Thomas Rhett has had numerous chart-topping singles, platinum-selling albums and sold-out tours, but that isn’t the only way he defines his success. The 30-year-old is much more concerned with the kind of husband, father and human he is, than by how the rest of the world might define success.
“I’ve never felt, like when I turned a different age, I never felt like I changed at all,” Thomas shared with his record label. “20 to 21 was a big shift because you can’t drink and then you can. That was like a big shift. 28 to 29, that was a big shift. I think, probably having kids and having a wife that I love so much really just kind of put a lot of things into perspective. And so, I’ve really just tried to live every day in the present.
“Being present this year is my New Year’s resolution, and not trying to think what’s going to happen in five years from now,” he added. “But success for me is just always writing better songs and always playing better shows and always trying to be the best dude that I can.”
Thomas might not define success by where his songs land on the charts, but he did just celebrate earning his 15th No. 1 hit, this time for “Beer Can’t Fix,” his collaboration with Jon Pardi.
“I am blown away that this is my 15th #1 single,” Thomas said in a statement of the song’s success. “It’s a crazy time right now for everyone, and it’s really fitting for me that a song I started writing with my buddies during a bad game of golf, and that features another good buddy, Jon Pardi, has maybe helped to bring a smile to people’s faces right now. I am beyond grateful to the fans and country radio and can’t wait to celebrate with everybody soon.”
Thomas and his wife, Lauren Akins, are the proud parents of three little girls: 4-year-old Willa Gray, 2-year-old Ada James, and 3-month-old Lennon Love. It’s his children who determine the kinds of songs Thomas will, and won’t, write.
“I hope that our kids think we’re remotely cool when they’re 25 years old,” Thomas stated. “Most kids don’t. But we definitely keep that in mind. All these guys can tell you, when I’m writing a song and there’s a line that doesn’t fully represent my ethics or my morals, then it [isn’t] gonna be in the song.
“I just want to make sure that when my kids do hear my songs there’s nothing that they can go to school and say, ‘Well my dad said do that,’” he added. “You know what I’m saying? That would destroy me, I think.”