Maren Morris scored the second Top 5 single from her solo catalog this week as “Rich” reached No. 5 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
That’s the good news.
The bad news? Maren is the only solo woman featured in the Top 30 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart this week. In fact, another solo female artist doesn’t make an appearance on the chart until Carrie Underwood clocks in at No. 34 with “Love Wins.”
In an exclusive interview on Elaina Smith’s Women Want to Hear Women podcast, Maren says that she is “conflicted” about her Top 5 accomplishment.
“I feel conflicted, because I worked so hard to put this album [Hero] out with songs that I dearly care about, and it’s sad because I want to celebrate the fact that my song is in the Top 5, but I also feel like I can’t fully celebrate because I am the only woman in the Top 30,” says Maren to Elaina. “It feels like a catch 22 sometimes because I feel ungrateful when I bring attention to the fact there is such a lack of female representation at radio right now. But I’m also thankful, so I do feel on the fence about it because I’m obviously so gracious that radio is playing this and fans are loving this song, but at the same time I want to be able to celebrate my friends that are putting out incredible music that aren’t even getting a single spin. It’s a weird spot to be in. I want to inspire and help change the landscape and get more female voices heard, but it’s definitely concerning to look at the chart today and literally be the only one that’s a woman on it.”
What a shame that Maren feels like she can’t fully celebrate her accomplishments. Maren, we say CONGRATS. Keep up the outstanding work.
Maren tackles more hard-hitting topics during Elaina’s Women Want to Hear Women podcast, which will air right here on NCD—and on all major podcast platforms—on Nov. 5.
