A little more than a year ago, Walker Hayes achieved his first No. 1 hit, with “Fancy Like.” The song, which catapulted Hayes to worldwide fame thanks to a TikTok dance he did with his daughter Lela, gave Hayes and his family, including his six children, an entirely new life, far from his early years working at Costco.
“I’ve paid a lot of bills. I’m not in any debt anymore, so that’s great,” Hayes told Entertainment Tonight, when asked how much his life changed since then.
It’s a now often-told story of how Hayes and his wife Laney couldn’t afford a vehicle to transport their six children, with his friend, Craig Cooper, donating a minivan to his family. For his older children, their life is clearly marked by before and after “Fancy Like,” a delineation his younger children, for better or worse, will never know.
“My big three, they had a tough life financially,” Hayes acknowledges. “It’s funny. We laugh. Bagels were a luxury item. So this new lifestyle, they’re very appreciative of it. Our little ones, on the other hand, it’s kind of all they know. So it’s challenging trying to keep them grounded.”
Hayes was living the dream after “Fancy Like,” a dream that almost came with too high of a price. After years, and years and years, of Hayes working nonstop towards establishing himself as a country music artist, the sudden success made him want to run far away from all of it.
“I’m just telling you all the truth. When ‘Fancy Like’ popped, about two months in, I said, ‘I quit.’ I said, ‘I’m done,’” Hayes admitted on the Today Show. I said, ‘Hey, I think everybody will get paid for your investment in me,’ because I was gone. I didn’t see them for like two months.”
Fortunately, his manager suggested Hayes purchase a second bus so he could tour with his family, and it worked.
“I could do it forever as long as Laney’s with me,” Hayes said. “And the kids, eventually I’m sure they’ll be like, ‘Hey, I wanna go live my own life.’ … But COVID spoiled me. I got to see what I was missing, and so that challenged me when we got back out. I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t want to miss that anymore. It’s not worth it.’ So now we’re a family band. I just don’t want to lie to everybody. It’s not easy. My wife and I, we fight hard out there. Sometimes, she’s like, ‘Do the kid thing. You’re out there working. I need some help with the kids.’ I’m like, ‘Well, help me with work.’ So we have battles, and then we apologize.”
Hayes has another Top 40 hit with “Y’all Life,” from a forthcoming new album. Findmusic and tour dates at WalkerHayes.com.