Chris Young has a big hit at country radio right now. The Tennessee native is in the Top 30 with “‘Til The Last One Dies,” the debut single from his latest I Didn’t Come Here To Leave album, his first on Black River Entertainment. The song was written by Ben Hayslip, Seth Mosley, and Jordan Walker. And although Young didn’t have a hand in writing it, he knew right away it was meant for him.

“I just thought the message on this one was so perfect,” Young tells Audacy. “I went to every single one of my friends, male, female, whatever, that were married or in a relationship, and they were all just blown away by this song, so I was like, ‘Okay, we gotta go with this one first. It’s just too perfect.’”

Young’s fans have his friend to thank for even playing him the song in the first place.

“I had a friend pitch me the song,” Young tells iHeart. “This is one of the few that’s on the record that I was not a co-writer on, but got a chance to sing it and produce it with my buddy, Andy [Sheridan]. I think if I was going to say why I was drawn to this song, not only is it a very new way to say ‘I love you’ to somebody in song form,. My favorite line is the line leading up to the hook, saying that he bought  ‘A dozen roses …11 real ones, one fake one, and I’ll love you ’til the last one dies.’”

Why Chris Young Included “I Didn’t Come Here To Leave” On His New Album

Young prides himself on being a songwriter. But he admits he had no trouble including “‘Til The Last One Dies” on his record.

“It is a straight down the middle love song that I fell in love with the very first time I heard it,” Young explains. “It’s one of the few on the record that I did not take part in writing, but I wish that I had written this idea. It’s just an incredible song.”

The Grand Ole Opry member chose to release “‘Til The Last One Dies” from his album first, even though it’s one of only three that he didn’t write for I Didn’t Come Here To Leave.

“I’ve had songs before that have been singles that I wasn’t a writer on,” Young tells Country 102.5.  “I obviously sang and produced this one. But I found it. Someone played it for me right after these guys wrote it, and I was just like, ‘Oh God. That’s really, really good. I gotta cut that.”

Young is proof that, at least for him, the best song always wins, whether or not he wrote it.

“I think that’s a big part of why I end up cutting songs like that, like ‘Lonely Eyes,’ like ‘Man I Wanna Be,’ like ‘Who I Am With You,’” Young says. “It’s actually surprisingly been a while, and this got pointed out to me, since I have recorded a love song that’s like a no-questions-asked, this is definitely a love song. You can play this at your wedding. So I think that’s a big reason why. And I just think it’s a beautiful melody and a beautiful job of writing that.”

“‘Til The Last One Dies” is also a bit of a departure for Young, in the best way possible, at least compared to his previous singles.

“I just think it’s an absolutely beautiful song,” Young explains. “And I think for me, it’s been a while since I’ve put out a true ballad love song. I went back and looked through the last several singles, and had a lot of success with. They’re all tempo, or even if they were a ballad, they were a really serious, sad topic. This  was something I hadn’t given everybody in a while, and I love the song.”

“‘Til The Last One Dies” was the most-added at country radio the week it was released.

Watch the video for “‘Til The Last One Dies” here. Find “‘Til The Last One Dies” and all of Young’s music and upcoming shows at ChrisYoungCountry.com.