Bailey Zimmerman Celebrates Fifth No. 1 With Steak and Chocolate Milk

Click the image to learn more.

“Backup Plan” featuring Luke Combs recently topped the charts at country radio, and Zimmerman is celebrating in style!

Bailey Zimmerman is celebrating a major milestone, recently earning his fifth No. 1 single at country radio with “Backup Plan,” featuring Luke Combs.

After hitting the top of the charts, Zimmerman marked the occasion with steak and chocolate milk, sharing a photo of the celebratory dinner on social media. It’s an unusual combo, but whatever makes him happy!

The track, penned by Jimi Bell, Jon Sherwood, and Tucker Beathard, is featured on his new album Different Night, Same Rodeo. The Illinois native recently opened up about hearing the song for the first time during an appearance on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen.

“First time I listened to it, I’m like, first of all, love that, [beat]. I’m like, ‘Whoa, this feels like we’re about to go into some Johnny Cash or something.’ Some songs like this can feel cheesey and cheesy. It was like, ‘Oh, is this meant for some movie track, title?’ Then when I heard it, there was something about it that just kept– there’s a lot of things that my grandpa used to tell me growing up, and a lot of things my dad used to tell me, especially keep your head down and put on the blinders. Dude, it gives me chills right now, man. My dad, he used to tell me all the time, ‘Nobody’s going to get in your way but everybody else. Don’t let them get in your way. Put your blinders on.’ He would say, ‘When horses are racing, do they look at the other horses on the side of them? No, they look straight ahead and they keep going and they keep putting their freaking head down.’ Don’t care about what people say, keep freaking going, because they’re not living your dream, you’re living it. Keep doing your dream,” he said. “As we’re talking right now, that’s how I felt the first time I heard ‘Backup Plan.’ Man, this gets me amped up, and I feel like other people need to hear this. They need to hear this.”

Zimmerman said he immediately thought of Luke Combs when he heard the song and explained how he landed Combs’ phone number at the right time. 

“The first time I heard it, I thought, ‘Man, Luke Combs would freaking crush this, dude.’ Then I thought, ‘But man, how am I going to get Luke Combs on a song? Luke would be freaking crazy on a song, and I know he’d love it, but how do I even get it to him? Who do I text?,” he explained. 

While he didn’t have his number at the time, things soon changed. 

“Randomly, one day, Luke hits me up to do Concert for Carolina … hung out with him, and we just kicked it off right off the bat, just right away … It just felt like we had been buds for a while. Fast forward, play the show that night, slips me a little note card that’s just a, “Thank you for playing the show. Thank you for doing this, all this stuff. By the way, here’s my number, man, if you want to text me anytime,” Zimmerman revealed. 

Luckily, Combs agreed to join the track, and the rest was history. Zimmerman has shared nothing but praise for his collaborator.

“Luke Combs, bro, is a legend and a goat, and he sticks up to that. He’s as good of a guy as you think he is,” Zimmerman urged. “He stands up to the testament of being a goat and being a legend, and inspiring people and being an inspiration. Just everything about him is like, ‘Yep, there ain’t nothing fake about that guy.’ Every single thing he says is so raw and real, and just freaking legend, dude. Not even that, but his friendship to me, he didn’t have to do any of this stuff. He didn’t have to get on my song. He didn’t have to let me come play it with him at Stagecoach. He didn’t have to do a music video. He did it because he really likes me.”

Source