List of Hot Country Songs number ones of 2006

Hot Country Songs is a chart that ranks the top-performing country music songs in the United States, published by Billboard magazine. In 2006, 23 different songs topped the chart in 52 issues of the magazine, based on weekly airplay data from country music radio stations compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.^[1]

American Idol winner Carrie Underwood spent eleven weeks at the top of the chart in 2006.

The number one song at the start of the year was "Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right" by Billy Currington, which had reached number one in the issue of Billboard dated December 31, 2005, and remained at the top until the issue dated January 14 when it was replaced by "She Let Herself Go" by George Strait.^[2] This gave Strait his 40th number one, tying the record held by Conway Twitty for the highest number of Hot Country Songs number ones.^[3] Strait returned to the top spot in September with "Give It Away" to take the record outright.^[3]

Nine acts achieved their first number one in 2006. The first was Carrie Underwood, winner of the fourth season of American Idol, who had previously achieved a number-one hit on the Hot 100,^[4] but reached the top of the country chart for the first time in January with "Jesus, Take the Wheel", which spent six weeks in the top spot,^[5] the longest run of the year at number one. Later in the year, Underwood spent a further five weeks at number one with "Before He Cheats", giving her a total of eleven weeks at number one in the year, the most of any act. Other artists to achieve the feat of a debut number one in 2006 included Josh Turner,^[6] Jack Ingram,^[7] Jason Aldean,^[8] Rodney Atkins,^[9] The Wreckers,^[10] and Heartland.^[11] Veteran rock band Bon Jovi scored its first ever country hit and went all the way to number one after releasing a country version of its song "Who Says You Can't Go Home" featuring vocalist Jennifer Nettles.^[12] In December, the band Sugarland, of which Nettles is a member, gained its own debut number one with "Want To",^[13] which was the final number one of the year.

Chart history

Josh Turner topped the chart for the first time in March.

Jason Aldean was another first-time chart-topper in May.

Rodney Atkins got to number one for the first time in August.

George Strait broke the record for the most Hot Country Songs number ones.

Issue date	Title	Artist(s)	Ref.
January 7	"Must Be Doin' Somethin' Right"	Billy Currington	[14]
January 14	"She Let Herself Go"	George Strait	[15]
January 21	"Jesus, Take the Wheel"	Carrie Underwood	[16]
January 28			[17]
February 4			[18]
February 11			[19]
February 18			[20]
February 25			[21]
March 4	"When I Get Where I'm Going"	Brad Paisley featuring Dolly Parton	[22]
March 11	"Your Man"	Josh Turner	[23]
March 18	"Living in Fast Forward"	Kenny Chesney	[24]
March 25			[25]
April 1			[26]
April 8	"What Hurts the Most"	Rascal Flatts	[27]
April 15			[28]
April 22			[29]
April 29			[30]
May 6	"Who Says You Can't Go Home"	Bon Jovi duet with Jennifer Nettles	[31]
May 13			[32]
May 20	"Wherever You Are"	Jack Ingram	[33]
May 27	"Why"	Jason Aldean	[34]
June 3	"Settle for a Slowdown"	Dierks Bentley	[35]
June 10			[36]
June 17	"Summertime"	Kenny Chesney	[37]
June 24			[38]
July 1			[39]
July 8			[40]
July 15			[41]
July 22	"The World"	Brad Paisley	[42]
July 29			[43]
August 5			[44]
August 12	"If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)"	Rodney Atkins	[45]
August 19			[46]
August 26			[47]
September 2			[48]
September 9	"Leave the Pieces"	The Wreckers	[49]
September 16			[50]
September 23	"Brand New Girlfriend"	Steve Holy	[51]
September 30	"Give It Away"	George Strait	[52]
October 7			[53]
October 14	"Would You Go with Me"	Josh Turner	[54]
October 21			[55]
October 28	"I Loved Her First"	Heartland	[56]
November 4	"Every Mile a Memory"	Dierks Bentley	[57]
November 11	"Before He Cheats"	Carrie Underwood	[58]
November 18			[59]
November 25			[60]
December 2			[61]
December 9			[62]
December 16	"My Wish"	Rascal Flatts	[63]
December 23	"Want To"	Sugarland	[64]
December 30			[65]

See also

• 2006 in music
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. country chart