Ever since the country star made his debut nearly two decades ago, Dierks Bentley songs dominated the country charts and conquered the hearts of many country fans.
Growing up in a non-musical family in Phoenix, Arizona, Dierks Bentley earned his country music education on his own by listening to different records. His love for music inspired Bentley to move to Nashville when he was only nineteen.
With hard work and dedication, Bentley skyrocketed to the top of the country charts – opening up a career where he’d remain in the Top Ten year after year.
Here are some of his best hits so far!
1. “What Was I Thinkin'”
In 2003, Bentley landed his first No. 1 hit with “What Was I Thinkin’,” making him one of the few artists who scored a No. 1 hit with a debut single.
Bentley co-wrote the song with his record producer Brett Beavers and Canadian singer-songwriter Deric Ruttan, in which he recollected fleeing one night with a “beauty from south Alabama” named Becky. But the escapade had him constantly asking, “what was I thinkin’.”
2. “Come a Little Closer”
Bentley said that he wanted to make a song about love – something that a man could sing to his woman for her to forgive him, and so he did! The country singer made his intentions clear in “Come a Little Closer.”
The song went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Song chart.
3. “Black”
All through his career, the country singer has written a number of songs with the love of his life in mind. But one of his greatest hits takes its name directly from her – “Black.” It was released as the title track to his 2016 album and got its name directly from the maiden name of Dierks Bentley’s wife, Cassidy Black, bringing with it a story.
4. “Settle for a Slowdown”
“Settle for a Slowdown” finds Bentley watching his loved one pull away. He knows he can no longer hold her back, but he is hoping he would see the brake lights – signifying that she at least took a pause for a while before she ultimately left him behind. Sadly, she never did!
5. “Every Mile a Memory”
Co-written by Bentley, “Every Mile a Memory” is more than just a song about a man missing a woman and how everything he sees and hears reminds him of her. Its message actually has been applied to all sorts of situations that it even resonated with an Iraq War veteran.
6. “Sideways”
“Sometimes it doesn’t take your most creative work to make a hit,” Bentley said of “Sideways,” which he first wrote on an airplane on the way to a gig. The song details a man’s attempt to talk to a woman in a bar despite the place’s loud noise.
7. “5-1-5-0”
Perhaps one of the most unusual song titles you’ll ever find, “5-1-5-0,” was the first-ever all-numerical titled No. 1 in Billboard Hot Country Song chart’s history. It is actually a police code in California for a person reluctantly confined by officers after being considered mentally unstable and possibly dangerous. It was inspired by Van Halen’s album 5150.
8. “Somewhere on a Beach”
The carefree tune took a page from the playbook of country music’s sun-kissed king, suggesting drinks and lovely women in a tropical location to get over a breakup and heal a broken heart.
For You
9. “Feel That Fire”
Bentley lists off all the things that a woman wants – like wanting “her nails painted black” or to “ride the bull at the rodeo” – in “Feel That Fire.”
According to Bentley, the song makes him think of his wife. “She likes black nail polish, so that’s how it got started,” he said.
10. “I Hold On”
Bentley chooses to stay true to what he enjoys and is comfortable with, like his old truck, his old guitar, and his lover in “I Hold On.”
The singer said it’s a highly personal and autobiographical song he has ever written. In fact, if you would ask him to sum himself up in three minutes, he’d play this song for you.
11. “Am I the Only One”
The fist-pumping party song had Bentley asking, “Am I the only one who wants to have fun tonight?” And it was actually based on a real incident involving stay-at-home friends who he “couldn’t get to go out on the town on a Friday night.”
12. “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes”
Bentley was in full-on Cowboy Casanova mode in one of the sexiest country ballads ever released on country radio. According to the singer, he takes it as one of the best compliments whenever a guy comes up to him and “says that one of my songs helped him out at home” – and that’s Bentley’s goal for this track.
13. “Home”
Bentley’s “Home” sings about the challenges we’ve had as a country. It was inspired by the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, in which six people have died and critically injured U.S. Representative Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
14. “Gone”
Bentley recorded “Gone” amid the turmoil of the global pandemic. The singer said he relates to the song not only in the way it represents the impacts of a failed relationship but as well as to what he feels about the challenging year of 2020.
15. “Drunk on a Plane”
Bentley, a licensed pilot, sings about a heavily intoxicated man on a plane. The man in the song was left behind at the altar and could not get a refund for the plane tickets he had purchased for their honeymoon, so he took that trip by himself.
More of Dierks Bentley Songs That Show His Versatility
Indeed, the singer has been a constant hitmaker in the country music world. You will find more of Dierks Bentley’s greatest hits below.
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