#483 - Celebs on Celebs: Stories of Famous People Meeting Other Famous People

Published Nov 26, 2024, 6:05 AM

Celebs are just like us...they get starstruck too! We've taken stories from past BobbyCast episodes of famous people meeting other celebrities. You'll hear from Craig Morgan on becoming friends with Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, Randy Houser on meeting Leonardo DiCaprio and Sheryl Crow on opening for Michael Jackson. Some artists, like Darius Rucker, Gavin DeGraw and Ben Rector, got to meet their musical heroes and they share how those interactions went. You also hear super personal stories from Terri Clark, Richard Marx, Lionel Richie, Brenda Lee, Reba and Ronnie Dunn from Brooks & Dunn.

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This is the Bobby Cast. Hey, welcome to a special episode of the Bobby Cast. You're gonna love this episode. Four eighty three artists sharing personal stories about other celebrities they've met, whether they got to perform with their musical hero or work with them on a project. It's always fun to hear these untold stories about celebrities thinking other celebrities are cool. And these are all stories and luckily from the Bobby Cast for me talking to these people, so Darius, Gavin de Graw, Randy Hawser Ronnie Dunn from Brooks and Dunn, Cheryl Crow, Lionel Richie, they have great stories. So let's kick off this Bobbycast special with Craig Morgan sharing how he and Blake Shelton became friends and what Gwen Stefani did to him that he really respected. Well, how did you and Blake become friends? How did you? Because it seems like he has pretty close.

We were and it are we still are?

You know, I don't Blake had got here before I did.

Blake was working on his career long before, not long before, but a few years before I got here, and so he had started having some radio success, and we literally met at some event in Nashville and just started hanging out. And then he had lived in Hitton County and I was in Dixon, so we weren't that far apart. Both realized that we liked hunting. I invited him on a hunting trip on a trip that I was doing in Kansas. I'm sorry, yeah, in Kansas, And at that trip we became like we were buddies.

I knew right then that I liked the.

Guy, and we were both kind of like I said, he had already had a couple of songs on the radio, and then I started having some success at Broken Bow, and then we just stayed in touch. I mean, at one point we were we were with each other all the time. Every time we could do something together we would. And then he got divorced from Cat and he and Miranda got married. And I had known Miranda a little bit and really thought that Miranda and I had a decent relationship. And she used to tell a story about how she came to Fanfair and it was one of my early on first two or three years of Fanfare, when he still called it Fanfair, you know, and she tells the story, and I remember her telling me that how she waited after the show to meet some of the artists, and that I came out and was the only one that came out afterwards and gave.

Her an autograph. And so I thought, man, this is gonna be awesome.

You know, my buddy's marrying this girl who's turned into an artist of her own right and turn in this.

You know, it's great. But something happened with them.

Two got married, and I don't know, she was no longer a Craig Morgan fan for some reason, you know, I don't know.

Oh, but you know that's history. And here we are now.

I remember when you were doing the Opry Blake when him I think him and Gwen were playing from his ranch. I think, yeah, I was there. I've just I've done Opry shows in the past year, But I was he setting you up? Were you setting him up? Are you going back and forth? Always it's yeah, it's it's horrible.

I will tell you though. We uh uh.

When my son died, a lot of my friends uh in this business came out there and I had, man, I gained so much respect and admiration already loved all these people, but it's really weird.

Uh.

And Jerry was with me, it's weird when I know them and I love them and they're I consider them friends. But when a guy like Tray Satkins, Blake Shelton, Jim and Brown and John Colleen, these guys show up at at my son's funeral and they stand in line with everyone else out there, asked nothing, didn't want to come in early, you know, I it just, man, it just floored me.

And when I'll never forget.

We were we.

Were downstairs and Cec had come in and was talking.

She sang it my son's funeral, and uh, you know, I'm trying to. I'm trying to. I don't know have a sense of.

I wanted to comprehend my people and and and them to know that I appreciate them being there. But I remember Blake coming in and we cried, you know, we cried together, and he hugged me, and I felt such an embrace of friendship from him.

Uh.

And I knew.

I knew then that there was nothing that Blake or I could do that would sever that friendship.

It wouldn't happen.

And I also at that moment became Gwenn's bugs fan.

I had met Gwen.

Via FaceTime a few times when Blake and I were together, and he was like giddy, silly and love FaceTime in her, and we would we would lay there together and sit and talk to Gwen or her own FaceTime, you know, And I really liked her, but I didn't really know her.

But when he.

Came in the room, I said, where's Gwen? And you know, was she not able to come? He said, no, she's outside. She was being respectful and she did not want to come in until she was invited in.

And I just met I thought, my.

Lord, you know, if she came in and she too, like cried and hugged my wife and showed her such an embrace of friendship and kindness and warmth, and it just absolutely hammered me in I've never experienced anything from her but that since, you know, when we're at the award shows and he's like, let's get out of here for a few minutes and we go out to the bus and hang out, and they're just He's in such a beautiful place with her that I've never seen And I love that.

I love it.

Now Having said all that I can text Blake on Monday, April the first, and it might be Monday, June first when I heard from he is the worst man. And then I'll get nothing a picture of him flipping me a bird or something, you know. But yeah, so we've been friends for a long time. I mean he came out when I did read That Yacht Club and I remember when we did reading That Yacht Club he had a huge hit and even you know, just to show you how weird this businesses. I remember talking to Blake him going, man, I don't know if this is gonna work. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm like, you got a big, huge hit, are you kidding?

You know?

And he's like yeah, but you just don't know. And now he look crazy?

