Hunt happy to stay a country act

NEW YORK -- Rising country star Sam Hunt may be finding success on the pop charts, but he says he won't pull a Taylor Swift.

"By no means do I want to try to leave country music," Hunt said. "That's absolutely where I want to stay."

Hunt has dominated country music charts and is steadily crossing over into the pop world. His debut single, "Leave the Night On," hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, and his current single, "Take Your Time," is in its 10th week atop the chart. Both songs have reached platinum status and cracked the Top 40 on the pop charts. "Take Your Time" peaked at No. 20 on the Hot 100.

"I don't have any problem with the music reaching more and more people through whatever outlet allows that," Hunt said. "I think it's fantastic that pop stations are picking up the song."

Hunt's genre-bending sound fuses elements of R&B, hip-hop and electronica with country. He's also a respected composer who co-wrote hits like Kenny Chesney's "Come Over," Keith Urban's "Cop Car" and Billy Currington's "We Are Tonight."

The former quarterback for Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham grew up in Cedartown, Ga., and said he drew inspiration from Atlanta-based R&B acts like Usher and TLC, in addition to country singers.

"It's different enough to have inspired people to not just listen to that song, but to go buy the record and see what the record has to offer," he said. "When it comes on the radio, it's a song that kind of catches people off guard."

"Sam is going to be a superstar," Darius Rucker said. "I love what he's doing. He's doing something so unique and different."

Hunt's first album, Montevallo, debuted at No. 3 and No. 1 on Billboard's 200 and Top Country albums charts, respectively. The album recently hit gold status.

He will open on Lady Antebellum's Wheels Up Tour, which kicks off Friday in Lubbock, Texas.

"It is a lot to process. Everything's kind of happening so fast," he said. "We've been able to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Two weeks will go by and I'll look back and you can really see the progress."

Style on 04/26/2015

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