Honky Tonk Badonkadonk: The Story Behind Trace Adkins' 2005 Crossover Hit
Louisiana has always known how to fill a dance floor, and in 2005 one of its own gave honky tonks across the country a new way to do it. Sarepta's own Trace Adkins sent Honky Tonk Badonkadonk to country radio on October 3, 2005, as the third single from Songs About Me. It climbed to No. 2 on the country chart and gave the north Louisiana native his first Top 40 pop hit.
Written in an Hour at a Honky Tonk
The song was born at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon, the downtown landmark that is now Luke Combs' Category 10. Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson and Dallas Davidson were broke young songwriters, and a bartender buddy kept the free beer coming. As Johnson told The Boot, they were cutting up at the bar when one woman out on the dance floor caught their eye. She was having the time of her life, somebody said "badonkadonk," and a minute later "honky tonk badonkadonk" was born. They decided on the spot they had to write it.
They wrote it in about an hour, and Johnson told Whiskey Riff the only hang up was Davidson trying to work in a 'Donkey Kong' line.
Dann Huff produced the track. Radio started spinning the album cut on its own, putting it on the chart at No. 58 in early 2005, months before it was officially a single.
The Day Trace Heard It
Trace's side of the story is just as much fun. Talking with fellow Louisiana native Theo Von on This Past Weekend, he remembered hearing Johnson's demo in the office of Scott Hendricks, who produced most of Songs About Me. As soon as "Jamey's old cornbread mouth" kicked off the song, Trace started laughing, and the further the demo went, the harder he laughed. He told Hendricks on the spot that he had to cut it. He figured it would probably never get played on the radio, but it was too funny and too cleverly written to pass up.
About a year after the song came out, he told Von, he realized he probably didn't have to "put my saddle on another horse." He could ride that one off into the sunset.
For more from that conversation, including Trace on growing up in Sarepta, read our full recap: Trace Adkins Opens Up to Theo Von About His Louisiana Hometown.
By the Numbers
Only Carrie Underwood's Jesus, Take the Wheel kept it from No. 1.
Chart or certification | Result |
Billboard Hot Country Songs | No. 2 (two weeks) |
Billboard Hot 100 | No. 30, 20 weeks on the chart |
Billboard Pop 100 | No. 33 |
Billboard 2006 year-end Country Songs | No. 35 |
RIAA single certification | 3x Platinum (certified 2022) |
RIAA mastertone (ringtone) certification | Platinum |
It was Adkins' first Top 40 hit on the Hot 100, and that Platinum ringtone award is a reminder of how much of its early life played out on flip phones.
Two Decades of Badonkadonkers
The party didn't stop when the song left the charts. In 2025, Adkins marked its 20th anniversary with a performance for SiriusXM's Y2Kountry channel, where Pandora also honored him for reaching one billion streams on its platform. That June, he took it to CMA Fest in Nashville, where a stadium full of fans sang it right back to him.
And it isn't just the longtime fans. A new generation has found the song on TikTok, where it soundtracks more than 49,000 videos.
The Louisiana Roots
Before Adkins sang about a honky tonk dance floor, he spent years playing to them. He grew up in Sarepta in Webster Parish, played defensive end at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, then worked the oil fields and offshore rigs in the Gulf. On the side he sang with a band called Bayou, working honky tonks across the Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas circuit before moving to Nashville in 1992.
At the song's peak, the father of five daughters told the Associated Press that songs like this are about appreciating women, not disrespecting them, and that the fun is the point. He also joked that his shows now drew two camps: "You've got the Every Lighters, and you've got the Badonkadonkers." Down in New Orleans, WNOE program director Ron Brooks told the same reporter he was surprised by how strongly women responded to Adkins' songs.
Still Filling Dance Floors
Strip away the jokes and Honky Tonk Badonkadonk is a song about joy: one woman having the time of her life, and a whole bar glad to be in the room with her. Trace Adkins knew that room long before Nashville, from the honky tonks of north Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex.
Two decades later, it still works the same way. The band kicks in, somebody sets down a drink, and the Badonkadonkers head for the floor.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When was Honky Tonk Badonkadonk released?
Trace Adkins released it to country radio on October 3, 2005, as the third single from his album Songs About Me.
Who wrote Honky Tonk Badonkadonk?
Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson and Dallas Davidson wrote the song in about an hour after a night out at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon. Dann Huff produced Adkins' recording.
How high did Honky Tonk Badonkadonk chart?
It peaked at No. 2 on Billboard Hot Country Songs for two weeks, No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 33 on the Pop 100. The RIAA has certified it 3x Platinum.
Where is Trace Adkins from?
Trace Adkins grew up in Sarepta, in Webster Parish in north Louisiana, and attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston before working in the oil fields.
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