Is that you know?

It's just it's wonderful.

Now.

I want you to hear this from Gavin de Grass talking to Gavin, and Gavin talked about opening up for his hero Billy.

Joel is whenever you open Billy Joel, oh Man, Billy Joel.

That aside from it being an artist that you just loved listening to and represented who where you're from, you know, we have a sure but you go back to that Christmas. I mean the first time, did you twenty fourteen is what I said, says the first time you opened for Billy Joelen, Yeah, I just did you have any of those emotions the first time you went up to go like, oh man, we came here for Christmas, this is our Christmas present, and now I get to be up here doing.

This unbelievable full circle moment in life, you know. And I'd met him briefly before, once or twice. I met him because I'd founded the pavement for so long, for so many years, before I ever had a record deal, I used to play at an open mic thing a bunch of player, studio session guys and stuff on the Upper West Side. I'd had a gig every Monday night, and after my Monday night gig, I used to go to another place after ours and jam with these guys. And one of them was a sax parent named Richie Kanata, who was Billy Joel's early sax player. I put a record out, I got lucky with it, did good. Richie reached out ears later. I said, Billy's playing at the garden eleven dates or whatever it was, will you come be my guest.

I said sure.

He said, one caveat sit with my son. He's a fan. I said, I love to get to the show. Richie texts me come backstage. Billy wants to meet you.

I was like yeah, So I go backstage. There's Billy.

Billy introduced himself and I was hoping he'd say, hey, I love your music, but he said I've been reading a lot about you.

Thanks. And I said I'm a huge fan a lot about you.

You know.

And I was like cool, I'm gonna go back and sit in my chair now. And then years later the phone rang and my dad said, hey, Billy wants you to open for him. And I said, Billy who? Because it had been you know. He said, Billy joel you moron and I said yeah, okay. When he said this date, that date, this one date, I said, good. Where is it going to be a place called the BB and T Center, South Florida. So I said, great, I go to the gig. I'm backstage. I just get there. Guitar player Tommy Burns, Billy's guitar player, be forever sees me backstage. He said, Gavin, Gavin, have you seen Billy yet Billy's here.

Have you seen him? I said no, No.

He said, come outside, we're having a smoke. I said, oh, okay, I go outside. Guys are standing in a semi circle.

Billy is in the middle.

Having a drag, and.

I walk out.

Tommy says, heay, Billy, Billy, Gavin's here, Gavin's here. I introduced myself again. I said, hey, man, thanks for thanks for having me. He said, hey, thanks for thanks for coming out, you know, thanks for coming good. Glad, glad you were able to come here. I said, listen, you're my idol. Okay, that's an honor. But I know there's other musicians out there who want this gig. But I want to say candidly, if you have anyone else in mind for opening for you, yo, fuck that guy. I want this gig. They all started laughing. You know, he said, can you do more more dates? I said, all cancel dates? To do these dates, I'll cancel. You're such a huge influence on me. He was like, you're the guy you're hired, you know, And and he did. And I'm like, man, he gave me a million dates.

You know.

We played the Garden a bunch of times. I don't even know how many times you know Fenway Park.

Ah Field.

I lived around a corner from Fenway Park when I was in college. For about a year, I could never go to Fenway Park. I didn't have money to go to Fenway Park. Then one day I hop into shuttle bus hop out of my hotel, getting a shuttle bus, drive through a tunnel, and I get out of a van in the middle of the field in Fenway Park because I'm going to open for Billy that night, And.

I thought this was how I was supposed to see famwa to park.

This is so much better. Darius Rutger and I had a great conversation, and part of that was him sharing the story of the time he got to perform with his musical hero Al Green with hooting the Blowfish. What's the highlight professionally and what is kind of the low light? Because I kind of want to wrap hoodie up and move to a different part of your career. But what's the highlight where you're like, God, dang, you can't believe it. This is it? And then what's kind of like, man, I don't know what we're gonna be able to do this anymore.

Oh, I think the highlight was for me. I'm sure for each member has their different highlight, but the highlight for me was when we played the Billboard Music Awards.

With Al Green. That was.

Ki who you sang as a kid. Yes, was one of those.

We had played every every award show and they want us to play the Billboard Music Awards and we just didn't want to play it. We played every show, and Billboards is different. You know who's gonna win. You know, it's not like the politics of having to play something else so you could get a win.

You know who's gonna win.

And so we weren't going to play it, and they say to us, if you play it, we'll get All Green to play with you. And I was like, yeah right. They were like, no, if you play it, we'll get All Green to play with you. I was like, when you get All Green to play with us, we'll say yes, And sure enough they got. I don't know what they did or how much they paid them, but he said yes, and that performance I start like every now and then. That's one of the few things I still watch it from us.

Can you remember it vividly from doing it?

I remember, like I'm standing on stage right now, like when Dean hit that baseline to take me to the river, and Al walked out. You could first of all, you could have shot the crowd in the face because nobody expected it. And second of all, he went off, Bobby, you can look at You're in TV. You do this for a living. We're playing over our time we're supposed to play and is Al won't stop. And as long as Al jammin, we're jamming, so Al won't stop. They go to they go to the announcer to go to commercial and we are killing it so hard. They changed their mind and going back to the stage.

That never happened. It could have cost money, never happens.

It was awesome.

Okay, dang, that's crazy. Yeah, just I mean, I'm thinking of the TV part of it, not even your career. I'm like, yeah, it was crazy. They they go to Bardow up in their corner like, well, let's go back. That never happened.

