After Two Decades, David Lee Murphy Returns To No. 1 (With Superstar Kenny Chesney)

It has been 23 years since David Lee Murphy last hit No. 1 on the country charts as an artist with his 1995 classic “Dust On The Bottle.” With “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” featuring collaborator and co-producer Kenny Chesney, Murphy returns to No. 1 this week on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart and the Mediabase Country chart.

The track is the first from Murphy’s album No Zip Code, as part of a joint venture between Reviver Records and Chesney’s Blue Chair Records.

“When Kenny asked me about making a record, I thought that sounded like a whole lot of fun,” Murphy says. “I love to make music, just as much as I love writing songs. So, we went in without expectations, and I wouldn’t have imagined this. But it sure feels good. To know my music is hitting this kind of place in people’s hearts…That’s the reason I write these songs: to make people feel something about their life. So, the response when I play it live, now with the No. 1, is everything I could hope for, and I am so grateful to the Reviver Records team for believing, and to country radio for letting this music be heard. That’s how the dots get connected.”

“David Lee is the kind of artist who’s timeless,” Chesney says. “He writes real country songs for right now, and he understands people. I wanted that voice out there, and I’m so glad country radio agreed! I’ve joked, ‘I’m just glad David Lee let me sing on this one,’ but it’s kind of true. I remember when he was having hits, thinking just how good he was – and it’s great to be part of something he’s part of, let alone his first No. 1 record since ‘Dust on the Bottle.’”

“There is something musically explosive and inexplicable about the Murphy Chesney combo,” said Reviver founder and president/CEO David Ross. “Their relationship, and Reviver’s partnership with Blue Chair Records, has not only given life to the incredible songs on David Lee’s new album No Zip Code, it’s brought two companies together with a common purpose – to give one of the genre’s best-known and most loved songwriters his own stage.”

“Everyone at this label was floored by this album when they first heard it,” said Reviver’s Executive VP/GM Gator Michaels. “To see the way that the music has connected with people and to see the incredible support that David Lee has received at radio, from his fans and especially from Kenny and everyone at Blue Chair Records is not only overwhelming, it’s truly well deserved.”

As a songwriter, Murphy has had several hits recorded by Chesney (“Pirate Flag,” “Living in Fast Forward”), Jason Aldean (“The Only Way I Know,” “Big Green Tractor”), Blake Shelton (“The More I Drink”), Thompson Square (“Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not”), Gary Allan (“A Feelin’ Like That”), Jake Owen (“Anywhere With You”) and Reba (“Red Roses (Won’t Work Now)”).

The track, penned by Murphy with Jimmy Yeary and Chris Stevens, also marks another No. 1 country hit for THiS Music Publishing and Capitol CMG Publishing.