow, I’m blown away. This year has been absolutely crazy for all of us, so to have this kind of year career-wise feels surreal. I’m so grateful for every step that my team, my fans and, most importantly, my family have taken to bring us here.”

Before Barrett claimed the title, Maren Morris’ “The Bones” held the highly-coveted position of longest-running No. 1 by a female on “Billboard’s Hot Country Songs” chart. Maren had the spot for 19 weeks in total.

In the spring, “The Bones” surpassed the record when it hit 11 weeks on top of the chart. Before Morris’ achievement, Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” held the record with a 10-week lead in 2012.

For eight years, Swift’s song remained as the record-setter until Morris and Barrett broke barriers twice in 2020 — proving that this was the year for country’s female artists. Barrett and Ingrid Andress also made 2020 history on the Mediabase and Country Aircheck chart when they had No. 1 hits one after the other.

This marked the first time two debuting female artists had ever had back-to-back hits on the chart.