Country Music Memories: Lonestar Collect First Platinum Album

Twenty-two years ago today (Sept. 24, 1999) was a big day for Lonestar: It was on that date that the band scored their first platinum album, signifying sales in excess of one million units, with their Lonely Grill disc.

All four of the singles from Lonely Grill went to the top of the charts, including the song “Amazed,” which was a No. 1 hit on the pop charts as well.

“Artists wait for a song like that to come along that can take their career to another level, and that song did that for Lonestar, and that’s something that we’ll never forget,” lead singer Richie McDonald tells Songfacts. “That song to me is just a classic, timeless song. And it is that song that took Lonestar to another level.

“We will never, ever get tired of playing that song, just because we still have fans come up to us night after night saying that’s the song they got married to, the song they use on their anniversary,” he adds. “That’s what music is supposed to be about.”

Lonely Grill has sold more than 3 million copies and remains the biggest record of the band’s career. The album, which was released in June of 1999, helped the group earn a CMA Awards nomination for Vocal Group of the Year and an ACM Awards nod for Top Vocal Group.

This story was originally written by Gayle Thompson, and revised by Annie Zaleski.