76 Years Ago, Hank Snow Was on a Long Run at No. 1 With One of the Biggest Country Hits of the Century

In the first week of October of 1950, Hank Snow was at No. 1 on all of the Billboard country charts with “I’m Moving On.” It spent 21 weeks at the top, making it one of the biggest hits of the 20^th century. The song also kicked off a string of hits for Snow that ran into the next decade.

Snow initially found fame as a country singer in Canada. Then, his music became popular with American audiences, and he moved to Nashville. There, he inked a deal with RCA and attended his first recording sessions in 1949. He brought the self-penned “I’m Moving On” to that first session. However, producer Stephen Sholes didn’t want him to cut it. Snow believed in the song. So, he brought it back to the studio in March 1950. This time, he was able to record it. He released it as his second single that May, and it quickly began climbing the charts.

“I’m Moving On” topped the Billboard Best-Selling Retail Folk (Country & Western) Records chart on September 9, 1950, and stayed there for 17 consecutive weeks. Snow knocked himself out of the top spot with “The Golden Rocket” for the first two weeks of 1951. Then, “I’m Moving On” returned to the top for four more nonconsecutive weeks.

Hank Snow Was Part of a Three-Way Tie for Biggest Country Hit

Eddy Arnold was the first artist to notch a 21-week No. 1. He achieved the feat in 1947 with “I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms).” Hank Snow came next with “I’m Moving On.” Then, five years later, Webb Pierce tied the record with “In the Jailhouse Now.”

[RELATED: Remember When Ray Charles Covered This Early Hank Snow Hit in 1959?]

The only song to come close to this record over the next five decades was Buck Owens’ 1963 hit “Love’s Gonna Live Here.” It held the top of the country chart for 16 weeks.

Sixty-seven years after Arnold set the record, in 2013, “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line spent 24 weeks at No. 1. Three years later, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” spent 34 weeks at No. 1.

Featured Image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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