Who doesn’t love Hunter Hayes, 25? No, that wasn’t one of our five questions that we asked the country music star! But, we couldn’t get enough of the singer when he got candid about his life, EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife.com. With a highly anticipated album on the way, here’s what Hunter had to say!
1. Your song, “I want crazy”, and your new single, “Yesterday’s Song”, seem so personal and romantic. — What inspires you to write these types of songs?
I think my heart is just… you can just tell where my heart’s at because that’s what I write about. You can’t fake that. You write a song and you can see right through it… if it’s not right there. I mean the funny thing about “Yesterday’s Song”, is, yes, it is kind of about a relationship. I definitely wrote it from the standpoint of relationship type stuff… It’s very much about moving on. For me, in a creative sense, it’s been about kind of, a chapter change for me, and a big turning of the page. So I wanted people to take whatever they wanted out of that song, and make it their own.
2. Your dog, Cole, inspires you and appears on your Instagram. — How did you find him?
He’s the star of my Instagram, for sure. So I was thinking of getting a dog a while back and was talking to a friend of mine who knows somebody who worked at a Greyhound racing facility. I was interested in Greyhounds, miniature Greyhounds, I really didn’t know what I wanted. But, I wanted to rescue in some kind of way; And they kept telling me about the adoption program of retired racing Greyhounds. So, in doing research, reading books… I would encourage anybody to really consider it. You’ll find out that Greyhounds are incredibly chill. They’re really lazy and super sweet. And some of them, like Cole, are super shy. We just fenced in a yard for him to run in everyday and he’s been taking a lot of laps. He’s 6 now, so he’s really fast for like 30 seconds. That’s all they care about. They’ll run for 30 seconds and that’s it. He’s great for just me as a human, learning a lot and having him around, you know. They mirror you. I tell everybody whose looking into getting a dog for the first time, you should really look into getting a retired Greyhound. Because for one, you’re giving them a place to call home, which they’ve never really had before.
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3. You’re involved with helping veterans through a program with HEARTGARD, which works with Warrior Canine Connections to provide specially trained dogs to veterans. — Tell us how you can help veterans through the #NominateAVeteran contest?
My dad served in the army, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of people who have served, so I just think this is incredible, because we all know, just on a basic kind of surface level, what just having a pet can do to our spirits, right? Our emotional wellbeing. They are very sensitive. They sense things we can’t understand because we’re super hung up in language and they are completely zoned in on just understanding, you know. So, we’re asking everybody to nominate a veteran, for an all expense paid trip to Nashville and a year’s supply of HEARTGARD Plus for their dogs.
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Here’s how you can enter: First, get on Twitter or Instagram; Tell us a story about a veteran you know… tell us their story. If you have a picture, awesome. If not, no worries; They’re gonna pick one person for an all expense paid trip to Nashville. And for every nomination that you make, HEARTGARD will donate 10 dollars to Warrior Canine Connection, up to $100,000. So, my goal is to get as many nominations as possible. And also at the core of it, is just raising awareness; showing our veterans how much we care about them and appreciate them, and letting everybody kind of hear their stories. Nominations can be made from April 3-June 30, with the hashtags “NominateAVeteran and “Sweepstakes”.
4. You are on your Instagram with girlfriend, makeup artist, Libby Barnes. — Did you talk about it before going Instagram official?
We definitely talked long and hard about it, because you know, for me, I have gotten used to being in the public eye. I’m very shy. I’m a total nerd. So, Instagram to begin with, was an adjustment for me. Any of those things are still an adjustment for me. I love sharing as much as humanly possible, and letting fans into my life. But, I kind of choose that, and I’m okay with it. But I didn’t want to subject someone in my life to what I choose. I wanted to be sensitive to her and her privacy, and ours at the same time. We had several talks, you know, just making sure that, I don’t know, handled it in respect to each other and the utmost understanding of like “you let me know..” like communication and all that stuff. It’s very important.
5. You’re a bit of a teen idol and have a lot of fans. Other artists have had fans get upset when they get a girlfriend. — Has that been a problem for you?
I think my fans got to know Libby and love her. And I knew they would. She’s an awesome human. We have awesome fans. They know so much about me and so much about where I come from when I write songs. They know so much about why I write. They know when they hear a song, probably where it comes from for the most part. They might not know the names of people involved sometimes, out of respect, but they know that. So, I think they know where my heart’s at. They’re like your best friends. They’re there for you.
HollywoodLifers, what’s your favorite Hunter Hayes song?