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GIRL CRUSH

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Girl Crush

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This article is about the Little Big Town song. For other uses, see Girl Crush (disambiguation).

“Girl Crush”
Single by Little Big Town
from the album Pain Killer
ReleasedDecember 15, 2014
GenreCountryblue-eyed soul
Length3:13
LabelCapitol Nashville
SongwritersLori McKennaHillary LindseyLiz Rose
ProducerJay Joyce
Little Big Town singles chronology
“Day Drinking“
(2014)”Girl Crush“
(2014)”Smokin’ and Drinkin’“
(2015)

“Girl Crush” is a song written by Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose, and performed by American country music group Little Big Town. It was released on December 15, 2014 as the second single from their sixth studio album, Pain Killer.[1] The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, won five music awards, including two Grammys (Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Country Song), reaching number 3 on the Country Airplay charts and number one on the Hot Country Songs chart, ended up being the second-most played song of 2015 on the format, and is certified seven-times Platinum in the US.

Content

As CMT‘s Alison Bonaguro wrote, the song is “about a girl obsessing over another girl because that girl stole her lover … On the other hand, it could also be about a girl obsessing over the girl who is with the man that she wants but has never had.” Bonaguro added that it is not a girl crush (on another girl) per se, but rather a girl desiring to taste her rival’s lips in order to taste him and “to drown in her perfume, to have her long blond hair — and so on — all in an effort to get him back”.[2]

Lori McKenna stated that when she presented the idea to co-writer Liz Rose that Rose disliked the idea at first but that Rose changed her mind after hearing the first verse that Hillary Lindsey had written. Group members Kimberly Schlapman and Karen Fairchild heard the song and asked that it be saved for them.[3]

Composition

“Girl Crush” is in the key of C major and a 6
8 time signature, with an approximate tempo of 58 dotted quarter notes per minute and a primary chord pattern of C–Em–F–G. Karen Fairchild’s lead vocals range from G3 to A4.[4]

Critical reception

“Girl Crush” received critical acclaim. CMT’s Alison Bonaguro writes, “If anyone knows how to write a country song that’s never been written before, it’s these three”: Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, and Liz Rose. Billy Dukes of Taste of Country states, “Karen Fairchild’s lead on Little Big Town’s new single ‘Girl Crush’ may be the best vocal performance of the year. Her anguish drives through you like a steam engine, and afterward she’s nothing but a puff of white smoke barely holding on to existence.”[5] Dukes adds, “listen to the song on repeat and find yourself exhausted … in the best possible way” and “mass homogeny on the radio makes it seem impossible to create a sound or write a song that’s truly unique. It’s as if all the good ideas have been used up. Little Big Town prove this is not the case on each album they release.”

In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at No. 80 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[6]

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryResult
2015Country Music Association AwardsSong of the YearWon
Single of the YearWon
Music Video of the YearNominated
2016Grammy AwardsBest Country Duo/Group PerformanceWon
Song of the YearNominated
Best Country SongWon
Academy of Country MusicSingle Record of the YearNominated
Song of the YearNominated
Video of the YearNominated
CMT Music AwardsGroup/Duo Video of the Year [A]Won
CMT Performance of the Year [B]Nominated

A^ “Girl Crush” as performed by Little Big Town.B^ “Girl Crush” as performed by Adam Lambert and Leona Lewis was nominated as 2016 CMT Performance of the Year for their rendition of the song on the “CMT Artists of the Year” TV special on December 2, 2015. Their performance was in honor of Little Big Town in recognition of CMT’s selection of the group as a “CMT Artist of the Year.”

Commercial performance

“Girl Crush” debuted at number 48 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week ending November 8, 2014, before it was released as a single. It reached number one and remained there for thirteen consecutive weeks until it was knocked off by “Kick the Dust Up” by Luke Bryan. It debuted at number 55 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for the week ending December 27, 2014. “Girl Crush” sold 10,000 copies in its debut week of November 8, 2014.[7] The song reached more than two million in sales by early February 2016.[8] As of November 2019, “Girl Crush” had sold 2,550,000 copies in the United States.[9] In March 2025, the single was certified 7× multi-Platinum.[10]

“Girl Crush” is Little Big Town’s highest charting single on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart, having peaked at number 18 for the week ending May 9, 2015 chart, besting the number 22 peak of “Pontoon” in 2012.[11] It is also their highest showing on the Canadian Hot 100, besting the number 39 position of “Pontoon” in 2012. It is also their longest-running number one single, 13 weeks atop Hot Country Songs. It broke the record set by The Browns‘ 1959 hit “The Three Bells” as the longest-running number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart by a group of three or more members.[12]

Some radio stations were reported to have pulled “Girl Crush” from their playlists, in response to concerns from listeners who interpreted the song to be about lesbianism. In response, Fairchild said, “That’s just shocking to me, the close-mindedness of that, when that’s just not what the song was about…But what if it were? It’s just a greater issue of listening to a song for what it is.” In addition, the label created a short commercial in which the band discusses the song and its actual meaning.[13] Billboard consulted several radio program directors on its panel and found only one who detailed a specific complaint from a listener; the magazine concluded that the controversy surrounding the song was mostly fabricated.[14]

Music video

The music video is in black-and-white.[15] It was directed by Karla and Matthew Welch and premiered in April 2015. The music video was filmed in Los Angeles, California and produced by Meritocracy Inc.[16] The music video is nominated for a 2016 Academy of Country Music Award for Video of the Year.[17]

