Thomas Rhett Is the ‘Star of the Show’ at Double No. 1 Party
Thomas Rhett has a lot to celebrate, and he did just that on March 1 at a party for his two most recent No. 1 hits, "Star of the Show" and "T-Shirt." The guests included songwriters Shane McAnally, Luke Laird, Ashley Gorley, Ben Hayslip and Rhett's father, songwriter Rhett Atkins.
"Both of these songs are pretty crazy journeys," Rhett says of the tracks. The country star relays that he wrote “Star of the Show” in 2012, just one month after his marriage to wife Lauren, marking one of the first songs he wrote for her at a time when he was “starting to write a bunch of love songs.”
The video is a story in and of itself, featuring one continuous shot of Rhett performing a variety of activities from throwing paint to catching roses mid-air, in addition to incorporating impressive CGI special effects. They shot the video until the wee hours of the morning and had to re-start an entire scene if there was an error. "I just wanted to do something different for that song. It was a really fun video to make,” Rhett says.
"Star of the Show" has been a fan favorite for a long time, with a number of his fans clamoring for Rhett to include it on a record, which he did on his second album Tangled Up. “I love when old songs like that resurface and you’re kind of reminded that they are good,” the singer admits. "It was a progressive song at the time.”
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As for "T-Shirt," Rhett reveals that he wanted to cut the song for years, but another country superstar, Tim McGraw, actually had the song on hold. Knowing how badly he wanted it, when Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta sent a text to McGraw asking if he'd be willing to relinquish the song, his response was simple. "He texts me back and he goes, ‘It’s TR’s,’" Borchetta reveals. “And that’s how much Tim McGraw respects Thomas Rhett.”
The response was the answer to Rhett's prayers -- literally -- about whether recording the song was meant to be. "Never did I think God would answer a prayer about a song that talks about a girl looking sexy in a T-shirt, but he did,” Rhett says to laughs from the crowd. “And he let me have it and I’m very very grateful.”
Borchetta, who was also on hand at the event, congratulated the singer on his success, saying that Rhett is all about keeping his team close. "Everything about Thomas Rhett is about family. His music is about family, his team is about family. When they call it ‘home team’ it’s very real," Borchetta says.
The road to No. 1 for "T-Shirt" was a long one, but Rhett says he's thankful it finally fell into his hands. "I’m just so glad to be a part of this, this is a really really cool song," the singer says. "I feel like this song is such a survivor and it took forever to get here, but all songs go where they’re supposed to be."
Thomas Rhett tickets to his Home Team Tour have been moving so fast that he was forced to add more dates before the tour even kicked off. Rhett has pulled out all the stops for the road trek, debuting two new songs live onstage and having his support acts, Kelsea Ballerini, Ryan Hurd and Russell Dickerson, join him onstage for a group cover of Bruno Mars' "24K Magic."
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