"Stealing Cinderella" is a debut 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 ...

artist

Chuck Wicks Charles Elliott Wicks (born June 20, 1979) is an American country music artist and radio personality. He was one of the participants on the American reality series ''Nashville'', which aired on Fox for two episodes before its cancellation in mi ...

. It was released in September 2007 as the first single from the album ''

Starting Now "starting now" is the eighth episode and season finale of the third season of the American dark comedy crime drama television series '' Barry''. It is the 24th overall episode of the series and was written by series creators Alec Berg and Bill ...

''. The song was co-written by Wicks along with songwriters George Teren and

Rivers Rutherford Melvern Rivers Rutherford II (born June 17, 1967) is an American country music songwriter. He has written songs since at least the 1990s as a songwriter; he has written several number one country hits including " Ain't Nothing 'bout You" by Brooks ...

. The single produced the biggest debut for any new country artist in all of 2007, with fifty-two ''Billboard''-monitored stations in the United States adding the song in its first official week of airplay. Overall, the song peaked at #5 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

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. On August 25, 2007, Wicks performed the song at his

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

debut. In October 2007, Wicks was invited by

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

football coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

to perform "Stealing Cinderella" at the wedding of Fulmer's daughter Courtney.

Content

"Stealing Cinderella" is a ballad which, through allusions to the fairy tale of

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

, the narrator tells of a conversation with his girlfriend's father, asking for the father's permission to marry his daughter.

Critical reception

Engine 145 reviewer Brady Vercher gave the song a "thumbs up" review. Although he thought that it was unusual to use Cinderella for a comparison (as Cinderella's father died in the fairy tale), and that the song's verses "gloss dover" the allusions to the fairy tale, he nonetheless said that he could identify with the sentiment of the song's central character.

Chart performance

"Stealing Cinderella" debuted at number 53 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

chart for the week of September 8, 2007. Fifty-two of the country music stations on ''Billboards panel added the song in its first official week of airplay, boosting it to number 42 that week.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2007 debut singles 2007 songs Chuck Wicks songs Songs written by Rivers Rutherford Songs written by George Teren Songs written by Chuck Wicks Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Country ballads RCA Records Nashville singles 2000s ballads Songs based on Cinderella