Drew Baldridge is enjoying a lot of career firsts these days. The singer-songwriter celebrated his first No. 1 hit last year, with “She’s Somebody’s Daughter,” and is now enjoying another first, as he opens for Cody Johnson on Johnson’s Leather Deluxe Tour.
“We’ve never played an arena tour,” Baldridge tells CMT. “This is our first-ever arena tour. I got like ten seconds to talk to Cody about it. I was like, ‘Dude, I’m Drew.’ We were playing at an event honoring somebody, and I went up to him, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m Drew. I’m opening up for you.’ He was like, ‘Oh man, there’s nothing like having 15,000 people in the palm of your hand.’
“I was like, ‘I don’t know what that’s like,'” he adds with a laugh. “‘I really don’t know.'”
Baldridge made history with the success of “She’s Somebody’s Daughter,” marking the first time an independent artist hit the top of the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart, and No. 3 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
“I’m overwhelmed and incredibly honored that ‘She’s Somebody’s Daughter’ has reached No. 1. on country radio,” Baldridge said when the song hit the top of the charts. “I wrote this song six years ago and though I always dreamed we would get to this point, it felt so far away. In my heart, I knew ‘Daughter’ was special, and just needed the right team to help me share it with country radio and fans everywhere. I am so thankful to everyone who has supported me and believed in me over the years. This is truly the best day.”
The Illinois native also shared his unfiltered thoughts on social media when he found out about the success of “She’s Somebody’s Daughter.”
“We’ve officially made history,” he said. “We’re the first artist to ever independently get their first No. 1 song, and I just can’t believe it. I’ve been sitting over here on this picnic table just crying a little bit, shed some tears, just thinking about the journey of how long it’s taken to get here. We’ve been in Nashville for 13 years, and I felt like everybody was kind of giving up on what we were doing, which is fine.
“But the whole community, country radio, y’all have rallied behind us,” he continues. “And to think we now have the No. 1 song in the whole country, it’s unbelievable. Thank you to you guys for not giving up on me, for allowing me to chase this dream, for sharing this song, calling your radio stations. I’m forever thankful. I cannot believe that we’re here.”
Baldridge is back with another Top 20 hit at radio, with “Tough People.” The song was written by Baldridge, along with Luke Combs, Adam Sanders and Jordan Walker.
“What I love about this song is that it’s honest and it’s real,” Baldridge tells Billboard. “It’s what our world’s going through. It’s what we’re all feeling.”
Johnson is also joined by Ashley McBryde, Cole Swindell, Ashley Cooke and Wade Forster on his Leather Deluxe Tour. Find all of Baldridge’s music and upcoming shows at DrewBaldridgeMusic.com.