"Bleed Red" is a song written by

Tommy Lee James Tommy Lee James is an American country music songwriter and record producer with Still Working Music Group. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he is originally from Roanoke, Virginia. He graduated from Northside High School then attended Radford Uni ...

and Andrew Dorff, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

singer

Ronnie Dunn Ronald Gene Dunn (born June 1, 1953) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record executive. Starting in 2011, Dunn has worked as a solo artist following the temporary dissolution of Brooks & Dunn. He released his self-titled deb ...

. The song is Dunn's first solo release after

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo ...

disbanded in 2010. "Bleed Red" was released to country radio on January 31, 2011. It is intended to be the lead-off single from Dunn's first solo album, ''

''. He had previously released three singles: "It's Written All Over Your Face", "She Put the Sad in All His Songs", and "Jessie"; with the first two singles charting to number 59 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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

(now Hot Country Songs) chart.

Reception

Critical

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock reviewed the song and gave it a "4-star" rating. Bjorke stated he thought the song was a "power ballad with a message on inclusiveness and forgiveness." He also continued saying the production could have been toned down a notch.

Commercial

"Bleed Red" was released to country radio on January 31, 2011. It then debuted at number 30 on the U.S. ''

'' Hot Country Songs chart for the chart week ending February 19, 2011. Its debut position matches the highest debut ever made by a Brooks & Dunn single, as " My Maria" also debuted at number 30 in 1996. In its second chart week, it debuted at number 99 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also debuted at number 99 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart for the week of March 5, 2011. It peaked at number 10 on the country chart in May 2011.

Music video

The music video was directed by Thien Phan and premiered in April 2011.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2011 singles Ronnie Dunn songs Songs written by Tommy Lee James Songs written by Andrew Dorff Arista Nashville singles 2011 songs