Walker Hayes is honoring his wife, Laney, with his new song, “Face In The Crowd,” out now. The tune, which says in part, “When my 15 minutes ends / and the world loves me a little less / I hope you know that you’re the only one / I was trying to impress / if I sold out Bryant-Denny / made my sweet home so proud / all I ever cared about, all I ever cared about was your face in the crowd,” was written by Hayes, along with Emily Falvey and Tofer Brown.
“I can’t say how grateful I am for the last year of my life,” Hayes reflects. “It changed a lot for me and my family, but at the end of the day, money doesn’t fix anything. We’ve been doing this a long time, and we were happy when we were poor, too. We’re just lucky to have each other, and that’s really all that matters”
Hayes has been very vocal about his love of Laney, and how much her support has meant to him in the 18 years they have been married. It was Laney who kept encouraging him when dream after dream fell through, and remained his biggest supporter when “Fancy Like” made his career explode.
“In a very humble way, she would say she’s not surprised,” Hayes told ABC News.“She’s always believed in me that much. Laney has … believed in me more than I have for many years, so she’s really a lot of the reason we’re all standing up and dancing.”
Ironically, it was his love of his wife and six children that almost made Hayes quit after the “Fancy Like” success, when he was suddenly pulled in a lot of different directions, all away from his family.
When ‘Fancy Like’ popped, about two months in, I said, ‘I quit.’ I said, ‘I’m done,’” Hayes admitted on the Today Show. I said, ‘Hey, I think everybody will get paid for your investment in me,’ because I was gone. I didn’t see them for like two months.”
Fortunately, it was his manager who suggested he purchase a second bus so everyone could join him on the road, something Hayes said was a “game-changer.”
“I could do it forever as long as Laney’s with me,” Hayes said. “And the kids, eventually I’m sure they’ll be like, ‘Hey, I wanna go live my own life.’ … But COVID spoiled me. I got to see what I was missing, and so that challenged me when we got back out. I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t want to miss that anymore. It’s not worth it.’ So now we’re a family band. I just don’t want to lie to everybody. It’s not easy. My wife and I, we fight hard out there. Sometimes, she’s like, ‘Do the kid thing. You’re out there working. I need some help with the kids.’ I’m like, ‘Well, help me with work.’ So we have battles, and then we apologize.”
Download or stream “Face In The Crowd” at WalkerHayes.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of EB Media / Robert Chavers
