Country Music Memories:Luke Bryan Releases ‘Tailgates & Tanlines’

By the time Luke Bryan released Tailgates & Tanlines on Aug. 9, 2011, he’d placed two albums in the No. 2 spot on the country albums chart, earned five Top 10 singles (including two No. 1s) and won a few awards. His third studio album, though, kicked his career to another level.

It started with “Country Girl (Shake It for Me),” the lead single from the album, released in March of 2011. Although the song — written by Bryan and Dallas Davidson — peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, it’s endured as one of Bryan’s best-known songs, and has been certified a whopping six-times platinum.

“Country Girl” was the only single from Tailgates & Tanlines before the album dropped. The record was Bryan’s first to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart — a streak he’s maintained across four subsequent albums, including his most recent release, 2020’s Born Here, Live Here, Die Here. Tailgates & Tanlines also gave Bryan his highest Billboard 200 chart position, debuting on the all-genre chart at No. 2.

Bryan co-wrote eight of Tailgates & Tanlines‘ 13 songs, with his co-writers including Shane McAnally, Rhett Akins, Erin Enderlin, Brent Cobb and others. Eagle-eyed fans will notice Clare Dunn and Ashton Shepherd credited as background singers on the project, too.

Bryan released three additional singles from Tailgates & Tanlines: “I Don’t Want This Night to End” in September of 2011, “Drunk on You” in February of 2012 and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” in August of 2012. All three went to No. 1 on the country radio charts; “I Don’t Want This Night to End” and “Drunk on You” are now five-times platinum, while “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” has been certified double platinum.

Bryan raked in the awards and awards nominations with Tailgates & Tanlines, too. The album earned Album of the Year nominations at the ACM Awards, CMA Awards and American Music Awards, while “I Don’t Want This Night to End” won Video of the Year at the 2012 CMT Music Awards. Bryan cleaned up at the now-defunct American Country Awards in 2012, too, winning — among other honors — Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Single of the Year.

On the success of Tailgates & Tanlines, Bryan also won his first ACM Entertainer of the Year award. He’s won the honor two more times since, most recently at the 2021 ACM Awards.

As of 2017, Tailgates & Tanlines has been certified quadruple platinum.

10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Luke Bryan: