At the forefront of the modern country scene, Dan + Shay have landed the most streamed country song released in 2018 with their anthem ‘Tequila’, which has over 310 million total on-demand streams. The duo –Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney – now turn their attentions on the UK by launching the track here ahead of a major headline tour in January.
The title suggests that ‘Tequila’ should be a party-starting anthem, but Dan + Shay use the spirit as an inspiration for something far more reflective. It’s an emotive ballad which plays with the idea that the scent of tequila conjures memories of a past relationship.
“We knew it was really special, we were really proud of this song,” said Dan Smyers in an interview with Billboard. “Sometimes a piano ballad is a little risky to put out as a radio single, but we put ‘Tequila’ out, and immediately we could feel the reaction was so elevated. Radio embraced it, played it, and the fans reacted to it. It’s cool that we trusted our gut on that one.”
In addition to the success of ‘Tequila’, Dan + Shay also landed a second huge smash in 2018 when ‘Speechless’ became the 5th most streamed country song released in 2018, currently totalling over 130 million on-demand streams. Their profile was again boosted by a classy primetime performance on‘Dancing With The Stars’.
Both ‘Tequila’ and ‘Speechless’ are featured on Dan + Shay’s current self-titled third album. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Country Chart and at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 All-Genre Chart, while the track ‘All To Myself’ enjoyed a spell on the Radio 2 playlist.
Dan + Shay’s star status was established with their first two albums, 2014’s ‘Where It All Began’ (#1 on the Country Albums chart) and 2016’s ‘Obsessed’ (#2). Along the way, they’ve also scored four Country Airplay #1 hits and won honours at the ASCAP Country Music Awards and the CMT Music Awards. Just three albums into their career, and they’ve already passed the landmark of a billion streams.
Dan + Shay commences 2019 by playing their biggest UK headline tour to date, which culminates with a London show at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. They’ll play the following dates, with support from Warner Bros. Nashville artist Devin Dawson:
JANUARY
17th – Glasgow, Garage
18th – Birmingham, O2 Institute
19th – Manchester, O2 Ritz
22nd – Bristol, SWX
23rd – Cambridge, Junction
24th – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
