Image Courtesy Republic NashvilleWith close to 183,000 downloads, Florida Georgia Line‘s “Dirt” has given the duo the largest sales week for a country digital song in a year, since their own “Cruise” sold 193,000 downloads in its first week in July of 2013, according to Billboard.
Even though Bryan Kelley and Tyler Hubbard didn’t write the song, the first single from their sophomore album, the two say it immediately hit home, partially because of a personal experience in Tyler’s life. His father died in a helicopter crash in Georgia while Tyler was in college in Nashville.
“Yeah, I think that’s the main reason that we were so touched by it,” Tyler tells ABC News Radio. “As songwriters, when you hear a song you didn’t write that you feel like you did write, there’s something to be said about that. For us, it was a no-brainer. As soon as we heard it, we were pumped that we were able to cut that song.”
But Tyler goes on to point out that “Dirt” doesn’t just remind him of sad times.
“Definitely, you know, we relate to that in so many different aspects of life, you know, through sports and through working hard and where we grew up and losing family members and just all types of different ways. For us, it’s just a very special song, and we look forward to singing it for a long time.”
Thursday night, the duo performs a medley of their hits on Nickolodeon’s first-ever Kids’ Choice Sports Awards.
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