Photo: Getty Images
Chase Rice shared the sweet moment he told his mom he wrote a song for her, and her reaction when she heard it for the first time.
Rice posted the clip, recorded by photographer Lauren Tucker, on Instagram on Tuesday evening (June 2). The singer-songwriter said, “so, Mom… You know how I kept asking all these questions about, like, what year did you and Dad get married, meet, yada yada? This is gonna be awesome! This is her first time hearing her song. You’re gonna love it!” Rice and his mom sat side by side as he played “Connie Lou” for her for the first time.
Rice spoke about the story behind his newest anthem in a recent interview with iHeartCountry. He said he glanced at a photo of his late father, which became the album artwork for 2023’s I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell, and thought, “‘Man, I've written a lot about him, but I haven't written much about my mom.’ …I didn't know how to write a story about my mom, but I thought it'd be really cool to write one about how they met and that love story from the '70s.”
The country star delivered the debut live performance of “Connie Lou” during a free pop-up show on May 28 at Losers Bar & Grill in Nashville, Tennessee’s Midtown neighborhood (which also included Rhys Rutherford and Hannah McFarland, plus an appearance by Rice’s dog, Jack). “Connie Lou” officially released on May 29. Rice finished writing the song with producer Oscar Charles and Dan Couch. He told iHeartCountry that he played “Connie Lou” for his mom at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. Rice, who has delved into personal, vulnerable stories on recent projects, said he assured his mom, “‘no, no, no. It's a fun song. It's not going to be sad. Just know that.’ And so, we played it for her and she's freaked out a little bit, I think. …I think she's happy with the song. She's happy with the story, and she's happy that it's not a sad song for a change.”