Thomas Rhett (TR) has scored 18 number one singles so far in his career. This week he’s reflecting back to 2014, when “Die A Happy Man” landed at #1 on the charts and became one of the biggest songs of his career so far. TR co-wrote the song with Sean Douglas and Joe Spargur. “We were on a bus in Little Rock, Arkansas,” Thomas recalls, “and I kinda just looked back and I was like, man, I’ve never actually written a song about my wife or for my wife.”

All three guys called on their own experiences in their relationships to write “Die A Happy Man,” and Thomas says, “ I think the reason it translated so much is because every single line in that song is directly personal to our relationship and our marriage. And, you know, I think my fans looked at that and just saw it as very genuine, which it was, and I think that’s the reason it was so successful.”

That’s a lesson TR has never forgotten, and why he continues to write and record songs that are personal and specific to his life, because he knows if they are relatable to him, they will probably be relatable to other people too.