Garth Brooks set a new record in country music history on Sept. 15, 2007, when his then-new single, "More Than a Memory," debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.

Lee Brice, Billy Montana and Kyle Jacobs co-wrote "More Than a Memory," which finds the narrator of the song ruminating on a love that's long gone, but he still can't shake. Brice tells the Boot the song was inspired by his own personal experience.

"I woke up one night thinking about the love of my life, an old flame, even though we hadn't been together in eight or 10 years. I woke up thinking about her at 3:30AM and started writing her a letter," he recalls.

"I got halfway down the letter, and I was like, 'What are you doing? You do this all the time — you never send her anything. Just go back to bed. She's just a memory,'" Brice shares.

"Then I thought, 'Well, I'm up at 3:30 in the morning, physically, tangibly doing something, writing a letter. She's still a tangible, physical part of my life, so she must be more than a memory.'"

He started writing the song right then and there, and he took his idea to his close friend, Jacobs. They finished it with Montana, and for Brice, the song's instant success was career and life-changing.

"After Garth released it and it debuted at No. 1, it just exploded, and everybody who came to my shows knew it," he says. "They would sing every word, the lighters would come out — it was really cool."

"More Than a Memory" marked a rare new song release from Brooks during a period of self-imposed retirement, but it would not be his last No. 1 hit. After ending his retirement in 2014 with a new album, Man Against Machine, and the announcement of a massive three-year world tour, Brooks scored his 20th No. 1 hit on Billboard's Country Airplay Chart with "Ask Me How I Know" in December of 2017.

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