Mark Wills has a dream collaboration in mind, and he’s enlisting his fans to help make it happen. In a video shared on social media, Wills shares a story of a song he passed on, which became a big hit for Reba McEntire, suggesting that they redo the song, this time with both of them singing on it.
“So I go into the studio, we’re recording this record, and I get pitched this song called ‘Somebody,'” Wills says. “The common denominator of all of these stories is that I love story songs. And so, we put the record out, we have a couple of big singles, and we end up not using this song called ‘Somebody.’ Fast forward about a year later, I hear a song come on the radio, this song that I just recorded about a year prior to that. It’s Reba McEntire. They had released ‘Somebody’ on her. It was a huge record for her.
“The funny thing was how you can take two artists and they can record the exact same song, and for one artist, you just don’t hear it as a single, and for the other artist, you hear it, and it’s just a huge record,” he continues. “Kind of the same way that I had with several other songs that became hits for other artists. But I think Reba and I should maybe go in the studio and do a duet version of ‘Somebody.’ She can sing the first verse, I’ll sing the second verse. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be a hit.”
Did you know? I should record a new duet with @Reba. Tag her in the comments and help us make it happen! #CountryMusic #DidYouKnow #MarkWills #Truth #Reba #CountrySong #CoverSong #TheMoreYouKnow #2000sCountry pic.twitter.com/pVjdSebWEF
— Mark Wills (@MarkWillsMusic) August 12, 2024
Wills captioned the video by saying, “Did you know? I should record a new duet with Reba Tag her in the comments and help us make it happen!”
.”Somebody” was written by Dave Berg, Annie Tate and Sam Tate. McEntire released it in 2004, as the second single from her 2003 Room to Breathe album.
Wills and McEntire have a lot more in common than both being pitched the same song. The two are also both proud Grand Ole Opry members. McEntire was inducted in 1986, while Wills was inducted in 2019, after being invited to join by Vince Gill.
“it’s kind of a culmination between December 21 of 2018, and January 11 of 2019, because I was there on the 21st to honor Jimmy Capps,” Wills told Circle All Access., speaking of the honor. “Jimmy Capps played guitar with the Opry band for 61, almost 62 years. wanted to be a part of his anniversary celebration, and I was. I was a big part of it that night. And then, Vince Gill asked me to be the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, to close the show that night. That was a great night.
“And then, I would have to say, January 11, where Craig Morgan gave me this little thing,” he added, holding up his Opry trophy. “It was by far one of the best nights of my life. Aside from my wedding day, aside from the birth of my kids, that’s right up at the top.”
Find all of Wills’ music and upcoming shows at MarkWills.com.