ACM Awards’ Songwriter of the Year nominee Blake Pendergrass notches his fifth No. 1 single with his co-penned “Ain’t A Bad Life,” recorded by Thomas Rhett featuring Jordan Davis. The achievement follows a string of recent chart-toppers, including Jelly Roll’s “Heart of Stone,” Morgan Wallen’s “20 Cigarettes,” “I Got Better,” and “Just In Case,” with the latter holding the top spot on country radio for four consecutive weeks.

Tonight, Pendergrass will celebrate his first CMA Triple Play Award for “Just In Case,” “Heart of Stone,” and “I Got Better.”

“This entire last week has felt surreal,” says the man Wallen praised as “one of the best songwriters in Nashville.” “So many of my mentors, heroes and friends have experienced these firsts, and I’m fortunate to have such great champions in this town who continue to give me great advice along the way. The latest being: to sit in this moment as the kid arriving at Belmont with just two songs ever written to his name.”

Pendergrass’s momentum is palpable, with another hit penned by the North Carolina native sitting inside the Top 10, “Brunette,” recorded by ACM Top New Male nominee Tucker Wetmore, while also ranking inside the Top 5 of MusicRow Magazine’s Top Songwriter chart. The Tennessean praises Pendergrass’s “stunning run,” while Billboard recognizes the young writer on its Hot 100 Songwriters and Country Songwriters charts. His hits have now amassed more than one billion streams.

His recent work includes writing credits on seven tracks from Jelly Roll’s GRAMMY-winning album Beautifully Broken and contributions to two 2025 CMA Album of the Year nominees, including 15 songs on Morgan Wallen’s I’m The Problem and Lainey Wilson’s award-winning album Whirlwind. Pendergrass is also a 2025 MusicRow Awards nominee for Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year and was named Country Credits’ Songwriter of the Year 2025.