"Rock and a Hard Place" 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 ...

singer

Bailey Zimmerman Bailey Lynn Zimmerman (born January 27, 2000) is an American Country music, country singer. In 2022, he charted the singles "Fall in Love (Bailey Zimmerman song), Fall in Love" and "Rock and a Hard Place (Bailey Zimmerman song), Rock and a Hard ...

. The song charted in June 2022, reaching number two on ''

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. ...

. It was released to country radio on December 12, 2022 as the second single from his debut EP '' Leave the Light On'' and his debut studio album ''

Religiously. The Album. ''Religiously. The Album.'' is the debut studio album by American country music singer Bailey Zimmerman. It was released on May 12, 2023, by List of Warner Music Group labels#Warner Music Nashville, Warner Music Nashville and Elektra Records. It ...

Content

The song is about a male who is facing a relationship about to break up, describing the scenario as " between a rock and a hard place".

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

writer Carmen Liptak wrote that Zimmerman has "gravelly, rock-informed vocal delivery and strong storytelling skills", and compared his style to

Parker McCollum Parker Yancey McCollum (born June 15, 1992) is an American country singer-songwriter based in Texas. The owner of PYM Music, he released his first single and EP in 2013; his debut album, ''The Limestone Kid'', was released on February 24, 2015. ...

and

Tucker Beathard Tucker Russell Beathard ( ; born January 24, 1995) is an American country music singer and songwriter. A son of songwriter Casey Beathard, Beathard was signed to Dot Records, a subsidiary of Big Machine Records in 2015 where he released his deb ...

Commercial performance

"Rock and a Hard Place" debuted at number two on the ''

chart dated June 20, 2022. This peak was achieved mostly through streaming of the song, as it was not yet a radio single. It was the second highest debuting song on that chart for the entire year. It reached Number 1 on the Country Airplay charts in April 2023 and spent six weeks there.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Bailey Zimmerman 2022 singles 2022 songs Bailey Zimmerman songs Warner Records Nashville singles Elektra Records singles Country ballads 2020s ballads Rock ballads Country rock songs