"H.O.L.Y." (an acronym for "High on Loving You") is a song recorded by American

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 ...

duo

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line was an American country music duo founded in 2010 by vocalists and songwriters Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was downloaded over ...

. It is the lead single from the duo's third studio album, ''

Dig Your Roots ''Dig Your Roots'' is the third studio album by American country music duo Florida Georgia Line. The album was released on August 26, 2016, by Big Machine and Big Loud Mountain. As with their first two albums, it is produced by Joey Moi. The ...

'', which was released on August 26, 2016. The song was written by

busbee Michael James Ryan Busbee (June 18, 1976 – September 29, 2019), known professionally as Busbee, was an American songwriter, record producer, publisher, record executive, and multi-instrumentalist. He was known for his work in both pop mus ...

, Nate Cyphert, and

William Wiik Larsen William Wiik Larsen, also known as Will IDAP and Nasty kutt is a Norwegian Grammy-nominated record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based out of Los Angeles, California. He has crafted several global and US hits. Notable records incl ...

. "H.O.L.Y." was first released on April 29, 2016, by

Republic Nashville Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment, formerly BMLG Records and Republic Nashville, is a record label established in 2009 by Republic Records in New York and Big Machine Records in Nashville. It is headquartered on Music Row and utilizes the c ...

. In its second week, "H.O.L.Y." jumped from number 39 to number one on the ''

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 Songs 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, becoming the duo's fifth single to top that chart. It is also their third single to receive a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

promotion, impacting American

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

radio on June 27, 2016.

Critical reception

Jon Freeman of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' commented positively on the song, applauding the group's musical evolution; though he did note caution regarding the song's Christian themes, saying "It's hard not to wonder if the FGL guys — both of whom have publicly proclaimed their faith on numerous occasions — will get some flak from religious listeners the way arenMorris has for "

My Church "My Church" is the debut single by American singer Maren Morris. It was released in January 2016 as the lead single from her first studio album, ''Hero'' (2016). Morris co-wrote and co-produced the song with busbee. The song won the award for B ...

" and its perceived shunning of organized worship." Included on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

's list of Picks of the Week, ''Billboard'' commented the song "takes FGL in a new direction while keeping the infectious sing-along hooks that made the band famous." Modern Country Music Review deemed in on March 23, 2019, as the song of the decade

Commercial performance

The song debuted with 125,000 copies sold in the United States in its debut week, the second best-selling digital song of the week. It propelled the song to number one on the

chart, as well as number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It has since stayed at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart for eighteen consecutive weeks and peaked at number 14 on the Hot 100 chart. The song debuted on the

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

chart at number 26 a week before it was released for sale, and has peaked at number one. It has also reached number one on the

Canada Country The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart and number 24 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

chart. The song sold over a million copies in August 2016 in the United States, and has sold 1,550,000 copies as of July 2017. It was certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA on March 15, 2018.

Music video

The music video was directed by

TK McKamy TK McKamy is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor known for directing music videos. Thomas Knox McKamy III was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia and raised in the small town of Nicholasville, Kentucky. The son of Knox and Lynn McK ...

and filmed at The Twelve Apostles,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It premiered on April 29, 2016.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Florida Georgia Line songs Republic Nashville singles Songs written by busbee Song recordings produced by Joey Moi Music videos directed by TK McKamy Country ballads Songs written by William Wiik Larsen Republic Records singles Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year 2010s ballads