Blake Shelton sings the theme song of USA Network’s new show, Barmageddon, but did you know Jimmy Buffett is a co-writer on the song?
During a recent interview with USA Network, Shelton revealed how Barmageddon’s theme song originated.
While the Oklahoma native recorded and performs the show’s theme song, he didn’t have a hand in writing it.
“So when you do these television shows and you’re gonna perform a song, you have got to reach out to the writers of the song and get permission. I have a mutual friend with Jimmy Buffett … and we reached out to get permission to sing ‘Margaritaville’ as one of the intro songs — every show opens with a sing-along song — and I got an email back from [them], they just forwarded Jimmy’s email back to him on to me that said, ‘Yeah, they can do this song … I love the title of that TV show. That sounds like a good song,’” Shelton explained to the network.
The superstar then took a chance in his reply when he asked Buffett to write a new song for the show.
“I wrote Irving back I said, ‘Tell Jimmy to write a song for the show, I’ll record it,’” Shelton revealed. “I committed to recording this song before I ever heard it. I figured Jimmy Buffett can pull this off. If anybody in the world can, it’s got to be Jimmy Buffett.”
His intuition proved to be correct. Buffett wrote the song alongside famed songwriter Mac McAnally.
“It ends up being perfect. I mean, it really is actually just [a] good, fun song. It gets stuck in your head, and I mean, who else can say that Jimmy Buffett wrote the theme song for the TV show?” Shelton laughed.
“Barmageddon / High tech coffee talk / Shotgun weddin’ / There ain’t no telling / How it’s gonna go / Barmageddon / You never know / Just what your gettin’ / Win, lose or draw / It’s gonna be a show,” Shelton
Barmageddon is a new reality competition show, produced by Blake Shelton and Carson Daly. Hosted by Nikki Bella, each episode of Barmageddon finds two celebrities playing a unique set of five games in Ole Red to win a prize for a viral internet sensation each has chosen to support.
The five games played during the show include Air Cannon Cornhole, Keg Curling, Drunken Axe Hole, Sharts (“Shelton Darts”) and more.
The show features Daly behind the bar as a bartender and Shelton as live entertainment alongside the bar’s house band.
“What we were aiming for was real-life The Hangover,” Shelton told PEOPLE. “We wanted to try to capture that in a TV show with people that we know.”
“We started playing the games with the contestants and the celebrities. We were becoming part of the show,” Shelton added. “I was always just going to be in the background and Carson was going to be making drinks and commenting. Next thing, because it’s so much fun, I wanted to be a part of it.”
Barmageddon was filmed at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red Nashville Bar, which was inspired by his chart-topping hit, “Ol’ Red.” Ole Red Nashville, located at 300 Broadway, is the flagship location.
The show has been turning heads with its hilarious antics and superstar guests, which include Kane Brown, Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Elle King, Chris Young, Trace Adkins, as well as actors Jay Pharoah, Martin Kove, Lil Rel Howery and actress Malin Akerman.
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In addition, Tennessee Titans’ coach Mike Vrabel, NASCAR drivers Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson plus WWE wrestlers Sasha Banks and Brie Bella will also appear during the debut season of the show.
Barmageddon made history upon its December 5 premiere as it became the network’s most-viewed series premiere in almost three years with 1.2 million total viewers, according to a report from Deadline.
The show airs every Monday at 11/10c on the USA Network.