I know, it was crazy.

Hang tight, The Bobby Cast will be right back. Wow, and we're back on the Bobby Cast.

Love. Terry Clark was talking to Terry Clark and she talked about Toby Keith and talks about their time touring and even partying together. I'm gonna ask you about Tobe to you kind of wrap this up, you, you know, with Toby a bunch too, Like, what give me a Tobe story memory.

Well, it's not just one memory.

I mean I toured with him and he kinda I kind of looked at him like a big brother.

You know.

We talked a lot. He gave a lot of advice. He was always very honest, brutally honest and told the truth. I would ask him questions that I think some people were like, wow, I can't believe she just asked him that question. And we would after the shows, you know, go to his bus and I would just get to be a part of like a Toby Keith bus party. Everybody's the bus is bouncing up and down. Brian O'Connell's on there, DJing from his computer, and I'm just like I felt like I was just got.

To be in the cool kids club.

And Toby played basketball with the crew and the bands every single day. And I have a radio show and I interviewed him for this radio show.

Act like I don't know that, by.

The way, Well, I don't know.

By the way, when you win all the when you win the awards. I'm like, all right, whatever, and then then it makes me feel lesser than But.

Oh, I'm not winning awards. I'm winning only women. I want a Gracie Award. You don't qualify for that because you're a boy. And congratulations on all your awards, by the way, You've got a lot of them. I'm still saying I can still get a CMA award as a radio host. I never got one as an artist, and it was my childhood dream to get a CMA award. So I'm like, man, if Bobby Bones would just, you know, retire, well.

They ever, Well, please God, I can't retire. I don't. I'm not going to retire. I have no work. If I'm doing this, that's that's funny.

But yeah, But back to Toby, he was. He was great.

We would always like dip together back then I was I would dip school and I know, I'd walk on the bus and he'd hand me he had a solo cup with a napkin in it, and he'd borrow one from me, and I borrow one from him and just stand there talking just about everything. And I remember getting really hammered with Dean Dylan on his bus and I don't even remember getting back to my bus, and Toby said, I watched you walk back to your bus and make sure you were all right.

How are you feeling today?

And then I you know, he just like always so cool, so respectful, and when I remember one thing he said when he was doing press for that tour and they said, well, Terry clarksh're coming out of your opening act and he said, he said, Derrek Clark is one of the most underrated artists out there. And that to me just like he's not He's not somebody just throw stuff out there like that, because he's so honest.

It meant the world to me that he said that.

And then I interviewed him for the radio show and I think this was right before he got diagnosed with cancer or right around the time, because it was it was right around two years ago, a little over two years ago. And the first thing he said was, you know, I'm all, you know, getting ready to interview, and I'm like, okay, okay, Toby, you're ready ready to He goes you want to dip, like, did you hear me?

But no, he's just he's just always great.

We talked a bit after the interview and he said, call me, we'll go to lunch because I was frustrated with creative stuff. And you know, I'm like, I don't I could really stand to talk to you right now and get your advice on a few things.

And he has he had a record label and stuff.

And he said, call me, We'll go to lunch, and the Coole Covid thing was going. It was just, yeah, I didn't get to get to I wish I'd gotten to get together with him one more time, you know, but it's a tremendous loss. I think he is has He was one of the greatest songwriters of all time in country music and a great entertainer, a great guy and didn't bother him to disagree with you and didn't care if he didn't care if he agreed or disagreed.

He just said what he felt.

Randy Hauser was in the movie Killers of the Flower Movie and he got to work with Leo DiCaprio. That's pretty cool. He was doing that while filming the movie, and he told us what Leo said to him on set one time. Mike Mike d loved Killers of the Flower Movie. Did he My wife read the book and so we're waiting. Yeah, well did you read it before?

I read it when I got cash.

So we're waiting for it because it's an Apple Apple movie, right, Mike, yep. So we're waiting for it to come. And she's from Oklahoma. My wife is, oh, yeah, yeah, like very much. What part of Oklahoma like near ish Tulsa.

Yeah, so that's where.

Yes, So she knows a lot about it through like three and four generations that would talk about it, right, and like she's moved by the story because she has personal relationships with people that had personal relationships. Yeah. So Mike, I'm gonna let you ask the first couple questions. I know you've seen it, I know the story, but you're way more educated on the actual movie.

The TENI have is with Leonardo DiCaprio and one of my other favorite movies he did was Scorsese was Wolf of Wall Street. And I've seen like a behind the scenes whip of him like totally in the zone, like doesn't even look like he's there, and then right when the camera goes on, he instantly goes into that character.

Yeah does he do that?

Yeah?

I mean one of the like, uh, one of the things that was noticeable by well he's he's also when he doesn't look like he's working his mind. Like one of the strangest things would happen was like between like between like takes, if we had like downtime, changing out film stuff like that, just hanging out talking I did, I'd notice that he would like we'd just kind of shoot to shoot the ship, you know, I don't know if I can say that all. Yeah, but and then you know, like the next day he would come back to the set and we'd be talking and he would repeat things that I said to him just like me, like he would download my accent and stuff like that, which is crazy and uh, but no, he would, you know, he like there be time we'd just be throwing a ball or something out out in the yard, and then you know it would be time to.

Go back in.

You know, like very normal, very normal guy.

But also freaking.

Amazing whenever whenever they would yell action, how he would just freaking go at it.

You know.

