Fifteen years ago, Whiskey Myers released a heartbreaking ballad about drug abuse, death, and ongoing love titled “Broken Window Serenade.” Fans of the East Texas country-rock band quickly connected with the song, but it remained, like much of the band’s output at the time, mostly an unknown to mainstream music fans. That changed in a big way this past year.
In April, “Broken Window Serenade,” a track off Whiskey Myers’ 2011 album Firewater, debuted on Billboard’s streaming chart for the first time. On Spotify’s daily playlist of the most-played tracks in the United States, the song, written by Whiskey Myers frontman Cody Cannon, has spent most of the summer in or near the Top 10 alongside Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” and new releases from Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. On Sunday, the song sat at No. 9, one spot ahead of the Zach Bryan and Lana Del Rey collaboration “Lies.”
Surrounded by new releases and flavors of the moment, “Broken Window Serenade” has historic company on the streaming charts. The only other previously-released tune reaching such heights on the Spotify list is the Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” — one of the most popular songs of this century and one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.
But this isn’t the first time that “Broken Window Serenade” has caught widespread attention since its release. In 2018, it was featured in an episode of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, which had the long-term effect of solidifying Whiskey Myers as an arena-and-amphitheater band. This viral moment, however, is far more intense. And most of that is owed to one of the Jonas Brothers.
In the spring, Nick Jonas took to TikTok for a post of him blowing out a candle with the caption “Grown up stuff,” and chose “Broken Window Serenade” as the background music. It proved to be a before-and-after moment. The song has since generated more than a million TikTok video creations and has been certified as triple platinum by the RIAA.
The delayed success of the song is also translating into new fans for Whiskey Myers, who released their latest album, Whomp Whack Thunder, last year, and have been paving the way for other hard-rocking country acts like Koe Wetzel, Treaty Oak Revival, and Dexter and the Moonrocks since their 2008 debut, Road of Life. Following Jonas’s post, crowds at Whiskey Myers concerts have skewed younger. When they play “Broken Window Serenade” now, it’s a common sight to see groups of teenagers pushing toward the stage, phones in hand, to record the song.
“Not surprised,” John Jeffers, the group’s lead guitar player, tells Rolling Stone. “Nowadays, you never know what the fuck is gonna happen. I think we’re a testament to that. Work. Grind. Repeat. Sometimes shit happens. Sometimes it don’t.“
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose upcoming book, Sonoran Sounds, is set for release in March 2027 via Back Lounge Publishing.
