Like a Wrecking Ball

"Like a Wrecking Ball" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Eric Church. It was released on March 9, 2015 as the fifth and final single from his 2014 album The Outsiders. Church wrote this song with Casey Beathard.

This article is about the Eric Church song. For the Miley Cyrus song, see Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus song).
"Like a Wrecking Ball"
Single by Eric Church
from the album The Outsiders
ReleasedMarch 9, 2015 (March 9, 2015)
Recorded2013–14
GenreCountry rock
Length3:18
LabelEMI Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Jay Joyce
Eric Church singles chronology
"Raise 'Em Up"
(2015)		 "Like a Wrecking Ball"
(2015)		 "Mr. Misunderstood"
(2015)

Background

Church once told a crowd during a show that "[the song is] about [...] sex".[1]

Critical reception

In regards to the "physicality"[2] of the lyrics, Billy Dukes of Taste of Country said, "To be certain, this is a non-traditional babymaker from country music's least likely Romeo. And that's why it works. "Like a Wrecking Ball" silences Church's crowd when he includes it between two more guitar-driven numbers at concerts. It's a unified moment of "Whoa!"[2] Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an "A" grade, praising the production and comparing the song to Dwight Yoakam's "Nothing", writing that "'Like a Wrecking Ball' sounds like nothing on the radio today" and pointing out "Irregular rhythms, a vocal sung out of the corner of his mouth, and a lyric that makes every other love song out there sound like child's play" and describing the song as "[a]n instant contender for the best single of 2015."[3]

Commercial response

"Like a Wrecking Ball" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts at numbers 55 and 44, respectively, for charts dated March 7, 2015. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 100 for the week of April 11, 2015. The song peaked at No. 52 on the Hot 100 for the chart dated July 25, 2015. It peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. As of November 2015, the song has sold 1,026,000 copies in the United States.[4] The song was certified triple Platinum by the RIAA on July 15, 2022 for three million units in sales and streams.[5]

Music video

The accompanying music video for this was directed by Joe DeMaio and premiered in June 2015. It is composed of live footage that was shot during the 2015 CMT Music Awards.

Chart performance

Weekly charts
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[6] 75
Canada Country (Billboard)[7] 32
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 51
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[9] 11
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[10] 6

Year-end charts
Chart (2015) Position
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[11] 53
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[12] 10

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[5] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Hannahlee Allers (February 25, 2015). "Eric Church Selects "Like a Wrecking Ball" as the next single". Roughstock. Sales figures given here
  2. Dukes, Billy (February 13, 2015). "ToC Critic's Pick: Eric Church, 'Like a Wrecking Ball' [Listen]". Taste of Country. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  3. Coyne, Kevin John (March 4, 2015). "Single Review: Eric Church, "Like a Wrecking Ball"". Country Universe. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  4. Bjorke, Matt (November 20, 2015). "Top 30 Digital Country Singles Chart: November 23, 2015". Roughstock.
  5. "American single certifications – Eric Church – Like a Wrecking Ball". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  6. "Eric Church Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. "Eric Church Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
  8. "Eric Church Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  9. "Eric Church Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard.
  10. "Eric Church Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  11. "Best of 2015: Country Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  12. "Best of 2015: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
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