It's just kind of like stepping on the Grand Ole Opera and them saying if your turn and like doing what I do you kind of have to Just one of the things that was so cool about it to me and I enjoyed about the whole process is that I was, first of all, was scared of death, you know, like I'd never done this. I was like, I don't know what the hell I'm doing here. And but the same is even now before I go on stage, I'm a little anxious and like these people want to hate me whatever. But when it came time to go to the set from you know, the actors a little where we're staged, to go to the actual getting cameras, the same the same gear was shifted.

In my being that that.

Is when I'm walking to the stage, go play music and that and it became it fed me like to go do it rather than you know, all the every fear was gone. It was just go time, really, so I seek. I could see that in him as well.

Man, that is awesome that you're just weren't so self conscious.

Oh I was, but but I was able to like that blocking mechanism that that happens with going to make music. It totally was the same thing.

Was it like watching a different kind of artist? For example, got a major League baseball game. Never bet it didn't go until I was older, but I would see a like a real athlete, Like, oh God, I thought I'd seen a real athlete until I saw, oh, a freaking real athlete.

That's what it was. Absolute damn lutely it was.

It was like and first of all, I'd never seen this whole process at all, you know, and so it was it was strange that it was, and I'd never really done and I'd never done it. And the first first scene I shot was the scene that actually made the film. There's a lot of scenes that got cut, you know, they should had hundreds of hours of stuff, but they, Uh, the first scene that I shot was the scene that actually made the film. And it was like four hours of like going back because they shoot it, you know, from every angle. Everybody's in the scene has to do their thing. But and I remember just being like totally like.

What the hell, where's Martin? Of course saying you're over there.

And and he's coming over to me, and he's standing over my shoulder right here, and I'm sitting at that this desk, you know, it's like that bigger than that thing but like old school, and I'm sitting there and he's explaining what he wants out of me and talking to me, and I'm literally.

In lah Lahlen.

And so we shoot my angle like I don't know, four times, and Marty he's over there in this other room where their viewing what's going on. He comes out, all right, we got it, and I went because I had seen a guy the day before I got there, and I stayed on set all day dressed ready to go to shoot. This scene didn't happen, but I'd seen a guy h and another and another scene.

That that didn't make it.

Uh, they shot his this thing like I don't know, it must have been twenty something times because they couldn't get it and get it and you could sense the you could sense the air leaking out of the room and wasting time and money, and so I was just like went back to my bus out and I was like, please, God, don't let me be that guy to study studies. Well, so then he comes up and he goes and he goes. Marty comes out, Okay, Randy, we got it, and I was like we do and he's like, yeah, we got it. And I was like, are you sure. He's like yeah, and he said what and so Leo looks sad and says, what do you mean you sure? I was like I've never really done this. He said, what do you mean, You've never really done this? I was like, I've never done this. He said, we wouldn't You wouldn't know you.

Here Cheryl Crowe talking about opening for Michael Jackson back in the day. Did you ever you talk about Stevie Nicks. Did you ever have a relationship with her? Did you go, oh my gosh, like that had to be the coolest thing.

I have so many weird experiences.

With people like that.

Okay, So I like, if you dig back through the anals of my my school pictures, I had the Stevie Nicks here do I met her at my first Grammys. I met her at an after party and I have a picture with her and Anita Pointer and Bonnie Rait and Carly Simon and me and I was the newbie and She's like, I love you. Would you I'm getting ready to do some songs for Practical Magic that movie?

Would you produce it?

And I was like, uh yeah.

And she came to New York and she had her posse, you know, some bunch of women, and I produced her and it was just it was unbelievable. I can remember looking at her out in the recording booth, and she looked like a fourteen year old. I mean literally, she looked like she had aged a day. She looked exactly as I remembered her, and she just was like so embracing and so told stories like I imagine that we probably talked and hung out for two hours and then she'd sing, and then we'd hang out and talk for a couple of hours and then she'd sing and it was but it was so glorious. And then she said, well, you were produce the record, and I went up producing and going on the road with her, and she's just been like very godmom to me.

And I don't want you to say any names here, but I have had experiences where I really was loved people, got to know them, not that goal ruin the people that I would and I now I don't really idolize except for like hearts, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, So, but there have been times where that's happened and I'm like, well, I cannot believe I could just spend time we're gonna do And then you're like, oh man, I kind of wish I wouldn't have because it's ruined what I cherished, which was these beliefs and yeah, I'm with how massive you got. I had to assume that happened too some I will.

Say I've been really lucky.

Almost everybody I've met has been beyond beyond my wildest dreams.

I got a few people and you do them.

Yeah, I bet you fix that. We'll fix that up a few relatives.

Interestingly, I worked with Michael Jackson before I hit it big. I was a backup singer, went on the road with him for eighteen months, and there were some things on that tour like this doesn't make sense, And then later on the documentary came out, and I mean he was he was already eccentric on that tour. But people ask me all the time, are you able to listen to his music? And I'm like, man, that was the first album I ever owned. I got it from Santa Claus when I was five years old.

ABC.

I grew up watching his TV show, I you know all. That music was important to me and it definitely changed the way I felt about him. And but I can still listen to the music from when he was a kid because I feel like he was who he was then.

He wasn't who he became. But for the most part. I mean, I can't really.

Think of anybody that's just been a douchebag, you know what I mean?

Can you separate art an artist?

It depends, I mean it depends there. I mean we're kind of looking at that with the Will Smith thing. Now it's like, okay, we're gonna still, We're gonna be able to watch some movies.

Can we take out that?

You know?

It depends.

I think it's and how severe?

Yeah, well yeah, yeah, like yeah r Kelly.

Ever even no, if it comes on somewhere, I'll leave, yeah, like no, but again there are artists. Again, if Smooth Criminal comes on, I probably just jammed along to it before I realize yeah, and then the song's over, and then I don't want to leave because I got a burger and I'm, you know, feeling pretty good. I did meet It's interesting.

I met a young artist who totally blew up, who I had the weirdest experience with, and I can't listen to her music. I wouldn't say her name, but I mean became massive. And you know, there are just certain people that you go, Okay, they got into it so they could be famous. And then there are other people that you go, oh, I can totally relate to this person.

They're just they they love what they do.

Eighties superstar Richard Marx talked about the time he became a backup singer for Kenny Rodgers and then how he went up to him in the studio and pitched Kenny Rodgers a song that he wrote. He also shared how he became friends with Lionel Richie.

That's all I did when I wasn't doing math homework, when I wasn't doing.

The school work that I was forced to do, I was.

Just listening to music and memorizing every nuance of every record. I was paying attention into the production and arranging, and I went to like I just studied it like out of love. So when I ended up in LA at eighteen, I got my first job was singing background vocals on a Lionel Richie record. He was really the catalyst. He was the guy he heard my demo tape of my first couple of songs and actually called my parents' house. This is when he was like leaving the Commodorees and maybe next to Michael Jackson, arguably the biggest star in the music business. This guy took the time to call some kid in Chicagi didn't know, and he just encouraged me. He said, you know, I really like your voice and these are your first songs. Man should heard my first songs. So I when I moved out to LA he had me sing some background vocals and then he recommended me as a singer to Kenny Rodgers, his buddy, and that's how I started writing songs.

I wrote songs for Kenny Rodgers.

That's how my songwriting career started.

It's funny that Lionel, because I know Lionel pretty well from working with him. I went there's stuff and he pulled me aside and like give me advice. He's awesome. But it's funny. He's always been that way.

He's always been that way. He's a class act and he's so generous with his time. He's a little bit I really don't know anybody else. I've never known anybody else who has that level of grace about themselves and who go out of their way to be encouraging of people where there's gonna be nothing paid back.

He's just that good a guy. And so I recommend you to Kenny Rodgers and you go to sing background vocals for Kenny. So are you the guy, yeah, the three behind and you're doing the dances at the same.

That I'm only in the studio work.

Yeah, got it.

I get hired to work for two days on this Kenny Rodgers album and it was in the like towards the end of the making of that album. And so I go in and I've sang some harmonies and stuff on this one track or two tracks, and then I knew I was coming back the next day. And during the session I overheard Kenny, his producer, that they still needed one more song, and he even described it. He says, man, we still need one more ballad. We need that like sort of Lionelsh ballad. We got to find it.

You hear this conversation happening.

I overhear this conversation. I go home to my apartment in La I write a song. I come back the next day and I do exactly what the background singer should never do, which is go up to the artist and say, I'm a songwriter.

I've got a song.

And again Grace Kenny Rogers could have immediately called security and had me escort it to my car, and instead said, well, let me hear it, and we sat down at the piano and I played it. My hands are shaking, and he liked it.

And you knew it. You can remember it. Did you memorize it from that?

Oh?

Yeah? Really?

Oh yeah, yeah yeah.

And it was a number one country song.

And the song was craze crazy for you kids.

You see, that's.

My Kenny Rodgers, like eighty five or so eighty four maybe, yes, I was nineteen when I wrote it.

And speaking of Lionel Richie, here's Lionel Richie talking about Kenny Rogers after he passed and how Kenny was one of the most amazing men. And I want to talk to you about Kenny a little bit because I got to know Kenny later, and Kenny and I became really friendly in the later part of his life, and I know you and him were close for years.

Well, you know, let me let me let me be very honest with you. I just lost one of my heroes. That is the best way I can describe Kenny because of the fact that you know, I met him at a time in my life when I was trying to figure out life, you know, transitioning from the Commodorees into my solo career. And you know, God sent me an angel because this guy was probably one of the nicest guys I'd ever met in my life, and full of knowledge, full of life knowledge, and he was able to you know, he was in a group called the First Edition, and everything I was about to experience as a young kid, he had already been through it. And so it was just a beautiful relationship that blossomed into something called a friendship forever. We have lived a lot of life together.

So when you write lady, how long did you have that? Or you was that meant to get to him? It was for you? Like what was the story between you writing it and him recording it?

Well, it's all about I think it's about God's plan because it was actually designed. The melody of it was supposed to be for the Commodorees. And at that particular time I had written you know, three times a Lady and all these other songs, and so the guy said, you know what, Donald, do you have anything else besides another love? So I said, well, I wrote a religious song that Jesus is love. He said, well take that. We like that. That's a good that's a good transition from what we're doing. So now I went from having another ballad to now having this thing sitting around. Well. I got a call from Kenny Rogers saying do you have a song for me? And I said, Kenny, I'm quite honest with you. I have a song, but I don't have time to do it because we're the Comodos are going on tour in about two weeks and I'm not going to be able to do it, but I'll do it when I come back. I hung up with the phone. About three days later, the drummer for the Commodorees fell off his motorcycle and I had two months of free time because he was recovering. And I called Kenny back and said, are you interested in that song? He said absolutely. Well, the funny part about this story is my mumbles. I don't write the words because if you know anything about writing a song with the Commodoes, for God's sake, you don't finish the song because in two seconds they will say, we don't like it? What else do you have? So I always would have basically the first verse of it all and nothing else. Well, the song was called Baby just Baby Bye, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Right, and I now go to meet Kenny and he had never heard a song pitch like this before because I've never pitched the song to anyone. So I walk in his backstage area of his show and he said, okay, what's the song? And I said, well, he was telling me about he had just gotten married and he's never in his life ever and he's never married. He married a lady, a real lady like Lionel. I mean, what am I doing with a lady me of all people, you know? So he said, oh, yeah, by the way, what's the name of the song? I said, lady, I'm.

