Frankie Ballard’s #1 & Nephew

Frankie Ballard says June 9th will always have special significance in his life.  It was the day he celebrated his first #1: “Helluva Life.”  But more importantly, it was the day he became an uncle!  He told reporters before the party, “My mom & dad were going to drive down, and my older sister has been past due to have her first child for two weeks now.  She actually had her first baby today.  My mom was so upset, she really wanted to be here, and I told her she had to be there.  ‘Lela’s planning on having 2 or 3 kids, and I’m planning on having 30 of these.’  So they needed to be up there.   It’s a baby boy.  Uncle Frankie! The baby was born two hours ago, and they haven’t told us his name, but it better be Frank!”

So what’s it feel like to have your first #1?  “I feel like a kid again.  When I was little, I dreamed about being on stage singing songs.  As you get older, you don’t do that as much.  But that night when I found out my song had gone #1, I was instantly snapped back into that time, I felt like a kid again, those dreams I had, man this is really happening.  It was amazing.”

Talk about the song and why it resonated with the public: “I think the reason it connected is because as a country, when times are tough, you want to hear about drinking and partying.  I think ‘Helluva Life’ came out when we were getting our feet back under us, people were making house payments, and when you get in that season of life, you want to reflect a little bit, take a look back, process your life, and that’s what it did for me.  I thought about choices I made, just a reflective song.  It evokes a nostalgic emotion, and that’s why people got into it.  I’m glad they did!”

So what has been your #1 song splurge?  What have you bought to celebrate?  “I bought a 1970 Marshall amplifier.  This will sound nerdy, but I am so happy with my guitar gig now.  I have an amp rack with a 66 Fender Bassman and that 1970 Marshall amp, so having that hit me in the back of the legs makes me a happy man.  But I also bought a Manuel suit for the ACMs.  Then I got a call from my business manager, so I’m on lockdown now.”

Frankie’s follow-up is called “Sunshine & Whiskey” and it’ll be in our Top 30 countdown very soon!

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