Charles Kelley couldn’t resist praising Breland’s talents when the two met backstage and became “buddies.” The Lady A artist suggested that the two team up to write music sometime, and that’s how they ended up with a new collaboration.
Breland joined Lady A on stage during CMA Fest, the longstanding country music event that took place in June in Nashville, Tennessee. The “music event of the summer” is set to air on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Dierks Bentley and Elle King will co-host the star-studded, televised event. When Lady A performed at Downtown Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, they welcomed Breland to perform a new version of the trio’s 2009 hit, “Need You Now.” Lady A previously shared an acoustic rendition of the song with Breland on social media, dubbing their collective group “Lady A and B.” During CMA Fest, Lady A also performed their latest single, “Summer State of Mind.”
Breland, who recently celebrated his 27th birthday, said he grew up listening to “Need You Now,” according to Kelley. Kelley said it was “fun to give that song a new twist, and I really truly think he’s one of the most talented artists, up-and-coming, that we have.” He said in a statement shared by Lady A’s record label:
“Breland and I became buddies just backstage, and I had told him I was a fan. I just think he’s got one of the best voices in our genre, I mean right up there with like Shay Mooney (of Dan + Shay). So anyway, I was like, ‘Let’s write sometime.’ And so, we wrote a song and he asked if Lady A would feature on it, and so we went in the studio and we did that. And then while we were there, I was like, ‘Well, we’ve gotta do a song, you know, for the fans.’ And so, we did ‘Need You Now.’ He told me he grew up on that song – he’s super young, we’re gettin’ older. But, I just think it’s fun to give that song a new twist, and I really truly think he’s one of the most talented artists, up-and-coming, that we have. And so, any time you can kind of be a part of that energy after doing this for 15 years now, we like to feed off that youthful energy and that excitement. And I guess that CMA Fest had seen that and was like, man, this would be a great moment in the show.”
Lady A and Breland are days away from releasing a new collaboration, “Told You I Could Drink.” Breland shared on Instagram that he’s “so excited to announce NEW MUSIC coming this Friday, with one of the greatest groups in country music.” The song is set to release on Friday (August 5). Until then, listen to Lady A’s version of “Need You Now” with Breland here: