"Stay" 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

Sugarland Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin). They were founded in 2002, when Kristen Hall (vocals, gu ...

. It was released in September 2007 as the fourth and final single from their album '' Enjoy the Ride'' (see

2006 in country music 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon ...

). Overall, the song is the group's eighth single to enter 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. ...

charts, where it reached a peak position of #2 for four weeks, stuck behind

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's " Our Song", and has become their signature song. The music video for "Stay" was ranked #10 on CMT's 100 Greatest Videos. In addition, it is the first song in Sugarland's career to be written solely by

Jennifer Nettles Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based bands ...

. "Stay" was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the RIAA on February 21, 2008. It was later Sugarland's first single to earn a Platinum certification on March 24, 2009. It reached over two million in sales in 2013, and has sold 2,219,000 copies as of February 2016. "Stay" was voted the fourth greatest video of the decade on CMT.com

Content

"Stay" is a ballad of

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...

, taking the perspective of the mistress of a man who is cheating on his wife. It begins with the mistress's insistence that the man stay with her — even if his wife should call and ask where he is — because she (the mistress) is "so tired of being lonely". Although the man tells her that he will leave his wife for her, she refuses to believe him, telling him that "it's too much pain to have to bear / To love a man you have to share". In the third verse, the mistress then changes her mind; according to Nettles, she (the woman in the song) "has her own sense of redemption and realizes she deserves more than being with someone who will never be fully hers". This change is revealed in the final chorus. In the song, Nettles' vocals are accompanied by

Kristian Bush Kristian Merrill Bush (born March 14, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bush is one half of the country music duo Sugarland with Jennifer Nettles, and was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim (band), Billy Pi ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

; unlike most other Sugarland songs, Bush does not sing harmony vocals. The only other instrumentation in the song is an

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, played by Bush's brother Brandon.

Inspiration

According to Nettles, "Stay" was inspired by

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

's 1986 single " Whoever's in New England", a ballad in which a wife addresses her unfaithful husband. "Whoever's in New England" was, in turn, based upon " Weekend in New England," a pop hit by

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

. After hearing "Whoever's in New England," Nettles thought that it would be an original approach to take the perspective of the "other woman" (i.e., the mistress), as very few country songs had ever done so. Once she decided to take that perspective, the song "practically wrote itself".

Awards

"Stay" has received numerous awards for Sugarland and Jennifer Nettles, as a writer. Most notable has been at the

51st Grammy Awards The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the ...

where it won "

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group * From 1971 to ...

" and "

Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, unless the artist is also the songwriter. There have ...

". At the 2008

ACM Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

it won two awards for "Song of the Year" and "Single of the Year". At the 2008

CMA Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

it won "Song of the Year" and at the 2008

CMT Music Awards The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The ceremony launched in 1967 as Music City News Awards; it is the oldest award show currently airing under Paramount Global. The ceremony ...

it won "Duo Video of the Year".

Music video

Directed by

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is an American music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jas ...

, the video for "Stay," features Nettles & Bush performing the song in front of an all-black background. According to Nettles, "We wanted to keep the video simple, but still show emotion, so we decided to base the video on performance, and that's all."

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Ronan Keating version

In 2009, Irish pop singer and

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...

frontman

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...

released a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song as the lead single from his sixth studio album, '' Winter Songs''. It was not an international hit like his previous singles, and his version of the song failed to make the Top 100 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #129 after one week on the chart.

Track listing

# "Stay" (Radio Edit) - 3:17

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stay (Sugarland Song) 2000s ballads 2007 singles 2009 singles Sugarland songs Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Songs written by Jennifer Nettles Country ballads Ronan Keating songs Pop ballads Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Stephen Lipson Mercury Nashville singles Polydor Records singles 2006 songs Songs about infidelity