It’s been quite the year of career highs for Parker McCollum.
The country crooner was part of history when he opened for one of the most iconic artists of our generation, George Strait, along with Catie Offerman at Kyle Field on the Texas A&M University campus on his 32nd birthday. The concert broke a record as the highest attendance record for a ticketed concert, as 110,905 tickets were sold.
When speaking with Celeb Secrets host Juliet Schroder backstage on the red carpet at Audacy’s Stars & Strings Concert in Fort Lauderdale, FL last Thursday (November 14), Parker revealed that the moment was is favorite highlight from the year.
“It was pretty hard to beat on the year, so that was a good one,” he gushed.
The “Handle On You” singer has spent a majority of 2024 on the road with his Burn It Down Tour, where he showed audiences across the nation that he’s truly a committed road-warrior.
“This year was crazy, I’m still really processing it,” Parker said of his time performing. “I haven’t slowed down one bit to really think about it all.”
“It was balls to wall,” he continued. “I don’t even know how to put it into words, but hopefully next year will be just as good.”
Keeping the momentum for the new year, Parker announced the first round of dates for his 2025 What Kinda Man Tour. Kicking off in Athens, GA on January 23, the multi-city run will feature direct support from Kameron Marlowe and additional performances from Laci Kaye Booth and William Beckmann before wrapping on April 26 in Gainesville, FL. You can see the full routing and purchase tickets here.
Looking ahead, Parker will make his way back to Nashville on Wednesday for the 2024 CMA Awards, where his song “Burn It Down” is nominated for Song of the Year at the big show. An award presented to its songwriters, McCollum tells Celeb Secrets that the recognition is extra special to him since storytelling is the core of his artistry.
“It’s a songwriters award, so that’s probably the one that means the most to me of any of those awards. I never win them, so I’m always super grateful to be there,” Parker explained. “I’m like a nine time CMA award loser, but honestly, I don’t hang my hat on winning. Just being nominated, being invited and being thought of in that room with all the most talented people in country music… I’m very grateful any time I get to go. But being nominated for an award that is about the songwriting is everything to me.”
The ACM “Visual Media of the Year” winner also hinted at new music for the new year, as he confessed that he just recently finished his fourth-studio album. With the city of New York as his muse, Parker cut an entire record in one week overlooking fall foliage in Central Park.
“I just finished my new album. I was in New York City for seven days and cut the entire record in seven days,” he dished. “I had Central Park outside of my window and the leaves were crazy orange. The second day we were in the studio, I just walked in and wrote this song called ‘New York Is On Fire’ and we cut it right there.”
“I didn’t go to any restaurant, any bar, the only time I got was in my hotel room or the studio. It was a grind. It was an intense week, but it was good,” he added.
Parker also explained that although inspired, this process also challenged him and required him to reach for new heights.
“I had cut half the record, then scrap the entire thing, switch producers and start is completely over. It would probably be out already if I had no done that. I just needed to. I don’t know, I needed to challenge myself. I wanted to go take a shot and roll the dice and kind of see if that kid was still alive in there and be a little more of a raw songwriter which is how I started and I was missing it. The world may not like it, but I love it.”
For more on Parker McCollum, be sure to watch our full interview below. Don’t forget to let us know what you think of “What Kinda Man” by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecretscountry.
Hosted by Luke Bryan, Peyton Manning and Lainey Wilson, the 2024 CMA Awards air LIVE from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville TONIGHT, November 20th @ 8/7c on ABC, streaming next day on Hulu.
