Released July 14, 1997 Recorded 1997 Length 3:49 | Format CD single Genre Country Label MCA Nashville | |
"Shut Up and Drive" is a song written by Rivers Rutherford, Annie Tate and Sam Tate, and recorded by American country music singer Chely Wright. It was released in July 1997 as the first single from her album Let Me In, her first album for MCA Nashville. The song brought Wright to the country top 40 for the first time, with a peak of #14 on Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs). The song features uncredited background vocals from Trisha Yearwood.
Contents
Critical reception
Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time described the song favorably in his review of the album, saying that it "simmers with a combination of sympathy and quiet urgency until Wright wails demandingly on the chorus, 'I'm the voice you never listen to/And I had to break your heart to make you see.'"
Music video
The music video was directed by Charley Randazzo and premiered in mid-1997.
Chart performance
With its number 14 peak on the U.S. country singles charts, "Shut Up and Drive" is Wright's first top 40 country hit.