Thomas Rhett – After All The Bars Are Closed

The Radio Mix They Created After Fans Chose It Themselves

Released on August 9, 2024, “After All The Bars Are Closed” became Thomas Rhett’s 21st number one on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, climbing to the top on August 16, 2025, after a steady ascent through the summer. The song reached number 39 in just its third week after being serviced to country radio on February 6, 2025, and eventually spent three consecutive weeks at number one. Rhett co-wrote the track during a songwriting retreat at Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee, when collaborator John Byron introduced a rough version that immediately intrigued him and producer Julian Bunetta. The velvet-smooth track wasn’t initially planned as a single, but when it emerged as one of the most-streamed songs from About a Woman, Rhett’s team created an entirely new mix specifically for radio. Drummer Jerry Roe was brought in to give the percussion a stronger human presence, and portions of steel guitarist Paul Franklin’s work from the original session were unmuted, including a waterfall intro that had been buried in the album version.

While “After All The Bars Are Closed” dominated Country Airplay charts in America, it also became the number one country song in Canada and racked up over 11.5 billion streams by August 2025. The track’s chart success tied Rhett with Keith Urban for the eighth-most number ones in Billboard Country Airplay history, placing him behind only Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, and Jason Aldean. Rhett’s most recent chart-topper before this had been “Mamaw’s House” with Morgan Wallen in March 2024, while his very first number one was “It Goes Like This” in 2013 from his debut album. The song increased by eight percent to 29 million audience impressions during its climb to number one. By the time it reached the top, Rhett was headlining a sold-out Fenway Park show for over 35,000 fans, marking his return to the iconic Boston stadium where he’d been the first country artist ever to perform back in 2013 as an opening act.

The song’s origin story reads like a masterclass in creative restraint. John Byron arrived at the Lookout Mountain writing retreat with a rough demo featuring the hook-first structure that eventually became the final version. Rhett and Bunetta had been listening obsessively to recordings from the 1950s and 1960s, particularly tracks that started with the hook and reached the chorus three times in just two minutes. Byron’s demo intrigued them immediately because it felt like a ballad disguised as a midtempo groove. Rhett and Bunetta tweaked several melodic passages and changed lyrics, most notably adding new words to the final chorus where the post-midnight theme inspired a dark side of the moon reference. Rhett didn’t think of it as a barroom pickup song despite the title. Instead, he related it directly to his early relationship with wife Lauren, when he was playing music at David Lipscomb University in Nashville while she studied nursing. The lyrics describe that sensation of wanting the night to never end when you’re falling hard for someone.

During initial production, Rhett and Bunetta settled on a version that was extremely Western, something Rhett described as if he and Midland had a baby. They lived with that arrangement for weeks but ultimately scrapped it because it didn’t evoke the same emotion as Byron’s original demo. Bunetta eventually adopted a less-is-more philosophy, building the track primarily around Byron’s guitar work from the demo. Every time he tried adding more instrumentation, the emotion got buried and Rhett’s voice disappeared in the mix. Bunetta kept it sparse and focused entirely on the vocal performance, with just a couple colorful electric bits on the left and right channels. Byron’s harmony parts from the demo provided loose background vocals that gave the album version a pop edge. When it came time to create the radio mix, the production team brought in Franklin’s pedal steel guitar and Roe’s live drums to give the track more human warmth. The opening features someone turning a radio dial through stations, eventually landing on the song itself, mimicking the discovery process listeners might experience.

About a Woman arrived on August 23, 2024, as Rhett’s seventh studio album via The Valory Music Co. The 14-track record became Rhett’s most personal statement, inspired by different eras he and Lauren had lived through together. Longtime collaborators Dann Huff and Julian Bunetta executive produced the album, marking the first studio release in Rhett’s career that didn’t feature any tracks co-written by his father, Rhett Akins. Four singles preceded “After All The Bars Are Closed” to radio. Lead single “Beautiful As You,” released May 13, 2024, topped the UK Country Radio Airplay chart and accumulated over 47 million global streams. “Gone Country” was hailed as one of the year’s best country songs. “Overdrive” captured small-town nostalgia with Friday night football games and late-night joy rides. The album reached number seven on the Billboard 200 and spawned a deluxe edition released September 26, 2025, featuring 25 tracks including new songs and collaborations with Jordan Davis, Lanie Gardner, Blake Shelton, Teddy Swims, and Tucker Wetmore.

The music video for “After All The Bars Are Closed,” released alongside the single on August 9, 2024, featured Rhett with his wife Lauren Akins and friends having a bonfire gathering. The visual showed friends in separate trucks making their way to a post-party celebration complete with drinks, dancing, and laughter. Rhett performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on August 21, 2024, accompanied by a full band while strumming his acoustic guitar from center stage. He wore a white shirt and dark brown bomber jacket, keeping the performance intimate despite the late-night television setting. Days later, he appeared on NBC’s Today as part of their Summer Concert Series, treating fans to four songs both new and old. Rhett also performed at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on September 20 and 21, sharing the bill with Big Sean, Camila Cabello, Hozier, and Keith Urban among others.

In just over a decade in the spotlight, Thomas Rhett has earned 24 career number ones, five Grammy nominations, and the ACM’s Entertainer of the Year accolade. His songwriting prowess brought him five CMA triple play awards, each for penning three number one songs within a 12-month period. “After All The Bars Are Closed” represents everything that’s made Rhett one of modern country’s most consistent hitmakers—an ability to blend organic country roots with progressive production while keeping emotions front and center. As Bunetta reflected during production, the song captures something sneaky in how it teleports listeners, making them feel nostalgic while also making them want to dance and be with the person they love. It’s a ballad dressed up as a midtempo bop, proof that Thomas Rhett’s instinct for finding emotional truth inside infectious grooves remains as sharp as ever.