The video begins with a woman (Upton) sitting in front of a vanity, receiving a phone call from a friend (Scott). The friend invites her to go out to a bar together with some friends to "forget his name."
At the bar they receive and go through many rounds challenges by the bartender (Hale). They beat the bartender and celebrate. There are cuts to performance scenes of the band during the video.
All three members are performing in the chandelier.
Lady Antebellum debuted the song during the American Idolseason thirteen finale on May 21, 2014.[4] Two days later on the 23, they performed the song on Good Morning America. They have also performed "Bartender" on the Late Show with David Letterman and the 2014
CMT Music Awards on June 4, 2014. They performed "Bartender" on CMA Festival: Country's Night on August 5, 2014.
On September 30, 2014, the trio performed the song on the Today Show.
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock rated the song four stars out of five and spoke positively of the "fresh, new sound" the group is exploring. "The sing-song-y nature of ['Bartender's bridge and chorus] give the song some bite and make it the kind of song that should've always followed up 'Need You Now'" said Bjorke. "'Bartender' starts a new and exciting chapter in Lady Antebellum's career and gives us something to really look forward to with their follow-up to last year's Golden".[5] Melinda Newman of HitFix placed "Bartender" at number 4 (of 21) on the website's Top Summer Songs of 2014, writing that "the upbeat melody and the time-honored tradition of drinking to forget, not to mention the banjo at the end, make this tune too much fun to be a downer".[6]
"Bartender" debuted at No. 43 on the BillboardCountry Airplay chart for the week ending May 31, 2014, soon reaching the top spot. It also debuted at No. 40 on BillboardAdult Pop Songs in November, their first song to manage crossing over to adult contemporary radio since "Just a Kiss" and reaching No. 25 to date. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on September 11, 2014 and was certified Platinum on September 23, 2014.[7] The song reached its millionth sales mark in the US in November 2014,[8] and as of January 2015, it has sold 1,118,000 downloads.[9] In Canada, the song was also certified Platinum, indicating digital downloads in excess of 80,000 units.[10]
