Thomas Rhett Put Country Spin On Bruno Mars' 'When I Was Your Man'

Romantic ballad recorded as a "thank you" to fans

It is the second day of the Tour Anything Goes, and Thomas Rhett - you'll have to spend the next nine months on the road, opening for Florida Georgia Line - is preparing for sound check.



In the list of songs for the show tonight are hits like "Get Me Some of That" and "It Goes like This" and "Parking Lot Party" by Lee Brice Rhett co-wrote with his father in the 2012. By the end, he has worked up something a little different: a cover of the Mark Ronson / Bruno Mars’s chart-topper "Uptown Funk".

"I'm obsessed with records Bruno Mars," says Rolling Stone Country, several hours before the show. "I'd give my right leg to sing like that guy."

Last month, the American Country Countdown Awards looming just around the corner, Rhett decided to turn his fascination with the music of Mars in fuel for a public relations campaign unusual. Looking to meet some additional votes for Newcomer of the ACCA of the year award, tweeted to his fans on December 10, promising to record their own version of "When I Was Your Man" - blockbuster ballad Bruno Mars from 2013 - when 3,000 fans showed their support by retweeting the post. About 4,000 fans met ... and Rhett went to work.

Although they ended up losing the Revelation Kip Moore Artist award, Rhett kept his promise. Today, he delivers his recording of "When I Was Your Man" through an exclusive premiere with Rolling Stone Country. [See the video above.]

"We practice a lot on the road," says Song. "After the sound check, I sat there with Josh (Reedy, Rhett bandmate) and we'd play again and again, with Josh playing keys and singing. We like to work in phrasing, breathing, notes, the key ... I think we have had to lower it, like, five keys before she could sing the song because Bruno sings so high. "

The day before Christmas vacation, Rhett and Reedy aside a few hours in studies of creative caffeine from Nashville, where he knocked out an emotional version, reduced "When I Was Your Man" in one take. The accompanying video shows the process of recording the couple, along with images of Rhett to spend some time with his wife of two years. ("In the context of the song, it makes no sense that she is there," he admits with a smile, "but every time my wife is great.")

"We kept the really simple video" he adds. "I he wanted everyone to see that everything we did was go there, take a microphone, playing the piano and singing all down. It's a live take with a vocal live. The whole thing was not as fun as I thought it would be. It was serious. The time Josh started playing and I started singing, I felt it. That song gave me chills the first time I heard it, and still does. "