‘You Should Be Here’ Sparked a Friendship Between Cole Swindell and Dale Jr.: Now He’s Telling Their Story

After Cole Swindell suddenly lost his father 2013, he channeled his grief into one of his most powerful songs to date, “You Should Be Here.” The heartfelt ballad became his fifth consecutive No. 1 and struck a chord with countless fans, including NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who lost his own father in 2001.

That mutual heartbreak sparked an unexpected friendship between the country star and after the American professional stock car racing driver. Swindell recently honored their bond on his latest album, Spanish Moss with a song fittingly titled “Dale Jr.”

How The Friendship Began

Back in 2021, Swindell appeared on an episode of Dale’s podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, where the two of them reflected on how they initially got connected. Dale explained that it all began the first time he heard the emotional story of “You Should Be Here.”

“Anyone who’s ever lost their dad, I mean that song plugs right into all the emotions. And I think even after all these years, you keep doing things in life, you keep having these milestones and these things happen and these people you meet that come into your life and you want your dad to know ’em, meet ’em, see them, experience it… Just everything. And so all the time that song remains relevant,” said Dale Jr.

With the pull he felt from the tender tune, Dale Jr. knew he had to reach out to the country superstar and tell him just how much the lyrics impacted him. They didn’t discuss their success or their lives in the public eye, instead they talked about the unfortunate common experience between them.

“I didn’t care whether he was going to receive that well or not or whatever. I was just like, this is hitting me hard and I need this man that wrote this song to know. And so I reached out and he’s like, ‘damn right. That’s exactly why I wrote it.’ And he was awesome. And so we started chatting,” Dale Jr. explained.

A Message That Meant Everything

After hearing Dale Jr. share the memory from his perspective, Swindell reflected on how moments like that are exactly why he moved to Nashville: to tell his stories through music and connect with people. Knowing that both he and his late father were longtime fans of Dale and his dad made the experience even more meaningful.

“That was one of the coolest things of my career probably is Dale reaching out to me and knowing that wow, he’s reaching out because of his dad, which my dad was a fan of and I’m a fan of,” Swindell expressed. “And it’s just stuff like that, man, you can’t make that up. That’s as real as it gets.”

Dale Jr. added that at the time he reached out, not only did he want to let the Georgia native know how much the timeless song touched him, but he also wanted to offer some wisdom that he picked up through his journey with grief.

“I felt like if you needed some holes closed up in the search for some sort of closure, I was like, man, I really could help him, I think,” he explained.

Swindell responded, “See that’s the kind of guy you are though. I think that’s why I always say this too, it’s like you always wonder why things happen or whatever. But I think we’re put in situations and I think we go through things because there’s other people that we care about or maybe we’ve never met that are going to need to talk to somebody. And honestly, you have to tell yourself that. I think we go through things that are tough because somebody else is going to need to hear about it and how you got through it.”

A Tribute To Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Despite their high-profile lives, both men have remained humble and grounded. While praising the NASCAR champion in an interview with Country Now and other outlets, the “Forever To Me” singer claimed that Dale Jr. is “one of the most down to earth, just real, just good people.”

Now things have come full circle as Swindell recently paid tribute to his friendship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and their journeys with loss through a new song on his just released Spanish Moss album. Sitting at track three, the tune written by Cole Swindell, Greylan James and Matt Alderman is titled “Dale Jr.”

This song reflects a true story as it taps into the emotions both of these men faced after losing their fathers. It also celebrates the power of connecting and reminiscing over the memories of their late loved ones.

Speaking on how the song came to be, Swindell says he assumed people would be most shocked by “Dale Jr.” because the title gives no hint into the emotions that unfold within the story.

“It’s not about NASCAR, it’s not about the race, it’s about something way more meaningful,” he explained before diving further into the intentions behind the lyrics. “It’s about moments….That was what I was talking about…Those moments you wish you could pick up the phone and I can imagine being like, ‘dad, you will not believe who I hung out with last night.’ And that’s how we wrote the song.”

Dale Jr.’s Reaction

Dale Jr. was speechless the first time he heard the new release. He was used to hearing his dad’s name dropped in songs by various artists, but this was the first time that his name was the sole focus and because of that he admitted to feeling nervous about the response it would get from fans.

“I remember we did a thing down in Key West and I was playing some of the new album and I texted him, I was like, ‘man, I’m about to go play ‘Dale Jr.’’ for folks. They’re about to hear my album for the first time.’ And I could tell, he’s like, ‘oh man, I’m nervous.’ And I’m like, what? I thought he didn’t want me to play it or something. He’s like, ‘no, I’m excited.’”

Swindell certainly understands the weight of naming a song after someone so widely recognized, especially when the subject matter is deeply personal. Still, he feels confident the tribute reached fans in the way he hoped.

The song appears on Spanish Moss, the 21-track project that follows 2022’s Stereotype album. Since Cole Swindell included a song that honored his father’s legacy, he wanted to find a way to do the same for his mom who died in 2021. He did just that through the final track, “Heads Up Heaven.”

Swindell is currently counting down the days until he welcomes his first child with his wife, Courtney, along with gearing up to hit the road on his headlining Happy Hour Sad Tour. The trek, which features special guests Priscilla Block, Logan Crosby and Greylan James, will kick off on September 4 in Toledo, OH.