Back in October, audio entertainment company SiriusXM released what they believe are the Best Country Songs of all time. Many recognizable hits made the list, such as Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" from her self-titled debut album, "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean, Johnny Cash's hit "I Walk The Line," "Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait, but this '90s hit made the top spot.
Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" earned the No. 1 spot on SiriusXM's list. Released in August 1990 as the lead single to his second studio album, No Fences, the song spent four weeks at the top spot on the Hot Country Songs list and won both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards in 1990. "Friends in Low Places" has become Brooks' signature song.
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"Friends in Low Places" is loosely based on a true story between songwriting duo Dewayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee. They were out to eat at a restaurant in Nashville, but neither of them had enough money to pay for their tab. Lee assured him, saying that he had "friends in low places," referring to someone he knew who worked as a cook at the eatery.
Months later, the songwriting duo was at a party in Nashville, celebrating another musician getting a No. 1 single on the radio. The "friends in low places" phrase came up again, and it led them to write the majority of the song on various napkins.
The country anthem is about a lover crashing his ex-partner's high-society wedding to toast her new life, despite not fitting in. It celebrates finding comfort among "low-class" friends —regular folks — rather than fitting into an "ivory tower" social scene, emphasizing pride and acceptance in who they are and where they grew up.
Garth Brooks performs with Luke Combs at the T-Mobile Mane Stage during the 2025 Stagecoach Festival on April 27, 2025 in Indio, California.Lee and Blackwell met Brooks while he was a struggling musician working a shoe salesman job in Nashville. The three got along, and Brooks recorded many demos for them. When they went to Brooks to ask him to record the demo for "Friends in Low Places" after it was done, Brooks revealed that he just signed to Capitol Records, and that his first single and first album were already scheduled. But he recorded the demo anyway, and asked Blackwell and Lee if he could hold onto the song, and they agreed. Other artists, though, like David Chamberlain and Mark Chesnutt, recorded and released the song before Brooks.
"'Friends in Low Places' was the last demo session I ever did as a singer," Brooks wrote in the notes section of the CD booklet for The Hits. "I sang the session out in Hendersonville, and for the next two weeks, the chorus to this song kept running through my head. I knew it would be a year and a half before the release of No Fences because Garth Brooks was just getting ready to be released. I asked Bud Lee and Dewayne if I could hold on to it, and without a blink of an eye, they both said yes. Putting that kind of faith into an unknown artist is unheard of. Thanks, Dewayne and Bud for believing in me."
Born Troyal Garth Brooks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the "If Tomorrow Never Comes" singer started his professional music career in 1985 by performing in local bars around the state. The self-titled debut album that he released in 1989 became a success, earning the No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and reaching No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart.
His second album, No Fences, was released a year later and spent 23 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. In addition to "Friends in Low Places," other popular singles from the record include "The Thunder Rolls" and "Unanswered Prayers."
Throughout his career, the 63-year-old country artist has released 14 studio albums, along with multiple live, compilation and Christmas records. He is the only artist in history to have nine albums certified Diamond by the RIAA.
The country star will be performing at SummerFest in Milwaukee and BST Hyde Park, London, this coming June. Fans can listen to all of Brooks' discography on Amazon Music. Most of his songs are not on Spotify because he prefers platforms that align with his views on supporting songwriters and promoting physical album sales.
Related: '90s Country Music Star Celebrated First No. 1 Hit 26 Years Ago Today
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