Brantley Gilbert Talks About Getting Toby Keith on 'The Worst Country Song

When Brantley Gilbert released his new collaboration with Hardy and Toby Keith — dubbed "The Worst Country Song of All Time" — on Friday (June 18), Gilbert was quick to admit that the song started out as a joke, even for the songwriters who created it.

Co-penned by Gilbert and Hardy along with Hunter Phelps and Will Weatherly, the song started off as a goofy riff on an idea Hardy had, but "The Worst Country Song ..." quickly became serious when Gilbert saw the reactions it was getting from other songwriters as well as his BMLG label head, Scott Borchetta.

Now, even though the song's been out in the world for a few days, Gilbert says he and his collaborators are still waiting for someone to pull the plug on their tongue-in-cheek song idea.

"I think Hardy and I, and Toby, are all still kinda waiting on the phone call from somebody, going, 'Obviously, we were kidding — we're not putting that song out,'" the singer jokes toTaste of Country Nights. "That phone call has yet to come."

For Gilbert and his collaborators, going along with the crazy idea has paid off in a few different ways. Not only did the song ultimately get recorded and released, but they wound up enlisting Keith as a guest vocalist. Gilbert didn't originally think Keith would say yes to participating — he was a dream feature from the very beginning: The singer and his co-writers even wrote a nod to Keith's 2011 fan favorite, "Red Solo Cup," into the bridge.


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