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Zach Top has plenty to celebrate. The reigning CMA New Artist of the Year, GRAMMY Award winner and CMA Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year nominee was surprised by his label, Leo33, with a collection of new certifications recognizing the massive success of his music.
Among the biggest milestones are 4x Platinum certifications for “I Never Lie” in both the U.S. and Canada, along with a Platinum certification for his album Cold Beer & Country Music.
The surprise celebration took place Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 29) at GoodTimes Nashville, where Top was surrounded by members of his team and the people who have helped fuel his rapid rise.
Zach Top’s New Certifications
U.S. RIAA Certifications
- “I Never Lie” — 4x Platinum
- Cold Beer & Country Music — Platinum Album
- “Bad Luck” — Platinum
- “Sounds Like the Radio” — Platinum
- “Use Me” — Platinum
- “South of Sanity” — Gold
- “Cold Beer & Country Music” — Gold
- “Lonely for Long” — Gold
- “There’s the Sun” — Gold
Canada Certifications
- “I Never Lie” — 4x Platinum
- “Bad Luck” — Platinum
- “Cold Beer & Country Music” — Gold
- “Good Times & Tan Lines” — Gold
- “South of Sanity” — Gold
- “Use Me” — Gold
The certifications arrive as Top continues his Cold Beer & Country Music Tour, which has already sold tickets to an astonishing 921,820 fans.
POLLSTAR, which recently featured Top on its cover, has described him as “a reliable arena and major amphitheater act and festival headliner,” while noting his rise has been “meteoric.”
At the Nashville celebration, Leo33 Co-Head Katie Dean reflected on the team’s journey with Top.
“Everybody in this room has played a role in Zach Top’s very quick ascent to superstardom,” Dean said. “We all believed Zach was a generational talent when we began working together, and sitting here today with this much to celebrate only reinforces that belief. We are all so honored to celebrate you today, Zach. Congratulations.”
Leo33 Co-Head Shane Tarleton added, “He is the finest that country music has right now. Walking into a room surrounded by the people whose fingerprints are across these milestones is pretty incredible because every one of these plaques represents a song that found its way into somebody’s life.”
“When you look at what Zach and this team have accomplished with these two albums and the Cold Beer & Country Music Tour, you’re really looking at the story of how deeply fans have connected with his music,” Tarleton continued. “We’re incredibly proud of Zach, and even more excited to celebrate everything he’s built with the fans who made it possible.”
For Top, the numbers are impressive, but it’s the fans behind them that mean the most.
“It takes an army, so thank you to each and every one of you. It means the world to me,” Top said. “We knew we’d played to a lot of folks, however someone doing the math and now knowing 921,820 people have bought a ticket to come hear us play these songs is humbling. I’m so grateful to the fans for sharing and loving country music. Here’s to a whole lot more years of this.”
“I Never Lie” continues to be one of the defining songs of Top’s breakout run, now reaching 4x Platinum status in both the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, “Bad Luck,” “Use Me,” “South of Sanity” and the title track from Cold Beer & Country Music continue adding to his growing collection of certified hits.
The success extends to the Cold Beer & Country Music album itself, which is now RIAA Platinum-certified in the U.S.
“These songs have taken on a life of their own,” Top said following the celebration. “I hear people singing them in places I never could have imagined when Carson [Chamberlain] and I were making the record. That’s the coolest part of all of this — at some point, they stop being just your songs. They become part of somebody else’s story, too.”
Top will continue his Cold Beer & Country Music Tour throughout the fall, bringing the songs behind the new certifications to fans across the country.
It’s been an extraordinary year for the traditional country artist, who continues to build a career around his distinctive throwback sound while connecting with a massive modern audience. The New York Times recently called Top “a sonic and philosophical outlier in the country music industry.”
With nearly a million tickets sold, a Platinum album and a growing stack of Gold and Platinum singles, Zach Top’s traditional country sound is clearly finding a very big audience.
