Scotty McCreery officially has the No. 1 song in the country. McCreery is celebrating his seventh chart-topping single, with “Bottle Rockets.” The song, from his Scooter & Friends EP, is with Hootie & the Blowfish, and includes their 1994 debut, “Hold My Hand.”
“Any time your song hits No. 1, it feels great,” McCreery says. “To be able to hit No.1 with a song featuring a band you have loved your whole life is beyond amazing! Thanks to Hootie & The Blowfish for joining me on this song, thanks to Triple Tigers Records and Triple 8 Management for all their hard work, thanks to country radio and the streaming services, and thanks to the fans who have supported me from day one.”
McCreery wrote “Bottle Rockets” with Brent Anderson, Derek George, Jeremy Bussey, Monty Criswell, Frank Rogers, and Bobby Hamrick. Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld wrote “Hold My Hand,” also credited as writers on “Bottle Rockets.”
“We’re blessed that ‘Hold My Hand’ has lived a rather long life, and Scotty’s ‘Bottle Rockets’ has certainly given it a new one,” Sonefeled says. “Thrilled to be part of this special rebirth!”
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The Story Behind Scotty McCreery’s “Bottle Rockets” With Hootie & the Blowfish
“Bottle Rockets” was written while on a writing retreat in North Carolina.
“We had a lot of songs started going into that retreat, but this song came out of a conversation,” McCreery remembers on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen. “This was us reminiscing on previous summers, like ‘I remember my last summer of no job, no responsibilities and school was out. That was such a fun summer.’ And for me in the Carolinas, and I think for everybody worldwide, Hootie & the Blowfish were huge. It was just talking about those soundtracks of summer. I forget who played into it first, but the chords were kind of matching, and we were like, ‘Man, that’s kind of cool,’ so we just ran with it.”
The Video for “Bottle Rockets”
McCreery’s biggest dream came true when Hootie & the Blowfish not only agreed to be on “Bottle Rockets” with him, but also agreed to be in the video.
“Hanging out on the beach with Hootie & The Blowfish, one of my favorite bands of all time, and filming the video for ‘Bottle Rockets’ was just a perfect day for me,” McCreery says. “Darius, Mark, Dean , and [Jim Sonefeld] are not only talented, but just great guys. I’ve been so excited at all that success that ‘Bottle Rockets’ has had so far, and I’m glad we were able to get together and create this video for everyone.”
McCreery and his wife Gabi just welcomed their second child, son Oliver Cooke. He is co-headlining the Two For The Road Tour with Dustin Lynch, beginning in November. Find “Bottle Rockets” and all of McCreery’s music and upcoming shows at ScottyMcCreery.com.