Chase Rice Admits He Didn’t Expect ‘Cruise’ to Become a Big Hit

Chase Rice was one of the writers on Florida Georgia Line's mega hit 'Cruise,' and he admits to Taste of Country Nights that he didn't think the song would that big.

Cruise' was written by five guys: FGL members Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard, along with Joey Moi, Rice, and Jesse Rice. "We were just writing a slow song actually and 'Cruise' just kind of fell out," Rice says.

"We wrote 'Cruise' in 45 minutes -- and the rest is history. Brian was a huge believer in it. He was like 'Dude, this is huge, this is monstrous.'"

Rice adds, "I didn't really see it at the time but I"m glad he did. I wanted Luke Bryan or somebody big to cut it. Luckily, they took it and made it what it was."

Last fall Rice told Taste of Country that, "... Making money from a song like that, it allows me to put it back into ... my career. Put it back into helping the band out, better equipment, helping our shows out, have more lights, more risers. Putting better production into songs. That’s allowed me to take this next step as far as how production sounds in my live shows."

It's worked. His debut single 'Ready Set Roll' is following the unlikely path 'Cruise' took. Both he and FGL began as unsigned artists before fans began demanding the songs from local radio stations. Rice is now signed with Sony, and his first hit is already inside the Top 30.

Look for Rice at the Taste of Country Music Festival in Hunter, N.Y. on June 15.

Chase Rice Talks About 'Ready Set Roll' and 'Cruise'

Sam Alex is the host of Taste of Country Nights radio, a syndicated night show which airs on more than 60 Townsquare Media Group stations nationwide.