HARDY honored his wife, Caleigh Ryan Hardy, with a heartfelt performance of “SIX FEET UNDER (Caleigh’s Song)” at 2024 CMA Fest.
The genre-bending singer/songwriter graced the Nissan Stadium stage in Nashville, delivering a heartwarming performance of the tune that brought his wife to tears.
“I wrote this song for my beautiful wife, it’s called ‘SIX FEET UNDER,’” the Mississippi native said before going into his performance. Strumming his guitar and donning a Crow-branded hockey jersey, HARDY belted out the lyrics to the meaningful song that serves as his current single at Country radio.
Solely penned by HARDY, “SIX FEET UNDER (Caleigh’s Song)” was written with a “powerful moment” in mind. The rock-leaning country star and his bride tied the knot in October of 2022 and just a few weeks later HARDY was involved in a tour bus accident. He revealed during a recent interview that the song was written as at the time of the bus accident he wasn’t afraid of death, but that he would never get to see his wife again.
“It’s about that emotional roller coaster,” he explained during an appearance on an Apple Music podcast. “Going from the worst moment of my life to the best—the moment we exchanged vows. The song captures that transition, that fragility, and the profundity of love.” HARDY also revealed that his wife “had a full-blown meltdown” the first time he played her the tune. She admitted that the song “means the absolute world to me. Michael and I cherish that moment on our wedding day more than anything and everything, so to hear those feelings and emotions written in a song is truly an inexplicable feeling.”
“SIX FEET UNDER (Caleigh’s Song)” will appear on HARDY’s forthcoming new album, Quit!!, which marks his first full-blown rock project. The song impacted Country radio on Monday, June 10. Set for release on July 12 via Big Loud Rock, Quit!! will 13 feature tracks, including “PSYCHO,” “JIM BOB,” “ROCKSTAR” and “QUIT!!” as well as collaborations with Chad Smith, Knox and Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst.
Produced by Joey Moi (Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, Nickelback), Quit!! will follow the release of HARDY’s half rock/half country album, the mockingbird & THE CROW.
HARDY is currently in the midst of his massive headlining trek, Quit!! Tour. He will also make stops at several notable festivals throughout the remainder of the year.
Dubbed “the Music Event of Summer,” the televised concert special featured 30+ performances and surprise collaborations from some of Country music’s hottest stars, including Clint Black, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Terri Clark, Jordan Davis, Jackson Dean, Billy Gibbons, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Little Big Town, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Craig Morgan, Megan Moroney, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Blake Shelton, Brittney Spencer, The War And Treaty, Thomas Rhett, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman.
The CMA Fest ABC Special was filmed in Downtown Nashville at Nissan Stadium during the star-studded, four-day festival, which took place Thursday, June 6 through Sunday, June 9.
Co-hosted by Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde, the three-hour CMA Fest special aired on ABC on Tuesday, June 25. The show will broadcast again on Wednesday, June 26 via Hulu.