During his recent headlining set at Stagecoach Festival, Luke Combs invited upstart country singer Bailey Zimmerman onstage. The duo debuted “Backup Plan,” Zimmerman’s latest single featuring the “Fast Car” crooner. On Friday (May 2), Zimmerman shared the story of how the song came to be with his social media followers.
Luke Combs Nearly Ghosted Bailey Zimmerman
The first time Bailey Zimmerman heard “Backup Plan,” he knew he wanted Luke Combs on the track with him. However, the two hadn’t met at the time, and Zimmerman didn’t feel comfortable getting Combs’ number through a third party.
Fortunately, the “Hurricane” singer would soon invite Zimmerman to perform at the Concert for Carolina. Instantly bonding, the pair exchanged numbers.
“I was still a little nervous to send it to him, so I kept listening to the song and listening to it, and then one day I was like, ‘Dude, I’m sending it,’” said the “Where It Ends” singer, 25.
In a post made to Instagram Friday (May 2), Zimmerman shared a photo of himself and Combs, along with the text message in question. “It’s crazy to think that this all started with one txt,” he wrote.
Sending a voice recording of what would become “Backup Plan,” Zimmerman wrote, “I don’t know what you got going on this year as far as music but I’ve been wanting to send you this song for a while that I think me and you could crush.” He instructed the former Entertainer of the Year to “jam it and let me know what you think.”
Zimmerman hit Send. Then… silence.
“He didn’t respond for, I think, a month,” the Illinois native said during a recent appearance on The Bobby Bones Show.
Zimmerman Jokes About Combs’ “Anticlimatic” Reply
Finally, about a month later, Bailey Zimmerman’s phone lit up with a text message from none other than Luke Combs. “Yo! This tune rips,” wrote the “Beautiful Crazy” singer, 35. “I’m in.”
[RELATED: Bailey Zimmerman Admits He Was “Too Drunk to Play” After “Absolutely Awful” Performance at Luke Bryan’s Festival]
“It was, like, anticlimactic for sure,” Zimmerman said. “But it was so, like, full-circle moment.”
Already being hailed as “the song of the summer,” “Backup Plan” delves into the ups and downs of going after what you want: So if you got a fire don’t lose it / If you got a do or die dream do it / If you got something to prove go on and prove it / Don’t let nobody clip your wings.
Featured image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach
