It’s no surprise that after years in the spotlight, Chris Young has grown accustomed to being recognized by country music fans in typical settings like a country concert, a festival or local Nashville hotspots. But according to the singer/songwriter, there have also been some pretty memorable fan encounters that have happened in places where he least expected them.
During a recent conversation with Audacy’s Katie Neal, Young was asked to share some of the most wild or random places that a fan has recognized him. After taking a moment to think back, he first recalled an unexpected encounter that took place at a concert by rapper J. Cole.
“I was standing out at front of house because one of my friends worked for him and I wanted to go see that show. And so I’m just standing there. I’m like, ‘Nobody’s going to know me.’”
That assumption didn’t last long because Young said the next thing he knew a fan spotted him near the soundboard and immediately did a double take.
“He’s like, ‘Are you…?’ And I’m like, ‘How do you know that? I’m not popular enough for you to recognize me at a J. Cole concert. Stop it,’” he joked.
The surprise recognition reminded him of another random experience that happened during a special concert outing with his mom. Young says he has made it a point to take everyone in his family to at least one big show of their choosing to see their favorite artist perform. For his mom, that artist was Billy Joel.
They ventured out to New York City together on a fun mother-son adventure to see the superstar perform during his residency at Madison Square Garden. This was one of the last places that Young ever expected to meet one of his own fans, as he was far beyond the typical country music setting.
“I took my mom to go see Billy Joel when he was doing the residency where he broke the record for a number of shows and we were getting up to leave and someone ran me down and was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re my favorite country artist,’” he recalled. “I was like, ‘oh, there’s zero reason for you to recognize me here. It’s just me and my mom watching Billy Joel.’ I was like this is completely random.”
While the moments may have been unexpected, Young says the recognition is always appreciated.
“It’s a good feeling,” he added.
There have definitely been moments when Chris Young has tried to fly under the radar, but as he has clearly discovered on multiple occasions, that’s not always an easy task, especially when he’s in Nashville. He was once again reminded of this recently when he took his first backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry.
Young has played the Opry countless times since making his debut in the coveted circle on on June 10, 2006, but somehow he has never taken the small-group public tours that run throughout the backstage of the historic venue. When a few of his friends made the trip to Music City from Key West, he decide to join them in experiencing one of these tours, not as an artist but as a fan.
It didn’t take long for Young to accidently expose that he’s no stranger to the venue.
“No one had really noticed because I was just T-shirt, jeans, ball cap. And as we’re going through backstage, I was like, ‘Oh, where’s the Christmas tree that’s in this room?’ And the woman immediately looks at me and cocks her head a little bit. She’s like, ‘Hmm.’”
He continued, “Then you do a thing at the very end where you take a photo in the circle and she waited until we got up and we were last in line and she goes, ‘It’s your big moment. Here you are stepping into this.’ I was like, ‘Oh, she knows.’”
Young admits that the entire experience was one to remember and feels that anyone visiting Nashville should take the time to learn more about the Opry, as well as visit the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“That’s something that I think a lot of people may miss if they don’t know about it, but it’s easy to just schedule one of those and go check out the Opry.”
Chris Young has been staying busy as he recently released the deluxe edition of his latest album, I Didn’t Come Here To Leave, featuring new collaborations with Shaylen and Breland.
Plus, fans are eagerly awaiting the grand opening of his own sports bar, Famous Friends, in Nashville’s Midtown neighborhood.
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