No fool nice.

And then from there, of course, I said, lady, I'm your night in Shining Armor and I love you bae. Blah blah blah blah blah blah bah bah bah bah. He said, well, I said, do you like it? He said, well, where's the rest of the song. I said, well, no, I'll finish it if you like it. So he trusted me. Of course, he tells that story, you'll hear the story. He'll repeat the story back. He said, I couldn't believe that's all he played for me, And of course we went in the studio and a massive hit. But he always teases me because while we were recording that song, I wrote two songs for him. The first song was called going Back to Alabama and the second song was Lady Well. I thought, just to warm up with Kenny, I will do I'll do Going back to Alabama first, just to get used to recording with him, and then we'll knock out Lady Well. We get halfway through Going back to Alabama, he said, I don't really want to sing the song, Let's just sing Lady Well. I didn't want to tell him i'd only written the first verse, so he sang the first verse and then I said, you know, I'll be all right back. I have to go to the bathroom, and so I'm now in the bathroom writing the second verse to lady And of course the joke with Kenny was, if you want to get a great hit record from Lionel Richie, make sure he writes the second verse in the bathroom. But of course that was the story. But it means it's all true, as crazy as it sounds. But it was just a massive, massive.

Record for both of us, you know, until I was kind of looking back at some old Kenny stuff. You know, he's saying on We're the World what you wrote?

Yeah, you know that was you know what that I was very fortunate too at the particular time when I went into my solo career, I also I had Kenny there at my And the joke was I was hanging out with Kenny's manager, Ken Craigan, and so when I was looking for a manager, Ken said, well, Kenny said, well, I got Ken right here. What do you think about that? And I just segued right to we had the same manager. So of course, when I did we Are the World naturally with Michael Naturally, Kenny's gonna be a part of that no matter what, because I just had to have him in there. And by that time we were just we were just two peas in a pot by that time, and of course we Are the World was just one of those you know. I I think every once in a while God kind of possesses you and says, this is what you're really here to do, and the world needs to hear this song, and you need to deliver this message. And of course, you know, even to this day, someone asked me of the day am I gonna write another We Are the World, and I said, no, I'm just gonna play we Are the World again, because every time I try to write a new We Are the World, I keep writing the same lyrics that I wrote for We Are the World. The message is the same. Right now, we are challenged, but we are our brother's keeper right now, and we have to make sure that we are taking care of each other because that's what God planned and not to be. You know, a tribe and a tribe and a tribe, but we keep being forced to do something together. And right now, this is that time in life to hear those words again. And I must admit that that song resonates today like it did you know what thirty some odd years ago, thirty five years ago?

Well, I know that you and Kenny were dear friends, and I appreciate you sharing the stories about them, and I appreciate you being so friendly and so kind to me, like I love you too. You just have been You just have been the best to me. You have it. You didn't need to be, but you just have been the best to me.

Well, you know what, I I have to tell you something. I've been trained by some very famous people. And when I say that. You know, when I met Kenny Rodgers, you couldn't get any bigger than Kenny Rodgers. You know, that was the gambler I walked in on and I must tell you, in less than fifteen seconds, he made me feel like we grew up together back in Houston, Texas. You're to follow him, I'm saying, yeah. And I learned a big trick, and that is if you're famous, if you're really famous, you don't have to scare anybody to death. You just have to be as nice as you possibly can, because that's they're already uncomfortable when they first meet you.

The Bobby Cast will be right back. Wow, and we're back on the Bobby Cast.

Here as Reba talking about the time she made her opry debut and her set was cut short because of Dolly Parton.

Oh everything I get to do cool. I am thrilled to death about it. I don't take it for granted.

Still, after all this time, you're not jaded at.

Oh no, no.

When I got to do the video with Dolly Parton, I was like, I was the biggest fan in the room.

You know, it's wild to hear someone who I look at as being the greatest you, and to look at Dolly, at the greatest she is, and just to know that you would walk into a room with her and be like in awe when you moved to Nashville. Where was it? Was Dolly available when you moved to Nashville? Or was she in La? Was she in that phase? No idea, You don't know. I don't know.

The first time I saw Dolly was September seventeenth, nineteen seventy seven.

You remember in person, remember the year, in the day.

The hour I was going to go on and do my first performance at the Grand Old Lobbry, and they told came up and said, we're going to take one of your songs away from you. You'll only do one. And I said why simple Dolly Parton just pulled it in the parking lot and I said, well, she.

Can take both of them. Can I meet her?

And she walked buying this chaffon black pants, sued and had those butterfly Rnstone butterflies on and this big cotton candy hair.

I thought, man, that must be what angels looked like.

That was the most beautiful woman I ever saw in my life.

And did you say hello? No, oh, you didn't.

No.

I was backed up again wall like everybody else was. I mean, they said, aren't.

The waves Dolly's coming in?

And I slammed back up against that wall and just watched. I don't think her feet touched the ground.

She was an angel.

And when did you guys have your first you know where we kind of do the same thing experience.

Years later, and then she came on to read a TV show and we got to spend the whole week together.

That was precious.

That's I absolutely love that priceless.

