Riding the highs of his sophomore album, The Man I Want To Be, Chris Young decided to double down on the neotraditional sound that he had grown to be known for with the release of Neon on July 12, 2011.
The album contains 10 tracks (12 if you count the iTunes/Apple Music exclusives, “I’m Gonna Change That” and “Don’t Leave Her“). Young co-wrote nine of the 12 songs on Neon including “Tomorrow.” Popular Nashville co-writers such as Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip, Luke Laird and Chris DuBois also round out this star-studded writing group on the record.
Neon’s biggest single is the 2x platinum hit, Tomorrow. The track is an absolute stunner to this day due to Young’s gorgeous vocal performance which netted him a nomination for Single of the Year at the 2012 CMA Awards and a #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Young knew he and co-writers, Frank Myers and Anthony Smith, had something special the moment they were done with the song. In an interview with Songwriter Universe, he said,
“I woke up and played that song and immediately called my co-writers. I was like, ‘guys this is going to be my first single off the next record.’ I’m calling my label and saying, ‘I’ve got our first single’. It ended up being our first single and it went to number one. I just don’t know that I’ve ever been as excited about writing a song and the next day waking up and thinking, ‘this is exactly what I wanted to say, exactly as it should have been said’.”
The album also spawned three other singles including “You,” “Neon” and “I Can Take It From There.” “You” was a particularly successful single for Young, going #1 and later receiving a platinum certification from the RIAA. It also peaked inside the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. The twangy production coupled with Young’s crooning vocals made the track an absolute delight for any modern country fan.
Neon would go on to be certified platinum by the RIAA on Aug. 29, 2017, selling over 1 million units.
Listen to You, Tomorrow and She’s Got This Thing About Her here: