Billy Dukes of Taste of Country reviewed the song favorably, saying that "Thomas Rhett may have just released the love song of the year. "Die a Happy Man" is a slow burner that melts like candle wax. With just a few pulls from a blues-soaked guitar, the mood is set for this increasingly dynamic singer to heat up any room."
Commercial
On the week of its release, the song debuted at number 17 on the Hot Country Songs chart, number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 41 on the Country Airplay chart, with 40,000 copies sold for the week. The second week, it rose to number 30 on the Country Airplay chart, and sold 33,000 copies. It reached number one on the Country Digital Songs chart in its third week, selling 39,000 copies. It topped the Hot Country Songs chart in its sixth week, and then topped the Country Airplay chart in January 2016, staying at number one on all three country charts simultaneously for multiple weeks. On the Country Airplay chart for the week of January 30, 2016, the song logged its fifth consecutive week at number one, making it the first song to spend more than four weeks at number one since Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" stayed at the top for five weeks in 2009, and the first song by a solo male artist to spend five weeks at the top since Kenny Chesney's "Never Wanted Nothing More" in August 2007. The following week, it topped the Country Airplay chart for a sixth and final week, becoming the first song to spend six weeks at number one since Taylor Swift's "Our Song" in December 2007 – January 2008. It peaked at number 21 on the Hot 100 for the week of January 2, 2016. The single was certified 2× Platinum on May 18, 2016, and 3× Platinum on February 21, 2017. The single reached the one million download sales in February 2016. As of September 2017, "Die a Happy Man" had sold 1,914,000 downloads.
Music video
The music video was directed by TK McKamy and produced by Dan Atchison. The video was shot on location on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii at the same time as his video for "Vacation". It premiered in June 2015. Rhett's wife, Lauren, appears in the video.
Chart performance
"Die a Happy Man" topped the Hot Country Songs chart on November 14, 2015. The song remained on top for seventeen weeks before being knocked off by "You Should Be Here" performed by Cole Swindell.
"Die a Happy Man" was covered by American rapper Nelly in 2016 and released as a single on February 5, 2016 by RECORDS and Epic Records. His version draws inspiration from hip hop music and dance music and employs synthesizers.
Commercial performance
His version debuted at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 with first-week US sales of 35,000.