I just look at you. Two is out of the same cut, out of the same cloth. Where as country as can be. Yep, you have ambitions that are bigger than just singing country music. Although that's your most important that's your pillar. You haven't ambitions other than just that. And you both did it at a really high level. And I would think that that hopefully she would be someone same thing with like Taylor to you, you know, with some of these other artists who are doing that, that that you could reach out to it after a point and get advice from her to that ever happen, you reach out like Dolly, you know, can I can I pick your brain at all?

Oh yeah, yeah, I have done that.

I did that in the early nineties a phone call and she took my matter of fact, I called her. She was that I think Caesar's in Vegas and I was in Bakersfield somewhere and I needed a piece of advice from her. And she was on the Tonight Show the night before and she said she's going to Vegas, won't be at Caesar's.

So I called Caesar's but you actually called the casino. Yeah, wow.

And I said.

I need to speak to speak to Dolly Parton.

Please.

She said, one moment, please, who's calling? I said, Reba McIntyre And presume Dolly came on the last she said, is this really Reba McIntyre or some squirrel?

What wishes she was?

Rebel McIntyre say, it's me.

That's funny to think about. We just have to call I mean, I haven't thought about having to do that where you just had to call a place to get someone. You just have to call a restaurant and be like, hey, is my uncle there? Yeah, yeah, that was like back in the day.

Yeah.

Brenda Lee from Rocking Around the Christmas Tree talked about what it was like being around Elvis Presley back when she was young. Any other performers that you listened to or liked in that first year so that you're playing the opera, that they would play the opera and you think it was cool to be able to see them.

I loved Patsy Cline, loved her, loved her heart, loved her talent, loved her generosity.

She was.

Not affected at all by the industry. I loved that about her, and she just kind of took me under a wing, as did Dottie West, and we were friends forever.

Did you ever get to see Hank's senior at the Opery? Because I know he got some trouble and they were like, hey, don't come back around here no more. But did you ever get to see Hank Senior at the Opery?

I did one time?

And how was that experience?

A dream?

Really?

Because you know, I sang all his songs and had hits with a lot of them, and to meet the guy that wrote him, it's surreal almost.

And he had to be in his early twenties, right young at that point, very young. What about Elvis, Oh, Elvis was a trip.

I loved Elvis, but he was he was almost like a pretend person because he was so good you couldn't believe he was real.

He was sweet, but he was firm.

He knew what he wanted, knew what he liked. He wouldn't really if he really truly believed in it. Don't try to convince him of something else, because that's what he was going to do.

Did you see him in town much in Nashville?

Not a whole lot went to his sessions and watched and uh, and that's that's back, gosh, late fifties. That's back when we didn't have all the knobs to turn to make you sound so good.

See, you had to sound good.

You either sounded good or you were asked to leave.

He was really good, really good, pure.

Voice, pure voice, no knob turning, no nothing.

That was him.

Who else lived here that you're like? You were excited to see or run into it? Because I had those people when I moved here, did you Yeah? For sure, I moved here and it was you know, for me, it was all the guys like the chestnuts and all the not late eighties and nineties gouts. Oh yeah, And so you know, listen to the radio my whole life growing up, and listen to stay down a little rock, Arkansas on Hot Springs, Arkansas. And when I moved here that Joe Diffy, I got to spend a lot of time with Joe. Yeah, and I got to know him pretty well before he died. Like we would spend time together because we'd performed I think before we got to know each other. The best was performing together at the Opry. Not at the same time, but we'd be on the same night multiple times.

Wow.

And so you know, how is it the Opry? Yeah, doors are just open, they are and you just spend time with the people that are there. Yeah. And so for me that was exciting to get to see like the Diffies Kicks Brooks my first time ever playing the Opry came into the room and was like this is what we do here. I'm Kicks and I'm like, you're Brooks are done. This is crazy. So I wonder, like those those stories for you because I had my version of that. Sounds like you did too, Oh I did.

It was like I was like the little sister you know and Dotty West.

And we're the youngest by far? Were you the young youngest kid?

But Dotty West, Tammy Patsy, all the greats They just took me under their wing and I just loved them.

Ben Rector talked about getting to golf with his musical hero, Huey Lewis, Would you mind sharing your I don't even want to spoil who it's about, but I'm gonna let you tell the story about how you went to a certain thing and your hero was there and you end up hanging out with a hero all day. Is he like chased your a followed you.

Oh?

Can you just tell that story just from the beginning, but yes, yes, go ahead.

Uh, this was this is maybe like the coolest thing ever for me personally. I got to go play at the at and T pro am, which is like the holy grail of all golf things if you're not a professional golfer.

At Pebble Beach.

At Pebble Beach, Yes, it's like on television all that stuff, and so I initially was going out there. They were like, Hey, could you come do some music because they have like parties every night, and they were like, we'd love to have you be in the celebrity hole in one, which is like all the celebrities in the tournament. Jim Nantz announces it and you all hit like one shot closest to pin. It's like a miniature tournament. You knew that you can play in all the practice rounds, you know. It felt like that was like a good way for me to like sort of get to know the people that run the tournament. And I was like, well, yeah, I'll go out and play pebble and NPCC which is minor, and Peninsula Country Club it's awesome course, and I'll do the celebrity hole in one and maybe they'll think I'm a good guy and decent golfer and will have me back. They were like, if anyone drops out of the tournament, you can be the tournament. And I was like totally. And I'm not great at like not great at networking or any that kind of stuff, but I was like, I really like this stuff and if nothing ever happened, that's just be cool and fun. So I get out there. I play the concert. It was for the tournament committee, I guess I don't really remember, and they were like, hey, we think you have a spot in the tournament. Of course, I'm over the moon and one of my very favorite artists, Hugh Lewis. My dad listened to him a lot growing up. And I thought it was like dorky dad music, and then I realized after I grew up, I was like, this is actually like some of the sickest music ever. And so Hugh Lewis was going to come back and do one last at and T and he hurt his shoulder and they were like, you're going to replace hue Lewis, and I was like, oh, that's incredible. It's wild to feel bad that he's hurt. He's like, but he was going to walk with your group?