Live performances

Meghan Linsey version

On the April 13, 2015 episode (Season 8) of The Voice, contestant Meghan Linsey (formerly one-half of Steel Magnolia) performed the song. Country singer Blake Shelton, who is a judge on the show, said that the song was his favorite on the radio at that point.[24] Reba McEntire, who served as a mentor on the episode, also reacted favorably to Linsey’s rendition.[25] Linsey’s version peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart[26] and number 1 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.[27]

Charts

Weekly chartsChart (2014–2015)Peak
positionCanada Hot 100 (Billboard)[28]29Canada Country (Billboard)[29]11US Billboard Hot 100[30]18US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[31]1US Country Airplay (Billboard)[32]3US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[33]29US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[34]23		Year-end chartsChart (2015)PositionCanada (Canadian Hot 100)[35]85US Billboard Hot 100[36]63US Country Airplay (Billboard)[37]38US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[38]2Decade-end chartsChart (2010–2019)PositionUS Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[39]21

Certifications

RegionCertificationCertified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[40]Gold15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[41]Silver200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[10]7× Platinum7,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1.  “Future Releases – Country”. AllAccess Music Group. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2.  Bonaguro, Alison. “I’m Crushing on Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush””. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  3.  Rodman, Sarah (15 December 2014). “Lori McKenna Reveals Her ‘Girl Crush'”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  4.  “‘Girl Crush’ sheet music”. MusicNotes.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  5.  Dukes, Billy (2 December 2014). “Little Big Town, ‘Girl Crush’ – ToC Critic’s Pick [Listen]”. Taste of Country. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  6.  “The 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time”. Rolling Stone. May 24, 2014.
  7.  Bjorke, Matt (29 October 2014). “Country Music’s Top 30 Digital Singles: October 29, 2014”. RoughStock. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  8.  Brian Cantor (8 February 2016). “Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” crosses the 2 million US sales mark”. Headline Planet.
  9.  Bjorke, Matt (November 30, 2019). “Top 30 Digital Country Songs: November 24, 2019”. Rough Stock. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  10.  “American single certifications – Little Big Town – Girl Crush”. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  11.  “Little Big Town – Chart history”. Billboard. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  12.  Asker, Jim. “Kacey Musgraves ‘Material’-izes at No. 1 on Country Chart; Little Big Town Ties Record”. Billboard. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  13.  Yahr, Emily (25 March 2015). “Why stations are pulling Little Big Town’s ‘Girl Crush’ — and what that says about country radio”. The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  14.  Stark, Phyllis (27 March 2015). “Controversy Over Little Big Town’s ‘Girl Crush’ & Its ‘Lesbian Theme’ Is Mostly Fabricated”. Billboard. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  15.  “Music Video Of The Year”. 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  16.  “CMT : Videos : Little Big Town : Girl Crush”. Country Music Television. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  17.  “Nominees”. ACM Awards. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016.
  18.  “Little Big Town Performs ‘Girl Crush'”. YouTube. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  19.  Bell, Rebekah (April 2015). “Little Big Town Perform ‘Girl Crush’ on ‘The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon’ [Watch]”. Taste of Country. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  20.  Lynch, Joe. “Little Big Town Bring Provocative ‘Girl Crush’ to 2015 ACMs”. Billboard. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  21.  Lynch, Joe. “2015 Billboard Music Awards: 10 Best Performances”. Billboard. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  22.  “Little Big Town Performs ‘Girl Crush’ at the 2015 CMA Awards”. Billboard. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  23.  “Little Big Town Performs ‘Girl Crush’ at the 2016 Grammys”. Billboard. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  24.  Dukes, Billy (14 April 2015). “Meghan Linsey Brings Her ‘Girl Crush’ to ‘The Voice'”. Taste of Country. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  25.  Anderson, Danielle (14 April 2015). “See The Voice’s Meghan Linsey ‘Kick the Dog Poo’ out of Little Big Town’s ‘Girl Crush'”. People. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  26.  “Meghan Linsey Album & Song Chart History – Country Songs”. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  27.  “Meghan Linsey Album & Song Chart History – Bubbling Under Hot 100”. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  28.  “Little Big Town Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)“. Billboard.
  29.  “Little Big Town Chart History (Canada Country)“. Billboard.
  30.  “Little Big Town Chart History (Hot 100)“. Billboard.
  31.  “Little Big Town Chart History (Hot Country Songs)“. Billboard.
  32.  “Little Big Town Chart History (Country Airplay)“. Billboard.
  33.  “Little Big Town Chart History (Adult Contemporary)“. Billboard.
  34.  “Little Big Town Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)“. Billboard.
  35.  “Best of 2015: Canadian Hot 100”. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  36.  “Best of 2015: Hot 100 Songs”. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  37.  “Best of 2015: Country Airplay”. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  38.  “Best of 2015: Hot Country Songs”. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  39.  “Decade-End Charts: Hot Country Songs”. Billboard. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  40.  “New Zealand single certifications – Little Big Town – Girl Crush”. Radioscope. Retrieved March 23, 2025. Type Girl Crush in the “Search:” field and press Enter.
  41.  “British single certifications – Little Big Town – Girl Crush”. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 21, 2025. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Girl Crush Little Big Town in the “Search:” field.
vteLittle Big Town
Awards for “Girl Crush”

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