"If I Didn't Love You" is a song recorded by American country music singers Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood, released on July 23, 2021, as the first single from the first half of Macon on Aldean's tenth studio album Macon, Georgia, of which the first half, Macon was released on November 12, 2021.[3] It is also Aldean's first lead single to not be co-written by Florida Georgia Line since 2012's "Take a Little Ride".
Commercially the song became the highest debut for a duet between a solo male and female artist on the BillboardHot Country Songs, peaking at number two, reaching platinum RIAA certification.
The song is a power ballad that describes both sides to a relationship having trouble moving on from the other.[6] It was written by Tully Kennedy, John Morgan, Kurt Allison, and Lydia Vaughan, all members of Aldean's band and the production team New Voice Entertainment. The song came later in the album writing process, intended for a duet, with Aldean recording the song before picking out a duet partner.[7][8]
Aldean's list of singing partners was small, with Underwood being at the top, and after asking her to collaborate, the song was recorded a week after, becoming the singers first collaboration.[9][10] Underwood explained the importance of the collaboration to Good Morning America:[11]
Jason asked if I would sing 'If I Didn't Love You' with him. I knew I liked the song, and Jason and I have actually been trying to do things together over the years. We've sang together before, but we've never officially recorded anything together. It just kind of felt like this could be our moment. [...] I felt like it was a little bit of an unexpected duet to other people, but I feel like I always knew at some point I'd probably sing with him officially, and this just seemed like the stars were aligning and it just seemed like it was going to be the perfect fit.
In the United States, "If I Didn't Love You" debuted at number 20 on the BillboardCountry Airplay chart. The song also debuted at number two on the Hot Country Songs chart, becoming the highest debut for a duet between a solo male and female artist. It sold 29,500 downloads in its first week and drew 9 million streams during the tracking period and debuted at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[12]
On the chart dated October 30, 2021, the song rose to number one on the Country Airplay chart, becoming Aldean's twenty-fourth number one single on that chart, and Underwood's sixteenth, as well as her first since "Church Bells" in July 2016. It extended Underwood's record as the female artist with the most number one hits on the Country Airplay chart.[13] The song spent a second week at number one on the Mediabase/Country Aircheck Singles chart and Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.[14] The song fell to number two for the chart dated November 13, but returned to number one for a third and final week the following week.[15]
The lyric video was released on July 23, 2021, featuring Aldean and Underwood recording the song in the studio.[17]
The official video premiered on September 8, 2021, and was directed by Shaun Silva. The video was filmed at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tennessee.[18]
