Jake Owen scored the seventh No. 1 single of his career as “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” reached the top of both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart this week.
Jake acknowledged the accomplishment in a new Instagram post, saying, in part, “From the fans, to radio, to my record label friends and family . . . to my band and crew and management . . . the super talented songwriters that have graciously given me great songs through the years, and oh yeah . . . and my bus driver Mike, who drives me all over this country . . . THANK YOU!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl0pTumnpDa/?hl=en&taken-by=jakeowenofficial
Both melodically and lyrically, Jake’s new single is rooted in John Mellencamp’s iconic 1982 hit, “Jack & Diane.” In fact, Mellencamp received a songwriting credit on Jake’s “I Was Jack (You Were Diane), along with songwriters Tommy Cecil, David Ray, Jody Stevens and Craig Wiseman.”
“When I heard the song, I thought to myself, ‘I’m glad I didn’t write this,’ because the legalities behind using a song that is that iconic,” says Jake to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “[The songwriters] sent it to [Mellencamp] and his manager, and they actually got back to us saying that as many times as they’ve heard people try to take that song and do something with it, John’s never been for it. Ever. And, they said that. He gave us his blessing to use it. And, they actually licensed us some of his content to use for our video that we’re making, so it feels good to know that he kind of gave his stamp of approval. I mean, that was a big kind of chance for me—thinking about doing this song—because of the folks out there that are gonna be like, ‘How are you gonna take a classic song like this and redo something that’s already great?’ You know? And, really for us, it was more about paying homage to that song while still making it relevant in today’s world.”
The tune is Jake’s first No. 1 single since 2016’s “American Country Love Song.”
