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Dierks Bentley has had tons of interactions with his fans throughout his decades-long career, and there’s one odd moment that still stands out to him. As the Gravel & Gold star gears up for his upcoming performance and hosting gig at the 50th CMA Fest in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, he remembered the worst thing he’s been asked to sign.
Once, when asked for his autograph, Bentley remembered a fan asking him to sign “a baby’s head with a sharpie,” he said, per his record label. Though he “didn’t want to do it," Bentley remembered, "the woman was like, ‘Please.’ I was like, ‘Alright.’” Bentley isn’t the only artist who has had an unusual autograph experience. Fellow country artist Josh Turner, for example, remembered that he once signed “a toothpick; an unused toothpick, let me throw that out there, an unused toothpick. It was quite challenging, actually, and it didn’t look anything like my autograph. It took a really small Sharpie, though.”
Bentley is set to return to host the iconic Nashville festival with Elle King, his duet partner on “Different For Girls” in 2016 and “Worth A Shot,” which King included on her debut country album that released earlier this year. This time, the duo will co-host the event with “Watermelon Moonshine” superstar Lainey Wilson. The festival is slated to kick off on Thursday (June 8) and run through Sunday (June 11). The three-hour special will air on ABC on Wednesday, July 19 at 8 p.m./7 p.m. CT.
“Hosting the CMA Fest is the ultimate gig. It’s so fun,” Bentley said via his label. “I mean, I’ve hosted some big awards show as well and those are great too, but this is a four-day festival, so I get to be there for four days. And which if I was doing it by myself, it would be great because you get a chance to see all your artist buddies you don’t see very often, hear great music, see the all-stars of the country music fans, people that travel from all over the world to be here and they bring the most energy. It’s the greatest fans to play in front of, BUT I get to co-host this with two of the funniest people I know – Elle King and Lainey Wilson. I mean, yes, talented beyond all talent, both incredible stylists vocally that sound like nobody else, great songwriters. You can list all that stuff. Whatever. Who cares? They’re funny. They’re so fun to be around. They make you laugh the whole time, so it doesn’t even feel like work. It just feels like this is ridiculous that I get the chance to hang out with these girls. So, yeah, we’re hosting the CMA Fest. Last year it was Elle and I; this year we’re bringing on Lainey Wilson. It’s gonna be…it’s fun. It’s going to be so much fun. I cannot wait. It’s gonna be the greatest CMA Fest of all time.”