It's safe to say that Trace Adkins knows a hit song when he hears one, as the country music icon has landed more than 40 songs on the Billboard country music charts over the last two decades. However, there are a few country songs that Adkins passed on that went on to be major hits for other artists.

“I passed on 'Watching Airplanes' by Gary Allan and I passed on 'A Night to Remember' that Joe Diffie had a hit with," Adkins tells Taste of Country. "I loved ['A Night to Remember']. I actually cut it and [producer] Scott Hendricks said, 'I don’t think you hooked that.' And I was like, 'Come on dude! I think it’s great!' He goes, 'No, I don’t think you hooked it.'"

Adkins' career clearly survived— and will continue to thrive — without those songs in his repertoire, but there is still one tune he wishes he could have back; a song co-written and later released by Jamey Johnson.

Hit Country Songs That Other Artists Passed On

"Another one that I cut was 'In Color' and I loved the track that we cut on that," Adkins says. "Then Jamey came to me and he went, 'Dude, I got a new record deal and they want that to be my first single. I hate to ask you, but could I have that?' And I said, 'Sure, man. You wrote it. It’s your song.' Then it was Song of the Year and I told him, 'You son of a bi--h, if I’d have known it’d be Song of the Year, I wouldn’t have let you have that son of a bi--h back, man.' We laughed about it. That’s a great song."

Adkins is currently promoting his new album Something's Going On with a nationwide tour that runs through August. "Watered Down" is Adkins' third and latest single off the album.

The Song That Stopped Trace Adkins in His Tracks

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