Chris Young has always had a billion things to smile about between his life and career. But now, he has actual proof of just one of the reasons why that is a true statement. In June, Chris joined the “Billion-Airs” club for achieving over two billion career streams since hitting the music scene in 2006. Not too shabby for a man just 34 years old.

“That’s billion … with a B,” Chris laughs when telling Country Beat Magazine about the impressive feat he was surprised with during CMA Music Festival in Nashville. “I honestly didn’t know the number was that high.”

When being presented with the plaques commemorating the accomplishment, Chris also learned that he landed in the Top 15 all-country artists for all time streaming and hit an impressive 12 million singles sold to date. “That’s just such a cool thing,” he says, still in disbelief.

Those numbers will soon change, however, judging by the initial response to not only Chris’ lead single and title track from his forthcoming Raised on Countryalbum, but also another song prematurely released to digital retailers. As “Raised on Country” entered the Top 10 on the Country Singles chart, Chris performed an album track titled “Drowning” while appearing on the prestigious stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, of which he was inducted into the family back in 2017. The performance went viral after Chris’ emotions got the best of him, stepping away from the microphone as he choked back tears while trying to sing the song’s heart wrenching lyrics.

Written by Chris, along with longtime collaborator Josh Hoge and songwriter/producer Corey Crowder (the same writing team behind his chart-topping Cassadee Pope duet “Think of You”), the vulnerable tune exposes the realities of loss and grief. Penning the raw lyrics was a tough moment for all three writers in the room, as they individually pulled from losses in their own lives in which they still struggle with daily.

“We knew when we got together to write this song that it was going to be really heavy,” Chris says softly. “For me personally, I was thinking about a buddy of mine named Adam who passed away several years ago. It was a total surprise car accident out of nowhere. We knew it would be a tough one to write, but we also knew the potential we had with the end result on this one.”

Having two songs on the charts at the same time has Chris happy for multiple reasons. “I’m really excited that we are getting to some new music faster on this project, which is something we can do these days because everything is streamed,” he notes. “And it’s even cooler for me because I love this song, because it’s important to me. I am really happy about how other people have responded to it since I played it.”

Within 24 hours of the song’s release to digital retailers, “Drowning” made an impressive debut, placing right below Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X’s smash duet “Old Town Road” on the iTunes chart with over 1.2 million streams. “I’m not mad about that at all,” laughs Chris. “There’s a bunch of different benchmarks to look at when it comes to a song’s success or what not. To see what it’s done so far is amazing for a song that we didn’t do a whole lot of lead up to, other than people seeing this video of me just breaking down singing it at the Opry and fell in love with it. I always knew it was going to be an important song to me, but I had no idea it was going to touch people quite this much.”

Raised on Country, Chris’ eighth studio album and the follow-up to his back-to-back No.1 LPs Losing Sleepand I’m Comin’ Over, is slated for release later this fall. Chris once again worked with friend and producer Corey Crowder on the project, and spent the first half of the year off the road focusing on songs for the highly anticipated project.

“We took an entire week at the beginning of January to do nothing but write for this album,” says Chris. “It was me, Corey and Cary Barlowe. The three of us who wrote ‘Raised on Country’ together. I was like ‘hey, if you guys can do it, we are going to block off an entire week, and just write something every day and see what we get.’ I think at least two of those songs ended up on the record.”

Another song that stemmed from that particular week of writing turned into the now duet with Lauren Alaina which fans got a sneak peek of during CMA Music Fest when she joined Chris onstage at his annual fan club gathering. “She’s just such an incredible singer,” praises Chris. “It’s just a song that I really was pumped about after we wrote it, and we knew from the get-go that we wanted to make it a duet.”

Joining Chris, Corey and Cary on the writing side of the duet titled “Town Ain’t Big Enough,” was Shay Mooney of the award-winning due Dan + Shay. Shay not only came in handy in the writing room, but also as a place holder for the female voice on the duet while the four were creating the tune.

“I was cracking up,” Chris recalls with a laugh, “I was like Shay, will you sing the second part? So he did. He was singing this song in her octave [more laughter]. But you’ll hear a third voice on the song, and that’s actually Shay singing. I can’t wait for people to hear this one in its entirety.”

In addition to the guest appearances by Shay and Lauren, Raised on Country will also feature the likes of Kane Brown, Brad Paisley and Riley Green. “There’s a lot of solo stuff on there too, of course,” jokes Chris. “Somebody commented the other day saying, I hope he did some stuff on his own [laughs]. It’s like yes, I did the whole album [more laughter]. There’s going to be a lot for people to dig into on this record.”

One way to start hearing some of the new songs is by catching Chris on the road, who is in the midst of his Raised on Country World Tour 2019. The trek started in May of this year and will continue on through September, featuring direct support Chris Janson, plus Dylan Scott, LOCASH and Jimmie Allen rotating the opening act duties.

“It’s been crazy so far,” Chris says of the tour. “This is by far the biggest thing I’ve ever attempted to do. We started working on this last September. We just started over. There’s nothing – not a single set piece, show order or content – that is the same from our previous tours. I really wanted to go over the top because it’s my first full amphitheater tour, so I wanted it to be extra special. I wanted people to be excited about it. It’s just been incredible. The crowds have been insane. The show is just one of those things where people continue to talk about it. I couldn’t have wished for it to go any better than it has.”

Also joining Chris on the road is his growing puppy Porter (like Porter Wagoner), who in his own right, has become an instant star. “He’s got like 63,000 Instagram followers,” says Chris, adding his official handle is @porterthedog, for those who wish to follow his journey on the road with Dad. “He’s awesome … and now he’s looking at me like what? He is currently tearing apart one of those indestructible Kongs. Nothing is indestructible to him. Nothing.”

Having his faithful companion on the road is something Chris has been enjoying over the past several months since adopting the German Shephard. “But, he is a dog, and sometimes dogs do weird stuff,” laughs Chris. “When I let him out two interviews ago, he walked up and then howled right into the phone. I was like sorry, that was my dog [laughs].”

Porter not only gets to travel with Chris via his tour bus, but has also racked up some miles in the air. “He did well with that,” Chris says. “Pretty much I always have him with me unless my sister has him. She loves him, so sometimes she likes to watch him, like when we went to the U.K. earlier this year. He’s not a world traveler yet; he’s just a United States traveler. If I’m flying, I make arrangements for him. If we’re riding the bus, he’s got the same kennel on the bus next to me that he has at home. It works really well.”

And by the looks of things, Raised on Country is shaping up to also work “really well” for Chris. “There is a lot of new stuff that I want to get out there, where people can start listening to it now while they wait for the full project to be released,” he says. “I’m just so excited about the new music! Nobody is more ready for it to be out there than me … I just can’t wait!”