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Chart Rewind: In 2001, Jamie O’Neal Called on ‘Angels’ for a No. 1
This Billboard "Chart Rewind" feature looks back to August 2001, when Australian-born country singer Jamie O'Neal reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the second time with "When I Think About Angels." The piece is a nostalgia retrospective marking the song's chart anniversary, tying it to milestones in O'Neal's career and personal life around that period.
The single, co-written with Roxie Dean and Sonny Tillis and produced by Keith Stegall, featured backing vocals from O'Neal's husband, Rodney Good, and topped the chart in the same month as their first wedding anniversary. Both "Angels" and her earlier hit "There Is No Arizona" earned 2002 Grammy nominations for best country song, making her the first woman to achieve that double nomination since Donna Fargo in 1973; she also toured that year on the pioneering all-female Girls Night Out Tour with Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Sara Evans and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. O'Neal later revisited the song with McBride in 2020, reworked "Arizona" with The Isaacs in 2025, and released a new album, Gypsum, in January 2026.
In short
- Jamie O'Neal's "When I Think About Angels" hit No. 1 in August 2001
- Song earned a 2002 Grammy nomination alongside "There Is No Arizona"
- O'Neal released new album Gypsum in January 2026
Explained simply
Jamie O’Neal is an Australian-born country singer who built her career in the United States. “When I Think About Angels” was one of her early hits, written with Roxie Dean and Sonny Tillis and produced by Keith Stegall; O’Neal’s husband, Rodney Good, sang backing vocals.
The song’s success came during a significant period in O’Neal’s career. It and her earlier hit “There Is No Arizona” were both nominated for best country song at the 2002 Grammy Awards, a rare double nomination for a woman at the time. O’Neal also toured with Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Sara Evans and Carolyn Dawn Johnson on the all-female Girls Night Out Tour.
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