After earning three consecutive chart-topping singles from his latest album, The Mountain, country superstar Dierks Bentley is closing that chapter of his career.
The Arizona native gathered with friends, family and members of the music industry on Thursday (Dec. 5) to celebrate his latest No.1 single, “Living.” The anthemic song, which is all about embracing life and living in the moment, marks Bentley’s 19th No.1 single. The song’s poignant message inspired Bentley, his co-writers and his fans to make the most out of every day no matter what.
Prior to the party, which was held at Nashville’s Superica and included Mexican fare, Bentley recalled the day he and his co-writers, Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley, and Jon Nite, wrote the song in his then-unfurnished Colorado home. Surrounded by boxes, the tunesmiths joined forces to create the incredible track, which was inspired by Bentley’s time on the road.
“I had this idea about living instead of being on the road and not living,” he recalled to Country Now and other members of the media. “I’ve told this story a thousand times about being on and off the road. I thought it was crazy how one of my band members went off the bus and went to Walgreens and I was like ‘you actually went off the bus and did something?’ Just how little living we do on the road is depressing. But then you forget about it because you to play this amazing show and have an eight hour day and that’s what you remember.”
Bentley went on to share his thoughts on releasing such a personal song and revealed that he doesn’t think he would have cut a song like “Living” a few years ago.
“I think success allows you to go back to acting like when you had no success, cause what do you have to lose? So you just go for crazier stuff. You’re at a point where you’re like, ‘I’m going to go to this city and make this record,’” he explained. “We wanna write songs [that are] different but still make it to number one.”
“I feel like every album I go a little bit more personal and see if I can still get away with it,” he added.
Following the success of “Living” and its chart-topping predecessors, “Woman, Amen” and “Burning Man,” Bentley is ready to move on from The Mountain.
“This is it. This is the end of The Mountain,” he shared during the No.1 celebration. “It was a journey that started during a trip to Colorado with incredible songwriters where we unplugged for days and just had so much fun,” Bentley said. “To have three songs off this album go number one that are so meaningful to me is something special. If I were to do a writer’s night tomorrow I would play all three of those songs…these songs guided me to where my life is now.”
As for what’s next, Bentley says he has nothing planned, admitting, “I have no idea where to go from here but I’m not afraid to say that.”
With no concerts scheduled until January 31, 2020, Bentley is ready to do some “Living” in Colorado. He and his family plan to spend Christmas at their home near Telluride, the same place where The Mountain was created.
