Brothers Osborne’s rollicking single “I’m Not For Everyone” was recently pulled from country radio, and the men are deflated over the unwelcome news.
TJ Osborne ruffled feathers when he blurted the song’s demise during the duo’s on-camera acceptance speech at Monday night’s ACM Awards.
“We kind of keep pushing and trying to persevere, and what has kept us going for the past eight years are these (wins),” John Osborne later explained to reporters. “It has kept wind in our sails, not only what it does in terms of the fanbase and the notoriety, but what it does for us as people who keep fighting what we feel like is an uphill battle even when we do win.”
According to Billboard, “I’m Not For Everyone” peaked at No. 33 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated March 5 and had been on the chart for 43 weeks. It is missing from the March 12 chart.
TJ Osborne said the brothers have always felt like underdogs in country music.
“That’s part of it, is that we don’t get necessarily a lot of the love that some of the other artists do on the radio, and I’m not necessarily criticizing anyone specifically for that, but it’s just a fact, and to be there tonight, I guess some people were upset that I said that,” he said. “I said a true statement. I don’t know, our single literally got pulled last week, and we just won an award. If you’re upset about that, maybe you’re part of the problem.”
“I’m Not For Everyone” is the second radio single from Brothers Osborne’s 2020 album, “Skeletons.” “All Night” was the album’s first single, and Billboard reports it peaked at No. 25 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, which the trade publication says is about average for the duo. 2015’s “Stay a Little Longer” is Brothers Osborne’s only Top 5 hit, the publication reports, yet the pair remains a favorite on the touring circuit and the awards show stage. (Their duet “Burning Man” with Dierks Bentley was also a Top 5 hit.)
TJ Osborne said there’s more than one way to bolster a country music career rather than radio, especially as time progresses.
“At one point, there wasn’t, and now there are a lot of ways,” he said. “We see people getting successes through winning awards, and our beautiful industry lifting us up, and other people building their careers just via the Internet with no record deals at all, so there are a lot of opportunities for a lot of artists, and in my own humble opinion, I think that is amazing. I think that’s incredible and a beacon for us in this industry.”