RaeLynn will release her new single “Funny Girl” on March 15, marking the beginning of her next era of music. The empowering anthem of self-discovery reminds listeners that they can evolve and become more than a performative comedian. The lyrics describe how she always turned to humor, even in times of darkness.
“Funny girl, how’ve you been? / I’ve been you, girl, since I was 10 / Funny girl, keep cracking jokes / When shit gets real, that’s all you’ll know / The life of the party, tonight’s entertainment, a clear sky when the parade’s raining”
She shared a preview of the new song on Instagram, set to a montage of videos from throughout her career. She sings, “Yeah I know you’re mad at where you’re at / Gettin’ jealous of your friends / Ridin’ shotgun seat to the homecoming queen with a label on your back / But you’re sweeter, hell you’re tougher / Take it from me, you’lll be a good mother / And you’ll find a man and damn you’ll rock his world / Life ain’t mean, it’s just funny, girl”
The tune follows her 2023 releases “It’s Happening Right Here,” “Broken One,” “Somebody Else,” and “What’s Wrong With That.”
RaeLynn recently sat down with Music Mayhem during the annual Country Radio Seminar (CRS) in Nashville to chat about her new era of music, upcoming stadium tour with Kane Brown, and more.
Story Behind New Single “Funny Girl”
RaeLynn’s two-year-old daughter Daisy Rae helped inspire her new single “Funny Girl,” out March 15.
“I had the idea for this song kind of speaking to my younger self, and I was like, man, if little Rachel could see her life now, she would be so damn proud,” she says. “And to me, success is not just about how much money you make and where your song is on a chart. Success is how are you with people, how are you with your family? Are you doing things that are actually impactful? And so I think about that and when I move on from this world, I really want to leave a legacy of being a good person and leave a legacy for my child, Daisy.”
Co-writer Lauren Hungate suggested the title “Funny Girl,” encouraging RaeLynn to take a serious approach with it.
“We were talking about ‘what does funny mean?’ and I said, ‘Life ain’t mean, it’s just funny girl.’ And I was like, oh my gosh, that’s it! And so we literally wrote the song within two hours. It was so fast.” She says that the best songs she’s ever written are the ones that have come easily. And with this song, she also loves it because of her journey. “I love this song because I wasn’t that popular girl in school. I was the girl that was just the funny one, and not in a bad way. I’m thankful I was that girl because I earned my stripes. I got a foundation of who I was as a person.”
New Music On The Way
As she prepares for an upcoming full-length album release, RaeLynn describes this next chapter of her music as “mature” but still “very fun, bubbly.” The heart behind her music comes from a new-found confidence that she’s discovered during the past year.
“I’m living my dream out every day, just getting to travel and be with my child and be married to an amazing man,” she gushes. “The confidence that I feel in myself and just the fact that I’ve been doing this for 12 years and I still get to do it and I still get to do what I love. It never gets old.”
Stadium Tour With Kane Brown
Fans will get to hear the “God Made Girls” singer in stadiums this summer when she hits the road with Kane Brown for select dates of his headlining In The Air Tour, starting July 20 at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. Other stops include Los Angeles, Arlington (Texas), Seattle and Denver. Switching gears from her normal 90-minute headlining show to a scaled-down 25-minute opening slot will be “tricky,” she admits.
“I’m just going to go out there and power punch ’em and leave ‘em wanting more. I’m not going to be able to do all my favorite songs, but I’m just going to go out there and do all the uptempo stuff I got,” recognizing that she’s there to start the party for the crowd.
She’s thrilled for the opportunity to play legendary venues like Fenway Park. “I just found a picture of me and my husband when I was on the Blake [Shelton] tour and we were playing the arena in Boston, and now I get to play Fenway. We have a picture of me and him in front of Fenway, and I said, ‘One day I’m going to play there.’ And it’s like eight years later, and it’s wild.”
Tour Essentials, Day In The Life On The Road With Raelynn
When RaeLynn goes on tour, she makes sure to pack four essentials: “my extensions, curling iron, my insulin, obviously. And my favorite is the Charlotte Tilbury Foundation.”
A typical day on the road revolves around her daughter.
“If Daisy’s on the road with me, I wake up with her, we drink some coffee. I’ll normally let her run around the venue a little bit to get some energy out. We’ll go find a local breakfast spot, get some breakfast. If I can try to find a park, I like to take her to a park.” After Daisy gets a nap and RaeLynn does meet and greets, she’ll do soundcheck and start getting ready for the show. “It goes by superfast. And I try to get an hour nap in there at some point.”
Friendship with Kane and Katelyn Brown
During the “In The Air Tour,” you’ll likely find RaeLynn hanging out with Kane and his wife Katelyn after the show. “We’ll play cornhole, we’re all hanging out. He has a very young energy on his tour, which is really cool.” She considers Katelyn one of her best friends, saying that they became close on the “Live Forever Tour” and have stayed close since, bonding over motherhood.
“Once you’re a mom, you get it and there are things that you don’t even have to just talk about. It’s just, it’s a known thing. And so she’s really special and she’s my ride or die for sure.” The pair often talk early in the day. “Our normal time to FaceTime is like 7:30 AM. We’re the morning crew with our coffee and the kids, hair on top of our head and glasses.”
Welcoming Beyoncé to Country Music
The singer from Baytown, Texas is embracing Beyoncé, a fellow Texan, in the country music genre. Beyoncé released her single “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” to country radio on February 14, setting the genre abuzz with commentary about the pop singer’s place in the format.
“I think it’s awesome,” says RaeLynn. “I think we have country artists that cross over to pop, and if a pop artist wants to cross over to country and do a country record, I think they should be welcomed with arms wide open.”
She hopes that if she ever decides to write another style of music, she would be welcomed, too. “When you’re a musical person, and you are a songwriter, you never know what’s going to brew and what’s going to come out of you when you see it. With Taylor Swift, she’s created so many different projects and I think once you start limiting people, that’s when you’re limiting somebody’s craft… I think you should never limit somebody’s creativity.”
RaeLynn encourages fellow artists to embrace the possibility of expanding country music. “I think we should always be really excited when anybody wants to help broaden our genre because our genre is an amazing genre. The heart behind country music is the stories that we tell, and I think that we should always continue to tell those stories.”
