Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ending up on the Billboard charts was probably not on your 2023 bingo card. Last month, on the one-year mark since Russia invaded Ukraine, country singer Brad Paisley released “Same Here.” The song contains a recording of a phone call between Paisley and Zelenskyy discussing the ways in which their countries are similar.
Now, “Same Here” has debuted on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart (dated March 11), according to Billboard. It’s at No. 7 with 5,000 downloads sold between February 24 and March 2. It’s also on the Country Digital Song Sales chart at No. 3.
In a recent conversation with Billboard, Paisley discussed the process of working on the song, which benefited a charity called United24 to help rebuild Ukraine in the wake of the ongoing Russian invasion.
“The label [was] so great about it, realizing this isn’t going to be the feel-good hit of the year and this isn’t going to be something that’s going to work long-term at radio, [that it’s] not going to research,” Paisley said. “I thought, ‘Would President Zelenskyy like to have the last couple of minutes and have a discussion with me on the ways we’re the same?’ This needs to exist in whatever form we can present it.”
Revisit “Same Here” above.