Dierks Bentley Celebrates 16th No. 1 Single, “Black”

Pictured (L-R): Ross Copperman, Dierks Bentley, Ashley Gorley

Industry members, friends, and family gathered at new Nashville venue Hemingway’s Bar & Hideaway yesterday (June 22) to celebrate Capitol Nashville artist Dierks Bentley’s 16th chart-topping single (and 13th as a songwriter) “Black.”

ASCAP’s Mike Sistad kicked off the celebration to honor Bentley and his co-writers Ross Copperman and Ashley Gorley. Produced by Copperman and Arturo Buenahora, “Black” is the third consecutive No. 1 song off Bentley’s latest album with the same name.

“One of the things I’m most proud about this song is that working with Ross, obviously he’s a songwriter and we write a lot together, but the six songs that came before this were ones that none of them had our names on them together. This is the first song we’ve put out that actually we wrote together, and that’s something I think the three of us all take a little bit of pride in, that we’re just trying to find the best songs…whether we wrote them or not,” boasted Bentley.

ASCAP’s Beth Brinker honored Gorley, who celebrated his 33rd No. 1 hit. Gorley was the 2016 recipient of ASCAP’s Country Songwriter of the Year award. The Warner/Chappell writer was also honored last year as the first songwriter ever to receive three CMA Triple Play Awards, each of which celebrates writers who pen three No. 1 hits in a 12-month period.

“I want to thank Ross and Dierks for bringing me into this write. Obviously they’ve had a great track record for a while now,” Gorley said. “I want to thank Dierks for being a writer first. He’s somebody that says, ‘This is what I’m thinking, can you guys help me get there?’ Which is a whole different thing and a whole different level of artist.”

Sony/ATV’s Josh Van Valkenburg, Combustion Music’s Kenley Flynn, Warner/Chappell’s BJ Hill, and Kobalt Music’s Jesse Willoughby were also on hand to remark on Gorley’s writing achievements.

BMI’s MaryAnn Keen honored their 2016 Songwriter of the Year recipient Copperman, who also won ACM’s 2016 Songwriter of the Year award as well as a CMA Double Triple Play Award for penning six No. 1 songs in a 12-month period. This is Copperman’s 16th No. 1 song.

The Rezonant Music writer praised his fellow writer and friend by saying, “I just want to say one more thing about Ashley Gorley. If we were in high school he’d be the homecoming king of country music.”

“I feel so honored to be a part of this project. Thank you Arturo for bringing me into this world. Thank you to these guys for writing with me, and trusting in me, and being my best friends,” Copperman said.

Rezonant Music’s Tim Wipperman celebrated the writers’ success by presenting them each with a bottle of wine. “The only rule is that you can keep the bottle but you have to drink the wine,” Wipperman teased. “To all the songwriters here and especially to these guys, thank you for my career. Thank you for letting us do what we do and enjoy it.”

Pinnacle Bank’s Cooper Samuels congratulated the writers and celebrated with a charitable contribution made to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital in each of their names.

CMA’s Brandi Simms presented the writers, who have 13 Triple Play Awards between them, with their No. 1 medallions.

Cindy Mabe, President of Universal Music Group Nashville, praised Bentley as the “protector of music.” Mabe said, “’Black’ may be the most personal song of his career. To get that intimate and honest and personal as a writer and performer is what separates Dierks from everyone else in the class. I think his level of honesty and openness and realness is what made his career flourish.”