"26 Cents", also written as "26¢", is the debut single of the Canadian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group

the Wilkinsons The Wilkinsons were a Canadian country music trio from Belleville, Ontario. Founded in 1997, the group consisted of lead singer Amanda Wilkinson, her brother Tyler Wilkinson, and their father, Steve Wilkinson. The Wilkinsons achieved success la ...

. Written by group member Steve Wilkinson and William Wallace, it was released in June 1998 as the first single from their album '' Nothing but Love''. The song reached number one on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Country Tracks chart in August 1998 and number 3 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. It was named both

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

(SOCAN) Song of the Year and Single of the Year at the 1999

Canadian Country Music Association The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3, 1973, when a gr ...

Awards.

Content

The song is about a girl who has just turned 18 and is moving away to her own place. The song's title comes from the "penny for your thoughts, a quarter for the call" that her mother gives her before she leaves.

Music video

The music video was directed by Jim Shea and premiered in mid-1998.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Awards and nominations

References

{{authority control 1998 songs 1998 debut singles The Wilkinsons songs Giant Records (Warner) singles Song recordings produced by Doug Johnson (record producer) Canadian Country Music Association Single of the Year singles Canadian Country Music Association Song of the Year songs Songs about telephone calls Music videos directed by Jim Shea