"That's Why I Pray" 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

Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a sol ...

. It was released in May 2012 as the first single from their album '' Hillbilly Jedi''. The song was written by Danelle Leverett (formerly of the JaneDear girls and

Gone West Gone West (March 10, 1984 – September 7, 2009) was an American Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorse. Bred by William O. Reed, he was a son of the influential sire Mr. Prospector. His dam, Secrettame, was a daughter of 1973 United States Trip ...

), Blair Daly and

Sarah Buxton Sarah Jane Buxton (born July 3, 1980) is an American country music singer formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records. Between 2006 and 2008, she issued three singles from an extended play titled '' Almost My Record'', in addition t ...

.Bjorke, Matt (May 29, 2012)."". ''Roughstock.'' Retrieved June 13, 2012 An extended play of the same name was released on June 26, 2012 and featured the new single as well as three previously released songs.

Content

"That's Why I Pray" is a mid-tempo song in which the narrators address social problems, saying that such problems are the reason that they pray.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave it a perfect five-star rating, praising Big & Rich's vocal harmonies and calling the song "well-crafted". Rating it three-and-a-half stars out of five, Jessica Nicholson of ''

Country Weekly ''Country Weekly'' (known as ''Nash Country Weekly'' from 2015–16) was an American magazine about country music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site Nash Country Daily. O ...

'' said that "The duo's airtight harmonies enhance the urgency in this well-crafted tune".

Music video

The music video was directed by Kristin Barlowe and premiered on CMT on May 22, 2012.May 22, 2012

.''CMT''. Retrieved June 13, 2012

Chart performance

"That's Why I Pray" debuted at number 24 on the U.S. '' Billboard (magazine), 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. ...

chart for the week of June 9, 2012.

Year-end charts

References

{{Big & Rich 2012 singles Country ballads 2010s ballads Big & Rich songs Songs written by Blair Daly Songs written by Sarah Buxton Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Warner Records singles 2012 songs