Taylor Swift’s Collaboration With Chris Stapleton Soars On Country Charts

Taylor Swift’s new single from her Red (Taylor’s Version) album, “I Bet You Think About Me,” featuring backing vocals by Chris Stapleton, is giving Swift significant new success in the genre in which she emerged.

“I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” debuts on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart at No.23, which as Billboard Country Update reports, is her second-highest ever start on that survey. It’s behind only the No.13 entry of “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” from the original Red album, at No.13 in September 2012. It’s also Stapleton’s highest-ever debut on the chart, beating the No.26 start (and peak) of “Either Way” in May 2017.

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Taylor Swift ft. Chris Stapleton - I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version) (Official Video)

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As reported, Swift yesterday shared a new video for the country-flavored song featuring Miles Teller and the directorial debut of Blake Lively. Swift wrote the number with Lori McKenna around the time of her Red album of October 2012, but didn’t release it. The new recording, produced by the artist with Aaron Dessner, is now the lead single from her re-recorded version of the set, and is being officially promoted as an individual single alongside the re-cut album, which landed last Friday (12).

Fuelling the lofty chart arrival of “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version)” was hourly airplay for the track on participating iHeartMedia stations when the track arrived with the album. The song is already the superstar’s highest-placed entry as a lead artist on the Country Airplay chart since the title track “Red” reached No.7 in late 2013, before her transition to pop with the following year’s 1989 album.

The Louisville Courier Journal’s Mary Ramsey noted that the new single “sees Swift returning to her country roots, with Stapleton’s trademark tenor harmonizing with more twang that we’ve heard from the 31-year-old since her earliest records.”

Buy or stream Red (Taylor’s Version).