"Hard to Love"
Single by Lee Brice
from the album Hard 2 Love
ReleasedMay 14, 2012 (2012-05-14)
GenreCountry
Length3:40
LabelCurb
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Lee Brice singles chronology
"A Woman Like You"
(2011)		 "Hard to Love"
(2012)		 "I Drive Your Truck"
(2012)

"Hard to Love" is a song written by Billy Montana, John Ozier, and Ben Glover and recorded by American country music artist Lee Brice. It was released on May 14, 2012 as the second single from Brice's album Hard 2 Love.

The song received positive reviews from critics who praised Brice's performance of someone else's lyrics. "Hard to Love" gave Brice his second number-one country hit on the US Billboard Country Airplay chart. It also peaked at numbers 4 and 27 on the Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts, respectively. It received minor chart success in Canada, peaking at number 51 on the Canadian Hot 100. The song was certified Platinum by both the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Music Canada for selling over a number of units from their respective countries.

The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Eric Welch.

Content

In the song, the male narrator states that he is "hard to love" and questions why his lover still tolerates him. Co-writer Ben Glover said, "We thought we’d write a classic song about dudes saying, ‘You know I’m kind of a pain in the ass.’ We said, ‘Let’s just talk about ourselves in the song'".[1]

The song's melody is compared to Tracy Chapman's 1988 single "Fast Car", which was covered by Luke Combs in 2023.[2]

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave "Hard to Love" three and a half stars out of five, writing that "the song doesn’t come to life as easily as some others Brice has performed or written" but "Brice should have no trouble finding his way up the charts."[3] Ashley Cooke of Roughstock gave the song four stars out of five, saying that "although Brice didn’t write this song, he’s done a great job at finding one that fits his sound and his style."[4]

Music video

The music video was directed by Eric Welch and premiered in April 2012.[5]

Chart performance

"Hard to Love" debuted at number 51 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of May 26, 2012.[6] The song became Brice's second number one hit on Country Airplay for the week of November 10, 2012, where it stayed for two weeks.

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[7] 51
Canada Country (Billboard)[8] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 27
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[10] 1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[11] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (2012) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 95
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[13] 18
Chart (2013) Position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[14] 68

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15] Platinum 80,000*
United States (RIAA)[16] 5× Platinum 5,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Conaway, Alanna (May 9, 2012). "Lee Brice, 'Hard to Love' – Lyrics Uncovered". Taste of Country. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Lee Brice: Hard To Love sounds like Tracy Chapman: Fast Car". Sounds Just Like. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  3. ↑ Dukes, Billy (May 3, 2012). "Lee Brice, 'Hard to Love' – Song Review". Taste of Country. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  4. ↑ Cooke, Ashley (May 15, 2012). "Single Review: Lee Brice - "Hard To Love"". Roughstock. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  5. ↑ "CMT : Videos : Lee Brice : Hard to Love". Country Music Television. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  6. ↑ Morris, Edward (May 19, 2012). "Carrie Underwood Spends a Second Week at No. 1 With Blown Away". Country Music Television. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Lee Brice Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. ↑ "Lee Brice Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Lee Brice Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  10. ↑ "Lee Brice Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard.
  11. ↑ "Lee Brice Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  12. ↑ "Best of 2012 - Hot 100 Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  13. ↑ "Best of 2012: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Best of 2013: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Lee Brice – Hard to Love". Music Canada. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  16. ↑ "American single certifications – Lee Brice – Hard to Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
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