No.1 Country Song In USA Is Made By AI

[RAMROD 111,147]

According to Billboard’s "Country Digital Song Sales" chart, the No. 1 song in the U.S. is "Walk My Walk" by Breaking Rust—an artist that was created by artificial intelligence (AI)
 

Newsweek has contacted Breaking Rust via social media message outside of regular working hours for comment.

Why It Matters

This is a new development in the music industry as it is the first time an AI-created song has reached the top of the charts.

There have long been concerns about the use of generative AI in creative sectors. Discourse about this came into the fold a few years ago following protests in Hollywood from the writer and actor guilds, which took place shortly after the public release of ChatGPT, and concerns that came in tandem with the new technology and its implications.

Any creative materials that have been made with the usage or assistance of AI are heavily scrutinized, be it the debut of the so-called AI actress Tilly Norwood or internet furor over Coca-Cola using AI in their Christmasadverts.

High-profile musicians, including Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa, are among those leading the charge for AI regulations as multiple petitions have been launched to ban the usage of AI in certain areas.

Not much is currently known about Breaking Rust, but the artist's bio on Linktree reads: “Music for the fighters and the dreamers.”

Breaking Rust also has a profile on Instagram, which boasts over 35,000 followers and is filled with images of a melancholy looking man, wearing a cowboy hat in various settings, including at a phone booth, walking on a road, and sitting in the rain.

As of publication time, Breaking Rust has more than 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify where he is a verified artist.

Speaking to Newsweek over email about the song, Jason Palamara, an assistant professor of music technology at Indiana University said “Despite the “stomp, clap, hey” rhythms and acoustic-y sound, this song is heavily laden with some very techy production techniques.”

“After listening to “Walk My Walk” one time, it was pretty obviously the product of AI,” Palamara noted.

For comparison, Colby Acuff, an actual artist who puts his heart and soul into his life’s work and just released an incredible album last month, has just over a million monthly listeners. Charley Crockett, who releases new music at such a rapid pace that even a computer couldn’t keep up, has only 1.4 million monthly listeners. Somehow, this AI-generated slop is getting more listeners than either of these guys. And that’s infuriating.

What’s even more infuriating, though, is that Billboard is legitimizing this AI slop by including it on their charts.

And look, I get that computers have had a place in music for a long time. EDM music is largely created using computers, but it also requires an actual artist, with actual talent, to mix and create the music. Argue over the quality of the art if you want, but you can’t argue that there are massively successful EDM artists putting in work to create that art.

With these AI songs, it’s simply a computer spitting them out.

Another issue, as I’ve pointed out in the past, is that these AI-generated songs are taking attention – and money – away from actual songwriters and artists.

It’s not just a problem in country music. Billboard has identified at least six “AI or AI-assisted artists” who have charted in the past few months. And even they admit that number could be higher because it’s so difficult to spot AI songs these days. (If you listen to Breaking Rust’s song it’s pretty clear that it’s AI, from its bland lyrics to its soulless music).

But it doesn’t seem that Billboard has any problem with the trend, or any plan to distinguish AI songs from those created by real, living & breathing artists.

I reached out to Billboard for comment on Breaking Rust’s single topping the chart, and asked whether the publication has any policy regarding AI songs on their charts, and to this point have not gotten a response. But in their article listing the AI artists who have appeared on the charts, there’s no indication that they see it as a problem or something that needs to be reigned in.

https://www.newsweek.com/breaking-rust-ai-music-country-digital-sales-11022040

https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2025/11/08/an-ai-generated-country-song-is-topping-a-billboard-chart-and-that-should-infuriate-us-all/

[Anderson123 39,253]

Country when it's made by an AI generated white heterosexual masculine persona:

 

Country when it's made by Beyoncé who is from Texas and does research on the genre and wins Album of the Year to the point they have pushed the Grammys to create a whole new Country Album category because of this:

[Lisbeth Salander 124]

I find this quite concerning and hope we do not see more examples of this. I really hope that we do not come to a point where AI will be used to its full extent in the creative process. What would be the point of creating art besides the financial aspect?

Edited 3 hours ago by Lisbeth Salander

[RaveMonster 291]

I wanna say I’m disappointed but I never had any faith in country fans. 

[GagaGame 3,867]

Man **** this. AI should’ve never been open to the public, it should only be used for medical purposes 

[Bonkers 29,954]

Who does it vote for?  You have to be careful with country stars

[monstertoronto 10,512]

Billboard is def contributing to the problem. If they allow these AI songs to chart it does legitimize them and we’ll see many more in the future. I’m so worried for us. 

[Gabe 2,441]

Billboard shouldn't allow them to chart to begin with.

[Ziggy 12,196]

Not shocking since country has been fake af for 20 years already lmfaoooo

[Lord Mayhem 1,695]

The moment AI gets nominated for a Grammy...

[Agunimon 94]

I listen predominantly to country and have never seen this on any of the top performing playlists, nor has it landed on any of my curated playlists and I mostly stream country men. It has a total of 3m plays since October. How is it #1?

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Agunimon

[Zedd 6,392]

I'll be fine with AI music, but let's make one things straight - no Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, Benson Boone-like artificial intelligence please!!! We've suffered enough.

[BornAsUnic0rn 2,138]

2 minutes ago, Agunimon said:

I listen predominantly to country and have never seen this on any of the top performing playlists, nor has it landed on any of my curated playlists and I mostly stream country men. It has a total of 3m plays since October. How is it #1?

 

It‘s No 1 on the Digital Country Sale Charts. So no streaming, no physical sales.. in a weak week 3000-5000 sales could be enough. 
 

Sales are so dead, these Genre + Format specific charts are easily infiltrated either by luck or with intent. Which is why that is where we now see AI artists break through out of nowhere.

Statistically all these AI songs and artists actually gaining numbers and traction are extremely rare outliers, most doesn’t move ****, but AI content is literally flooding every way we consume music to a point where right now iirc 2/3 of the music uploaded to streaming services is AI stuff. 

[nATAH 51,664]

18 minutes ago, Zedd said:

I'll be fine with AI music, but let's make one things straight - no Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, Benson Boone-like artificial intelligence please!!! We've suffered enough.

how can you be fine with AI music? does it not feel soulless to know it was just some mess spat out by a machine?