George Birge just celebrated his first-ever No. 1 hit, with “Mind On You.” The song, written by Birge, along with Jaron Boyer, Michael Tyler and Colt Ford, is from his George Birge: Mind On You album, his first full-length record.
“It’s a song I wrote in 2020,” Birge told Everything Nash. “I knew it was special, but I didn’t really have a way to put it out at the time. So I originally pitched it to Jason Aldean. He had it slated for his new record. I posted a little clip of it on my own social media, and it took off. I ended up getting my own record deal, and had to go with my tail tucked between my legs and ask for my song back.
“He was so excited for me and genuine that he gave me my song back, and I put it out with my own name on it, and it literally changed my life,” he remarked. “It’s definitely been a roller coaster, but one that’s paid off in a crazy way.”
Although Aldean could have made Birge getting his own song back difficult, the country music superstar was exceedlingly kind to the rising star, offering him some advice and encouragement as well.
“About two months ago, we were both at a party and some of our mutual friends introduced us. He was like, ‘I’ve been watching the song and I’ve been rooting for you,'” Birge told Billboard. “To have him say that was so gratifying. He also filled me in on some parallels of what I’m doing and how he started his career — he told me about a failed record deal when he got started and later how one song changed his life and how at the time he had his first hit, [Aldean’s label home] Broken Bow Records was kind of a startup label.
“He talked about finding his lane, building a brand, and scaling from clubs up to arenas and amphitheaters,” he added. “I left that conversation feeling ten feet tall, because it was so inspiring. I’m very thankful for the time I got to spend talking with him.”
Birge is, fortunately, already working on his sophomore record, which he says fans will soon be able to hear.
“We’ve got a few songs cut towards a new album already, and we’re going to start putting some of those out,” Birge hinted.
My FIRST NUMBER ONE on the LAST day of the year… Yall I have dreamed of this day my entire life and there were at least a hundred sleepless nights where I thought it might never come true. pic.twitter.com/0pz0mXHrrW
— George Birge (@GeorgeBirge) December 31, 2023
“Mind On You” landed at the top of the charts at the end of 2023, a perfect way for Birge to cap off an unforgettable year.
“Y’all did it. We did it,” Birge said in an emotional video he shared on social media. “We officially had the No. 1 song in America at country radio the other day. It’s something I’ve dreamed about my entire life, and now I can say for the rest of my life that ‘Mind On You’ was a No. 1 song at country radio. When we started this, it was a wild and crazy one-in-a-million dream, and I still look back and wonder how I could have possibly thought that we could pull this off. But you guys didn’t quit on me.
“Thank you so much for listening to this song, for supporting this song, for sharing this song,” he continued. “Thank you so much to my friends at country radio for changing my life. We are No.1, baby. What a way to end the year.”
Birge will serve as the opening act for Parker McCollum on his Burn It Down Tour this year. Find “Mind On You” and all of Birge’s music and upcoming shows at GeorgeBirge.com.
