Billy Currington Kinda Didn’t Want to Release ‘Hey Girl’

Billy Currington's 'Hey Girl' recently became his eighth No. 1, but if he had it his way, he wouldn't have released that particular track as the lead single from 'We Are Tonight.'

The country star admits that he turned to some pretty hardcore pleading in order to not release the song as his single. Thankfully, it didn't work.

"I actually was begging for another song,” he says, acknowledging his record label president Mike Dungan at a No. 1 party (quote via Country Weekly). "He respectfully listened to me for a while, and chose this one."

Currington laughed, adding, “Looking back, it was the best choice for the single.”

The song tells the story of a guy who spots a beautiful girl in a bar and is too tongue-tied to try any smooth lines on her -- so, he follows her around, doing everything he can to get her attention. But all he can really think to say is ..."Hey, girl."

Well, hey, Currington got the attention of country fans, scoring a No. 1 hit that almost wasn't going to happen. Sometimes, labels know best. The singer will play 'Hey Girl' -- and his other biggest hits -- when he hits the stage at the first-ever Tropical Nights: Boots in the Sand event in Mexico in February.