Mitchell Tenpenny Performs His Gold-Certified Hit, ‘We Got History,’ On ‘The Tonight Show’

Mitchell Tenpenny brought his gold-certified hit, “We Got History,” to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday (Jan. 10)  

The late-night performance featured Tenpenny sporting a casual look with his flannel jacket, jeans, and Nike sneakers while surrounded by the accompaniment of his bandmates. The country star opened with a few plucks of his guitar before delivering the opening lines of the breakup anthem that finds him taking a more mature approach to getting over a relationship. 

“We don’t have each other’s numbers anymore/ We don’t make any plans Friday night/ And I won’t know you when you’re turning 64/ But nobody knew you better at 25/ Well, I’d be lying if I said/ That you don’t wind up in my head/ We don’t dream about tomorrow like before/ All we have is looking back/ And that’s alright,” Tenpenny delivers in the beginning of the tune.=

Once he reaches the upbeat, catchy chorus, the bright lights of the stage flare out into the audience, elevating the song’s true message which is to accept the fact that there’s no future with that person anymore, instead of wasting time wishing they would come back. 

Tenpenny emphasizes this empowering idea as he sings, “’Cause we got spring break ’08/ Down in Pensacola/ Drunk and singing Breakfast at Tiffany’s/ Yeah, we got so high, first time/ Back of your Corolla/ Told me, “Baby, don’t you stop kissing me, kissing me”/ I know we don’t have a future anymore/ But damn, we got history.” 

Watch The Performance

The Story Behind The Song

While previously discussing the story behind the song with his label Sony Music Nashville, the Nashville, TN native explained that he felt it was important to share this message that it’s okay to remember the memories shared with an ex who was a big part of your journey at one point, even when you’ve “totally moved on.”

“Even though they helped you grow, to me, you’re always going to get those flashbacks. I think people think about that. And they think it’s taboo and they’re like, ‘I shouldn’t have these thoughts.’ I wanted to put that into a song that allowed people to say…’Hey, it’s okay that we’ve moved on, but you know, I had a lot of life with that person.’ And that’s what the song’s about.”

Co-penned by Tenpenny with Andrew Albert, Jordan Schmidt, and Devin Dawson, “We Got History” appears as one of 20 tracks on his This is the Heavy album. The project also spawned the platinum-selling chart-topping tune “Truth About You,” which made chart history with the shortest span between No. 1 songs since 1982 with just three weeks since his previous chart-topper, “At The End Of A Bar” with Chris Young.

Since the project’s release in 2022, Tenpenny has unveiled several remixed versioned of “We Got History” and his current smash, “Bigger Mistakes,” which was inspired by Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” and pays homage to the late Joe Diffie. 

Hitting The Road With Luke Combs And Jordan Davis

Mitchell Tenpenny has been tapped to join several major tours throughout 2024 including his first-ever stadium run in support of Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour. 

“It’s always amazing ‘cause his fan base is so open to the openers and it’s so much fun to play for them. Our dm’s will be flooded afterwards of hopefully new listeners to our music, and they’re just very accepting of us on stage. They have fun,” Tenpenny told Country Now in anticipation of the run with Combs. “I know they’re definitely there for Luke Combs, but they’re singing songs back, they’re passionate. Luke Combs’ fans are amazing, and I can’t wait to be on this tour and just to get to play stadiums, that’s a dream as a kid, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Additionally, he will serve as a special guest on select dates of Jordan Davis’ Damn Good Time World Tour, which kicks off in April of 2024.