Friends in Low Places is a country song performed by Garth Brooks, released August 6, 1990 as the lead single from his second album No Fences. It was written in 1989 by Dewayne Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee and was first recorded by David Wayne Chamberlain before Brooks cut his version in 1990 at Jack's Tracks in Nashville; the album version runs about 4 minutes 18 seconds. The lyric tells of heartbreak and drinking with a chorus about the friends who have your back, a line born from a lunch where Lee forgot his money and joked, I have friends in low places. Brooks' recording spent four weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart and won both the ACM and CMA Single of the Year for 1990. The song helped drive No Fences to huge sales, and Brooks later added a live third verse; a planned 25th anniversary version was not released due to royalty issues. It remains a cultural touchstone, including a Kansas City Royals sing along and a 2024 Rolling Stone ranking among the 200 Greatest Country Songs.
