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When Maddie & Tae released their latest heartfelt ballad, many of their fans were quick to notice that Taylor Kerr’s voice takes the spotlight in a unique way. Kerr, who performs in the duo with Maddie Font, sang lead and stood out with her own solo verse.
Kerr and Font shared the story behind that moment in the song, and how Kerr’s support from her husband and duo partner encouraged her. She remembered playing “Heart They Didn’t Break” — a tribute to best friends who offer their support after a breakup — for her husband, songwriter Josh Kerr, who immediately said that Maddie & Tae should record the ballad as a feature.
But Kerr never thought to feature her own voice.
“I was like, ‘who do you think, like Lainey Wilson?’ And he’s like, ‘better,’” Kerr remembered the conversation with her husband, sharing the story on TikTok. “‘Carrie Underwood?’ ‘Better.’ I was like, ‘what? Who’s better than all those people?’ And he said ‘you!’ I was like, ‘what?! No! Obviously I’m not better than any of those people.’ But he was just like, ‘this is finally the time it would make the most sense for you to sing lead on this.’ And then we [Font and Kerr] didn’t even talk about it.”
Font said she didn’t know about Josh Kerr’s encouragement before sharing the same thought with her best friend and duo partner.
“I had no idea that this conversation had even happened before I was like, I think this is the song. So, it was like this weird universe moment,” Font said. “I remember being in the studio cutting the vocals. I didn’t wanna (record video of) it because it just felt so precious. Sometimes you just want to let things be for a second. But T was so nervous doing lead, and I was like, you are crazy. Basically the harmony she sings is another lead part. It’s just different, and she just crushed, and she was so hard on herself and we had to be like, ’T, it’s amazing!’ It was so magical in the room, and it turned out to be so special.”
Maddie & Tae consider “Heart They Didn’t Break” to be the “soul sister” for their hit single, “Die From A Broken Heart.” It was written by Benjy Davis, Anna Vaus and Ryan Beaver, and produced by Corey Crowder. Font previously aid that Maddie & Tae “normally written all of our songs, but the moment we heard this, we knew it was super special especially being best friends as long as we have and picking up the pieces for each other for the past 13 years. And Tae actually gets to sing lead on it for the first time which is so exciting. So, this is a really, really special song. I feel like it’s the soul sister of ‘Die From a Broken Heart.’”