Jason Aldean grabs his 26th career #1 this week, as he and Carrie Underwood claim the top spot with their duet, "If I Didn't Love You."
"As cliche as it sounds, it really never gets old..." he reflects, "I feel really fortunate. I mean, I've been around since 2005. It means a lot to me. I think this song is the fastest song that I've ever had to reach #1."
"We've put out a lot of songs over the years," he adds, "and every time we get one, if anything, it probably means more to me now than it did in the earlier days."
Now, it's just a matter of time before Jason and Carrie get to share the stage.
"We haven't had a chance to do this live," he explains. "We kind of acted like we played it live about 100 times when we shot the video."
"We've got some award shows... coming up here in the next couple of months," he teases, "and looks like we're gonna be doing the song together on some of those."
Jason goes on to compare singing with Carrie to collaborating with Kelly Clarkson on 2010's chart-topping "Don't You Wanna Stay."
"My biggest fear with people like that is, I kind of set myself up for failure," he admits. "I keep doing these songs with these great female vocalists and then I have to go and try to match 'em every time we do it live."
Ultimately, Jason credits Carrie with elevating an already-great song.
"Having her get onboard with it just took it to a different place for sure," he says.
"If I Didn't Love You" is the lead single from Jason's tenth album, Macon, which arrives November 12.