Bear Bailey met one of his biggest musical heroes, Rascal Flatts’ frontman Gary LeVox, and not only did he get to meet him in person for the first-time ever, but he also got to sing a duet with him!
On Wednesday evening (Dec. 22), the viral singer took to his Instagram story to share the moment when he first met the chart-topping country hitmaker at his Tennessee Ranch.
The brief clip begins as Bailey enters a massive building, “y’all let’s see who we got here right now, I’ll tell you what, the place sure looks good. Let’s see who’s in here.” As the video continued, Bailey walked towards a bar within the building, where a man wearing camouflage was sitting with his back to him.
As he got closer to the mystery man, he found out it was, LeVox, the singer behind hit songs like “Bless The Broken Road,” “Life Is A Highway,” “What Hurts The Most,” “My Wish” and many others.
“Gary LeVox in the building,” Bailey said as his face lit up and a huge smile formed. “Y’all this is a dream come true for me. Thank y’all for all y’all do. Thanks for having me out, man, means the world to me.”
“You’re the man,” LeVox replied as they shook hands.
“If you would’ve told me that I don’t have long left on this earth and I can meet one person, it’d be Gary freakin’ LeVox,” Bailey told Music Mayhem of the unforgettable moment. “That was a dream come true, a full circle moment for me.”
After meeting LeVox, Bailey and the Rascal Flatts’ singer joined forces to cover Travis Tritt’s “Help Me Hold On,” a chart-topping track co-written by Tritt alongside Pat Terry that appears on Tritt’s debut album, Country Club, which was released in February 1990.
In a clip, shared to Bailey’s Instagram feed, the rising country star sang the Tritt hit with LeVox. The pair traded verses before joining together in perfect harmony during the song’s chorus, during which their vocals blended together flawlessly.
“Singing with him in person was incredible!” Bailey said of sharing a duet with the country superstar. “Spent the entire night with him, it was just a lot of fun. He’s just truly a wonderful, great, good guy, man of God, good person. He was just overall great.”
LeVox also shared the clip to his Instagram, saying, “I cannot begin to tell you how much fun I had with my new brother @bear_bailey1. He is a brother for life and so talented. I cannot wait to see his music touch the masses. Brothers for life stay tuned more to come from both of us.”
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Bear Bailey has often been seen covering Rascal Flatts’ hits on his TikTok, as he credits the trio as one of his favorite bands and LeVox as a huge inspiration on his career. Some fans have even compared his vocal abilities to LeVox on TikTok, so it comes at no surprise that LeVox has influenced his musical journey.
“Gary has most definitely influenced by style of singing,” Bailey admitted. “Influenced me in music, he’s one of the big reasons why I wanted to do it.”
Below are a few Rascal Flatts covers by Bailey, including “Bless The Broken Road,” “These Days,” and more.
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Additionally, James “Bear” Bailey, known by his TikTok handle, @bearbailey1, has been impressing people at a Super Serve gas station near Houma, Louisiana, with impromptu performances of songs by artists from all different genres. Bailey’s performances, which have since been uploaded to his TikTok page, have made him a viral star. In fact, he has amassed over 2 million followers already!
With each impressive clip, viewers can find Bailey – a 33-year-old welder – typically standing near the checkout counter in a rock-band T-shirt, either singing along with the gas station loudspeaker or belting out an a cappella tune. His near-flawless renditions of songs by artists such as Luke Combs, Lonestar, O Town and Shania Twain, to name a few, have left store patrons stunned. So much so that they often stop in their tracks, dance along to his performances, or – as seen in other clips – return to the gas station to find Bailey offering onlookers yet another on-the-spot rendition of their favorite tune.
Thanks to the popular TikTok platform, Bailey has been grasping attention from some of country music’s biggest stars. Mickey Guyton, who saw Bailey’s gas-station performance of K-CI & Jojo’s “All My Life,” re-tweeted the clip, showing her enthusiasm for Bailey’s talent with the simple caption, “I Can’t.” While country superstar Keith Urban has also taken an interest in Bailey’s work in the recent months, responding via Twitter to one of his video cover performances of Urban’s 2009 smash, “‘Til Summer Comes Around,” with three love hand gesture emojis. Even Dan + Shay got in on the excitement, commenting on a video from their own TikTok account, raving, “killed it, Man!”
More recently, Bailey has garnered the attention of Clay Walker, who invited him to come perform on stage with him some day.
The fast rising country singer has also recently gained attention globally and especially noted in Music City as he gears up to release original music. He has shared several teaser clips of original songs, including “Let It Roll,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” and “Mamas Boy,” which he wrote alongside Mitchel Tenpenny.
See a list of 10 country covers that truly impressed us by Bear Bailey HERE.
