Country Comeback Story Drew Baldridge Finds Himself on the Cusp of Another No. 1 with 'Tough People' (Exclusive)
He became the first self-released artist to hit No. 1 on the country charts last year
Now, Baldridge is gunning for a second shot at the top spot
Country music's rising star Drew Baldridge currently finds himself on the cusp of perhaps another No. 1 hit with his current Top 15 single 'Tough People.' And certainly, he has Luke Combs to thank.
"Luke recorded 'Tough People' first,' Baldridge remembers in a recent interview with PEOPLE about the impactful song he wrote alongside Combs, Adam Sanders and Jordan Walker that was released last October. "I was looking for a second single and I had always loved 'Tough People,' but I just felt like the song was already his."
Nevertheless, Baldridge decided to call the two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year anyway. "I remember Luke saying, 'Dude, you wrote it, and you should sing it,'" recalls Baldridge. "'It's your song and I'll root you on all the way to No. 1.'"
And that is now looking like the trajectory that 'Tough People' is going to take — and Combs knows it.
"I saw him in Nashville when 'Tough People' had just reached the Top 15 and I thanked him and he was like, 'Shut up, man,' Baldridge, 32, recalls with a laugh of the moment he shared with Combs while out on tour with Cody Johnson. "He said, 'Don't say thank you. This is your moment. This is your song. I'm so happy for you.' And he was so kind. And it's just been another one of those things where you see why when you take a chance on yourself, you never know what might happen."
He draws in a deep breath.
"It's just been the roller coaster of a ride for me for the last 18 months,'"continues Baldridge, who also launched The Tough People Fund earlier this year to "highlight those individuals, families and communities that are experiencing the toughest of times." "Being in town for 13 years and being at the point of giving up … to scoring a No. 1 record."
Related: Drew Baldridge's Song 'She's Somebody's Daughter' Is Experiencing a Resurgence — 5 Years Later (Exclusive)
Indeed, Baldridge's first No. 1 hit "She's Somebody's Daughter" catapulted the Illinois native to new heights not only in the eyes of fans, but perhaps more importantly, within the country music industry as a whole.
"Picking the second single was almost harder than picking the first, because I wanted to make sure I didn't end up a one-hit wonder," Baldridge says quietly. "I love 'She's Somebody's Daughter,' but I didn't want to be the 'She's Somebody's Daughter' guy forever. I wanted to be more than that."
Having become the first self-funded artist to reach No. 1 on country radio with their debut single, Baldridge's newfound fame not only left him in awe of what he had accomplished, but all that he and his wife Katherine had accomplished together.
"A lot of people don't realize how many sacrifices she had to make and how big of the story that she was," says Baldridge of his wife of almost four years, with whom he shares a 2-year-old son, Lyric Lee. "I was running a label and booking my shows and doing this all alone. And she was almost like a single parent sometimes because I was gone so much. She was drained. But she stayed with me through all of that and supported me. It takes a special partner in your life to do the life that we have."
Related: Drew Baldridge and Wife Katherine Welcome a Baby Boy, Lyric Lee: 'Best Gift for Christmas'
It's also taken the love of Baldridge's fans to get him to where he stands today — especially the fans who stuck by him long before he found himself as a constant on the country music charts.
"Awhile back, I went around the country and played all of these people's backyards and it was those people that kept me going," Baldridge remembers. "It wasn't Nashville, and it wasn't radio in that moment. It was the actual people I was making music for. That's when everything changed. I realized that I was making music for real hearts and souls."
And it's those stories that Baldridge says he hopes to continue to tell.
"We're all struggling,' concludes Baldridge, who will head out on the road this summer with fellow country music hitmaker Bailey Zimmerman on his New to Country tour. "But let's put a light on these tough times that we're going through. We're all tough people. We all have a scar. We all have a story, and I think that's what I want my music to say."
Read the original article on People
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