Jake Owen Scores 7th No. 1 Single With “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)”

JPA / AFF-USA.COM

Jake Owen Scores 7th No. 1 Single With “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)”

Jake Owen scored the seventh No. 1 single of his career as “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” reached the top of both the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Mediabase chart this week.

Jake acknowledged the accomplishment in a new Instagram post, saying, in part, “From the fans, to radio, to my record label friends and family . . . to my band and crew and management . . . the super talented songwriters that have graciously given me great songs through the years, and oh yeah . . . and my bus driver Mike, who drives me all over this country . . . THANK YOU!”

12 years ago, this week,…I was 24 years old and my first album came out. It was called “Startin’ With Me.” I had no idea what was in store for me, but I was excited to just hop on this train of “life” and see where it led me. Of course I had dreams, goals, aspirations… but a man can only do so much on his own. In those 12 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some unbelievably talented people that worked tirelessly to help mold and guide my career. From the fans, to radio, to my record label friends and family,.. to my band and crew and management… the super talented songwriters that have graciously given me great songs through the years, and oh yeah.. and my bus driver Mike, who drives me all over this country… THANK YOU!! I can’t express that enough. 12 years later, on this beautiful Sunday morning, I have the #1 song on Country Radio. It’s my 7th. Lucky number 7. Thank you @johnmellencamp for trusting us and allowing us to pay our respects to you and everything you’ve done to pave the way for so many of us in the music industry. I feel like I’m just getting started. I have a lot more left in my tank. Thanks to every one of you who’ve reached out to me and said congratulations. What a ride it’s been. I love ya. @bigloud @williammurraygolf 📸: @matthewpaskert

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Both melodically and lyrically, Jake’s new single is rooted in John Mellencamp’s iconic 1982 hit, “Jack & Diane.” In fact, Mellencamp received a songwriting credit on Jake’s “I Was Jack (You Were Diane), along with songwriters Tommy Cecil, David Ray, Jody Stevens and Craig Wiseman.”

“When I heard the song, I thought to myself, ‘I’m glad I didn’t write this,’ because the legalities behind using a song that is that iconic,” says Jake to Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown. “[The songwriters] sent it to [Mellencamp] and his manager, and they actually got back to us saying that as many times as they’ve heard people try to take that song and do something with it, John’s never been for it. Ever. And, they said that. He gave us his blessing to use it. And, they actually licensed us some of his content to use for our video that we’re making, so it feels good to know that he kind of gave his stamp of approval. I mean, that was a big kind of chance for me—thinking about doing this song—because of the folks out there that are gonna be like, ‘How are you gonna take a classic song like this and redo something that’s already great?’ You know? And, really for us, it was more about paying homage to that song while still making it relevant in today’s world.”

The tune is Jake’s first No. 1 single since 2016’s “American Country Love Song.”

photo by JPA / AFF-USA.com