Lee Brice's 'Hard to Love' Hits #1 on Billboard Country Charts

Celebrating its 50th Year as one of the industry's leading independent record companies, Curb Records adds yet another #1 record to its catalog with Lee Brice's "Hard To Love," topping the Billboard Country Song chart. Marking the 433rd #1 hit in the 50 years since Curb first opened its doors, "Hard To Love" is Brice's second consecutive chart-topper this year and is rapidly approaching platinum status in digital sales.

Penned by hit songwriters Billy Montana, Ben Glover and John Ozier, "Hard To Love" follows Brice's #1 breakthrough hit, "A Woman Like You," from his highly regarded sophomore album, Hard 2 Love, which also took home the "Song of the Year" award at the 2012 SESAC Nashville Music Awards, last night.

"This has been an incredible year for both Curb Records and Lee Brice," commented Jeff Tuerff, Curb Records VP/Marketing. "With an ACM award for Song of the Year ("Crazy Girl,"), a CMA Nomination for New Artist of the Year and two number one singles under his belt, Lee has firmly cemented his position as one of the hottest new artists in country music."

CMA "New Artist of the Year" nominee Lee Brice's GOLD certified "Hard To Love" is the second consecutive No. one single off his sophomore album on Curb Records by the same name. Earlier this year, its lead single "A Woman Like You" set the pace, earning PLATINUM certification and chart-topping status. Brice's previous studio album LOVE LIKE CRAZY's title track spawned Billboard's most played country song of 2010. Billboard recognized Brice again this year as a songwriter for the most played country song of 2011, "Crazy Girl," which also earned him a 2012 ACM Award for "Song Of The Year." Brice's name can be found in the writing credits for additional hits recorded by country stars including Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean, Tim McGRaw, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton and more. In addition to his CMA nomination, Brice is also currently nominated for three ACA's for "Artist of the Year: Breakthrough" and "Single of the Year: Breakthrough Artist" and "Song of the Year" for "A Woman Like You."