On the heels of releasing his latest album Same Truck on Friday, Sept. 17, American Idol season 10 winner Scotty McCreery joined the third hour of NBC’s TODAY to perform “Damn Strait,” already a fan-favorite since its release last week ahead of the album’s full release.
“I had an email from Kevin Herring at my label and he said, ‘Hey, take a listen to this song. It just came through for you,’ and I kind of had a little mini freak out session because I’m a huge George Strait fan,” McCreery shared with Billboard. “I love the different tidbits in there of songs of his… It’s a classic country breakup song, but [it’s also] paying homage to George Strait throughout the song. It’s so cleverly written. If you’re a country fan, a George Strait fan, this song is so cool.”
The Grand Ole Opry debut of the song has garnered over 43K views since its release.
In addition to celebrating the release of Same Truck with today’s interview and performance, Scotty also talked about being recognized recently with one billion career streams on Pandora and receiving his Billionaire Plaque. Also, McCreery now has been added to the Pandora Country Billionaires station.
Lead single “You Time,” co-written with producers Same Truck producers Frank Rogers and Aaron Eshuis, follows McCreery’s three consecutive No. 1’s from 2018’s Seasons Change, and continues climbing the charts at Country radio at No. 2 on both the Billboard and Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart.
Watch Scotty’s performance of “Damn Strait” on Today below.