Story Behind the Song: Dan Smalley, ‘Rich and Famous’

Dan Smalley's debut EP, March 2020's If I'm Being Honest, features four songs, all co-written by the artist with a variety of co-writers. For the final track, "Rich and Famous," Smalley teamed up with Chase McGill and Jonathan Singleton.

"Rich and Famous" finds a heartbroken guy promising the person who broke his heart, "Gonna buy a six-string, gonna learn a few chords / Gonna move to Nashville, I’m gonna beat down a few doors / Then I’m gonna cash in on what just happened / I’m gonna take this broke heart to the top of the charts / You're gonna make me rich, I'm gonna make you famous." Below, Smalley shares the story behind the song, in his own words.

So, "Rich and Famous" is probably one of my favorite songs to play live, for sure. The band and I love the groove of the song ... I've always loved the lick ... and if I were to say there were a groove that defines who I am, that's probably the groove. That's kind of my soundtrack that I walk around to daily.

When we wrote the song, it was Chase McGill's idea when he walked in, and Jonathan Singleton was the other guy in the room with us, and so I just felt like I was in really good hands. And I went with the idea and sat back, most of the time, and watched two hit songwriters just knock it out of the park ... and by the time we were done, I was like, "I'd love to sing this."

Whenever I get in rooms with guys like that, I usually try to pay attention and take something from them and learn and listen, because without them, I mean, to be honest with you, I wouldn't be here, for sure. I wouldn't have that song.

WATCH: Dan Smalley Shares the Story Behind "Rich and Famous"