Chris Young performed the title track of his latest album on network television. The country music superstar wraps up 2025 by performing “I Didn’t Come Here To Leave” on Live With Kelly and Mark.
Young’s performance comes after he just concluded his inaugural It Must Be Christmas – An Acoustic Evening with Chris Young Tour. He also released two songs, both “Christmas Ain’t Christmas,” plus his version of “Silver Bells” in time for the holiday season.
“We were looking at even doing an entire Christmas album, and I was like, ‘Let’s wait,’” Young tells ABC. “‘Let’s hold that until next year. We can do so much stuff at one time. Let’s do one thing at a time.’”
See Young’s performance on Live With Kelly and Mark here.
The Story Behind Chris Young’s “I Didn’t Come Here To Leave”
Young wrote “I Didn’t Come Here To Leave” with Kyle Fishman and Dallas Davidson. The album came out 19 years after his eponymous debut in 2006.
“I just had a lot of fun with this song,” the 40-year-old says. “And I also thought it was a statement of sort of where I’m at in my career, which is weird because if you think about my age compared to some other people that got started, at least on a label, much later than me. They’re older than me, so it’s very interesting to look at it. But I think that being around for 20 years on record labels, I think that’s indicative of that. And it’s sort of me just looking at everybody going, ‘I still have more to say.’”
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Why ‘I Didn’t Come Here To Leave’ Is So Important to Chris Young
I Didn’t Come Here To Leave is Young’s tenth studio album, and his first on Black River Entertainment. It also happens to be his favorite.
“I think this record, everybody always says, ‘Oh, this is the favorite record I’ve made,’ because they’re trying to push it,” Young tells Audacy. “But for me, with this record specifically, I really do think we made something that, as a whole project, is really, really special.”
Young wrote all but three of the 14 tracks on I Didn’t Come Here To Leave. Of all of his records, he finds the most of himself in his latest one.
“There are meaningful songs on here,” Young boasts. “There are meaningful songs to me. There are meaningful songs about my family members that are on here. It’s very open, very straightforward, very honest as a project. A lot of people say, ‘Art’s never finished, it’s abandoned.’ I feel like this project was completed.”
All Of the Songs on Chris Young’s ‘I Didn’t Come Here To Leave’
1. Some Around Here (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Jason Duke/Josh Hoge)
2. I Didn’t Come Here To Leave (Chris Young/Kyle Fishman/Dallas Davidson)
3. Good As Yours (Chris Young/Jonathan Smith/Jordan Walker/Trannie Anderson)
4. I Hope It’s Okay (Chris Young/Dave Fenley/Davis Forney/Austin Machado)
5. I Feel A Cold One Coming On (Chris Young/Tyler Reeve/Trent Tomlinson/Josh Gleave)
6. ‘Til The Last One Dies (Ben Hayslip/Seth Mosley/Jordan Walker)
7. Pour Some Whiskey On It (Chris Young/Jessie Jo Dillon/Steven Lee Olsen/Jimmy Robbins)
8. Boots On The Ground (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Jason Duke/Josh Hoge)
9. Tin Roof (Ty Graham/Adam Wood/ Trenton Michael Fisher)
10. Dirt And Daisies (Chris Young/Casey Brown/Deric Ruttan/Parker Welling)
11. Just Keep Living (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Jason Duke/Josh Hoge)
12. Jesus, Momma, Country Radio (Chris Young/Chris DeStefano/Taylor Phillips/Josh Phillips)
13. What Would You Take (Doug Johnson/Steve Diamond)
14. Brake Lights (Chris Young/ Hillary Lindsey/Ty Graham/Jesse Frasure)