Country music duo Dan + Shay revealed they almost went their separate ways at the height of their success.
The duo, composed of Dan Smyers, 39, and Shay Mooney, 34, admitted while on the “Artist Friendly” podcast recently that, at the pinnacle of their success, “there was unhealthy dynamics between both of us ’cause we process things a lot differently.”
Mooney explained that their biggest issue was that there “was just a communication stop,” and they eventually “got to this point” where it was “just getting really tough.”
“We had that moment in 2021, and it was kind of like, all right, do we ride off into the sunset and celebrate our accomplishments or do, like, we have some maybe really hard conversations with each other and fix this?” Mooney said.
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After host Joel Madden pressed the duo for more details, Smyers explained that, after they landed the opening slot for Kenny Chesney’s tour, they were excited but didn’t know if they could do it since their relationship was in a bad place.
They ultimately decided, “We have to figure this out,” even if it meant that they “call it a day and go out on this Kenny tour as our farewell tour,” Smyers said.
The two decided to meet at Smyers’ home to have a conversation, with Smyers calling that meeting “the most pivotal critical moment in our entire career.”
“We’re either going to say peace out to this thing or we’re going to figure this out and get it right,” Mooney said.
Smyers added, “He ended up staying at the house till like 3, 4 in the morning and just hashing.”
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Mooney later explained that he felt as if Smyers wasn’t enjoying himself during the shows, noting that he felt like he didn’t “know how to make you enjoy these things” and that he just wanted his friend to be happy.
He was later able to understand that Smyers is particular about “those details that people don’t see” and would get upset when things malfunction during shows, for instance, if “the video wall was out,” whereas that isn’t as big of an issue for Mooney.
“When we finally were like, ‘Hey, you’re not good at enjoying these things sometimes. I enjoy everything even when it’s bad,'” Mooney said. “So, if we can meet somewhere in the middle, we can make this beautiful thing. Which is what happened in the beginning.”
In the end, they chose to remain together as a duo after they both apologized for their part in the breakdown of their relationship. Smyers said they also established a new rule by which they let each other know when something is bothering them “rather than letting these things build up and boil and then it just explodes.”
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Dan + Shay broke out onto the country music scene in 2013 with the release of their debut single, “19 You + Me.”
Their debut album, “Where It All Began” came one year later in 2014, and their signature hit, “Tequila,” was released in 2018. The song won them their first Grammy Award in 2019, which was followed by two more consecutive wins in 2020 and 2021 for “Speechless” and “10,000 Hours.”
