Drivin' My Life Away

"Drivin' My Life Away"
Single by Eddie Rabbitt
from the album Horizon
Released	June 1980
Format	7"
Recorded	1980
Genre	Country, pop
Length	3:16
Label	Elektra Records 46656
Writer(s)	David Malloy Eddie Rabbitt Even Stevens
Producer	David Malloy
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Eddie Rabbitt singles chronology
"Gone Too Far" (1980) "Drivin' My Life Away" (1980) "I Love a Rainy Night" (1980)

"Drivin' My Life Away" is a country song by Eddie Rabbitt. It reached number one on the Hot Country Singles in 1980, and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song, a look into to the life of the roadie and the long periods of time they spend away from home, was featured on the soundtrack of the 1980 movie Roadie starring Meat Loaf and Art Carney.

Chart success

Although many of Rabbitt's successful songs were country-pop material, "Drivin' My Life Away" began his peak popularity as a crossover artist. The song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and set the stage for his biggest career hit: "I Love a Rainy Night," which reached the top on the country, Hot 100 and adult contemporary charts in early 1981. Two more crossover hits - "Step by Step" and "You and I" (the latter a duet with Crystal Gayle) - followed in 1981 and 1982.

On Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, it was his seventh out of 17 career chart toppers, spanning from 1976 through 1990.

"Drivin' My Life Away" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America [1]

Chart performance

Chart (1980)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	1
Australian Kent Music Report	100
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Top Singles	45
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	2
Dutch Top 40[1]	27
New Zealand Singles Chart	22
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	5
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	3

Rhett Akins cover

In 1998, country music artist Rhett Akins recorded a cover version of this song for the soundtrack to the 1998 movie Black Dog. This cover, released with Lee Ann Womack's "A Man with 18 Wheels" on the b-side, peaked at number 56 on the country music charts.^[2]

Chart performance (Rhett Akins version)

Chart (1998)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	56
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	61

References

1. ^ http://top40.nl/search.aspx?keyword=Eddie%20Rabbitt&jaar=2011&maand=6&week=26
2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 18. ISBN 0-89820-177-2. 

• Bronson, Fred, "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits" 5th ed. Billboard Publications, New York, 2003. ISBN 0823076776.
• Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits," Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007.

Preceded by "Tennessee River" by Alabama

Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single August 23, 1980

Succeeded by "Cowboys and Clowns" by Ronnie Milsap