Lindsay Ell Earns First Canadian No. 1 Hit With ‘Criminal’

Lindsay Ell just scored a BIG career milestone, and got a congratulatory shout-out from her former boyfriend. The singer earned her first No. 1 hit in her native Canada, with “Criminal,” from her 2017 The Project album, which landed at the top of the charts in the U.S.

“As of this morning, I have my first #1 ever…on Canadian country radio. It’s the first time a solo female artist has had a number one since 2008. Thank you country radio…..thank you to all of you guys for never giving up on me.”

Ell received a response from Bobby Bones, host of The Bobby Bones Show on iHeartRadio. The couple dated for a little over a year, before breaking up a couple months after the release of The Project.

“Hey hey. Congrats,” the radio host wrote, along with the fist bump emoticon.

Ell and Bones split over alleged conflicts between his job as host of the widely-popular The Bobby Bones Show, and her rising star status.

“I guess I’ll go ahead and say it — Lindsay and I broke up,” Bones revealed at the time. “I only told [Bobby Bones Show co-host] Amy a couple days ago. So yeah, it sucks. And here’s why: I’ve been dating Lindsay for over a year. We’ve known each other a few years. We started dating and I was like, ‘We probably should think about this before we date because it could hurt your career. Other radio stations, Spotify, they’re going to hold it against you that you’re dating me. I don’t even know these people but they’re going to hold it against you.’ And they did.”

Ell famously was uninvited from a performance at Sacramento’s KNCI, after the station, an iHeartRadio competitor, learned of her relationship with Bones.

“Had a scheduled performance in Sacramento today for listeners,” Ell wrote. “The radio station has asked me not to come because of my personal life. Sorry guys.”

2018 is already shaping up to be a busy, and promising year, for Ell. The singer, who is currently opening for Brad Paisley on his Weekend Warrior Tour, will also open for Keith Urban, on the Canadian leg of his Graffiti U Tour.

“It’s not very often you get to share the stage with an artist you’ve looked up to since the beginning of your career,” Ell says of the honor. “I am SO excited to be touring with Keith Urban and can’t wait to play for fans in the venues I grew up in!”

A list of all of Ell’s upcoming shows can be found on her website. Download “Criminal” on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Instagram/LindsayEll