Is that cool? And I was like, I was like, time out.

What So basically, I'm playing in the coolest golf thing in the world.

It really is.

There's not a cooler amateur golf event. And it's basically me and Huey Lewis. Steve Young was the other celebrity. I'm not putting myself in the same category as Hugh Listen Steve Young, but I do.

I now do. I didn't.

Then he's honestly the nicest person. I okay, yeah, Huey Lewis is walking around and he's him and Peter Jacobson, who is his pro partner, who's a golf announcer now was like a dominant golfer in his day. They came back to do the tournament one last time together. Peter Jacob's caddy was fluff legendary caddy. It was unbelievable and so basically my week was I would hit a shot and then walk down the fairway with Hughey and just kick it. I mean we hung out all day. He came to every round and I tried so not to geek out. Some of his band came, I got to meet them. I did a project news yes, wow, some of the news several anchors, but it did. It was incredible, and he was a gentleman and he was like he was like my older brother. He was like, oh let me, let me help you out with this at this tournament, or like here's the deal. It was the best man. It was honestly, I was like on cloud nine.

It was the best. Ronnie Dunn, lead singer of Brooks and Don, talked about how he became close with Johnny Cash when he first moved to Nashville. Did you ever go to meet johny Gosh, Yes, she drove.

Yes, she brought me in to meet him. Where to his house in Hendersonville?

Are you nervous?

Yeah, I'm scared to death. I don't want to meet them. And I know they're thinking, hey, you know she's bringing you know, I want to be singer into my house. It's just like what I would do with one of my daughters, just like, ah, please, right, So June takes her out, and you know, just uh, John had just given June a blue on blue rolls Royce for her birthday, you know. So we rolled up to their house and all this austentatious stuff is outside and go.

In nervous, yes, more nervous that you walk closer, yes, okay, good.

It gets worse.

So the girls after after day one, you know, we all stop and eat all this stuff, and John's real quiet.

He's quiet at first.

You know, he's intimidating anywhere, right, and then under those circumstances, I'm going, I don't I don't want to, you know, I don't want to be here like this. So the next day, June and Janine go shopping and leave me and John alone at the house. Well, there were two big black recliners in front of this TV like that on the wall, and uh, he's sitting there watching CNN, and I just sat down with a cover of coffee and I sat there. I said, something going on in the news, and he goes, I always watch it, always watch it. He says, I'm an addict. And he says, I'll watch the TV until the loop changes. He says, you know that the CNN and all that stuff are on loops and I'm like no, and he goes, I just watch it to loops whatever.

You know.

That was kind of the only thing I remember. He just kind of didn't say much. He's like, you want to go fishing? What are you doing? You want to be in music? Nothing like that. Janine gets back and she's kind of pale. She's kind of like down, and that's not like her because she's a chatter. And uh, finally we we went back to the bedroom and she she I said, how did it go? And she goes, well, June just gave she read me the right act.

You know.

She goes, look, you know, because Rodney and Roseanne had been been married, and the girls, Carlen and all of them, and Junior had her struggles with John too, and she said, uh, it's it's it's not a not a pretty business. She goes, you know, there's these these boys. She says, they're going to act up on you. You know, they're going to get out there and you know, theoretically do whatever. And she says, you know, it's just not it's not a good life. Even if he does make it. She said, the chances are, you know, wanted one hundred million that they even if they make it, will they last.

She says, you don't, you don't.

You don't want that life. You don't have to have that life.

So Janie said, I'm you know, that's just kind of bummed me out. And I said, well, okay, let's let's go.

But we didn't.

We stayed and had had a good time. But that was just kind of what we were left with there. But at the same time, Junia was kind enough, uh to do whatever they could to help, and they did. And half the time, more than half the time, I would go go up to take the rent or pay the rent six hundred bucks or something like that. This house looked like something.

To Johnny's house. You would take the rent to Johnny Cash's house, Yeah, and just drop it did have like a hole for them. No, they wouldn't take it.

No, Junior, I'd say, jen i'mber run over and leave the rent, and she goes, Honey, don't do that. She said, don't do that yet. You know there's no need for you to do that. We're not worry about that.

Uh.

Anyway, so they wouldn't take it.

Did they ever take your rent? No?

No?

How long did you live there?

A year and a half? Two years?

No?

Two years?

Did you ever get closer to Johnny? Uh? Yeah?

Oh yeah, yeah no.

No.

Johnny would come up. There was another it's a little en Clay cabins and goodlist on top of a hill that they had built real cool, and uh. He would come up and stay and spend the weekends and stuff. Sometimes up there just to be alone, and he'd stopped at the house.

Hey, thanks for listening to this special on the Bobby Cast. We love doing these. We hope you enjoyed hearing the stories of celebrities interacting with other celebrities. Be sure to subscribe to the Bobbycast wherever you listening to this. If you don't mind, give us a rating of five stars. Back next week with a brand new episode.

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