On the day that his seventh studio album dropped, country music star Thomas Rhett delighted a crowd on the TODAY plaza by sharing his new music, dancing with Hoda Kotb, and taking a few early morning … shots.
Rhett performed songs from “About a Woman,” which he says was inspired by his wife Lauren, and explained why his four daughters say this album is their favorite.
“This is their favorite one because there’s only one ballad on the record and ballads make them fall asleep,” Rhett told Hoda and the other TODAY co-hosts after he performed for the Citi Concert series on August 23. “I tried to keep it up-tempo for my children and I think it worked.”
Hoda shared with the packed crowd how impressed she is with Rhett’s connection to his fans.
“I just want to shout out — not just your incredible fans, because they are — but you with your fans … He was out here since 6 a.m. singing happy birthday, saying ‘hey’ and signing things. What this taught me is album No. 7 feels like new all over again. Is that what it feels like to you?” Hoda asked a smiling Rhett.
“I just wanted to make people smile with this record. I wanted it to bring joy, I wanted it to make you dance,” Rhett said.
After the high-energy concert, Rhett sat down with TODAY.com to answer eight questions before 8 a.m., for our original video series “8 Before 8.”
For this Q & A session, the only rule is that if an artist chooses to skip a question, they have to take what we like to call a “morning TV-style shot” — think ginger, wheatgrass or electrolytes. (Even we know it’s too early for tequila!)
Read on to hear more from Thomas Rhett on the most meaningful song of his career, what rock song he wants to cover and why a collab with a very famous rapper could be in his future.
What’s the first thing you do in the morning after you wake up?
The first think I do in the morning when I wake up is I hum, to make sure that my voice is good for the day. I go, like, “Hmmmm” — Alright, I’m good!
What is your favorite track from “About a Woman”?
My favorite song from “About a Woman” is the title track called “Something About A Woman.” I remember writing it wanting to kind of have this Rolling Stones, kind of Steely Dan type of feel in a track, and it’s something I’ve tried for a long time but never been able to nail. And when we finished this song, it kind of stands out like a sore thumb on the album because it’s so unique and so different. But I think that’s why I love it so much.
Which song from your career means the most to you?
The song from my career that means the most to me is — it’s kind of obvious — the song called “Die a Happy Man,” for so many reasons. I got to write it about my wife and I’ve gotten to see so many people get engaged to this song at my shows, which has been really special. And I’ve heard a lot of people say they’ve used this as their first dance song. And it was that song that really kind of kicked my career off. So, yeah, I’ll be forever grateful for that song and for what it’s done for other people, for me and my family, too.
What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened during a concert?
This would have been 2017 and I was trying to put my foot on the guardrail to lean down to high-five someone, and I completely just missed the guardrail (laughs) and I fell and hit my ribs so hard on this rail. And there’s this photo of me half on stage, half in the crowd, still singing the song. And I think my ribs were broken. I got back to the bus and they were black and blue. You can find it on YouTube! That’s great.
Which daughter — Willa Gray, Ada James, Lennon Love or Lily Carolina — is the most fun to hang out with?
Oh, making me pick favorites here. I gotta pass. Give me a shot.
How old were you when you knew your were going to marry Lauren, who you met in third grade?
There was a part of me that thought in 8th grade, ‘I would love for this to be my wife’ but I think I was shooting too high in 8th grade. But probably when I was about 18 years old, I kind of knew. We started dating for real when we turned 21 but we already knew each other so well that we only dated for like six months and got engaged and got married the next year.
If you weren’t a country singer, what genre would you have a career in?
I think if I didn’t sing country music, I would sing something soulful, R & B, something like that. That’s sort of like my favorite genre of music. And maybe I will one day, but not right now.
What do you love about Nashville … and what do you hate?
Nashville is home — I’ve lived there since I was 3 years old. And as much as I love that it’s getting very popular, I also don’t like that it’s getting very popular because you can’t go anywhere now without, you know, we have traffic like New York City to an extent, and like LA. So we’ve become somewhat of a big city, which is good … but if you’ve lived there forever, you kind of are like, ‘Man, I wish it was kind of how it used to be.’
Now we have a question for you from the last performer on the TODAY Plaza, Chance the Rapper.
Chance the Rapper: Thomas Rhett — I was wondering if you could collaborate with any rapper, who would that rapper be?
It would be you, bro! I’ve been such a huge Chance fan. I cannot believe this is happening, to be honest with you. I remember me and my wife were in Chicago and Chance was opening for Coldplay at Made In America fest. No — it was in Philadelphia. I actually got to watch Chance play with Jay Z and Beyonce. It was like one of the craziest nights of my whole existence. So Chance, let’s go, man, let’s go! That would be amazing. That’s so rad!
Morning rapid fire round
Bonfire, tailgate or rave?
Bonfire.
What classic rock song would you love to make a cover of?
Probably ‘Black Dog’ by Led Zeppelin.
French braid or ponytail?
Ponytail.
American Idol or The Voice?
Can I pass on this? I’ll take the yellow shot. I don’t want to offend any of my friends that are judges. (Takes shot) Oh, wow. Good morning, ginger.
Tangled Up, Life Changes or Beautiful As You?
Life Changes.
Biscuits and gravy or shrimp and grits?
Biscuits and gravy.
BONUS: The next artist performing on our plaza is Khalid. What question do you have for him?
