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Backstage Country

Katy Perry Asked Luke Bryan Who Thomas Rhett Was Before Doing Duet

Thomas Rhett and Katy Perry will be performing their duet “Where We Started” at tomorrow night’s CMA Awards, and it will be their first performance of the song together. When…

Katy Perry Asked Luke Bryan Who Thomas Rhett Was Before Doing Duet
Jon Kopaloff x 2, Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

Thomas Rhett and Katy Perry will be performing their duet "Where We Started" at tomorrow night's CMA Awards, and it will be their first performance of the song together. When they did the video for the song earlier this year, it was the first time they had ever met.

In a behind-the-scenes clip, she revealed to him, "I actually asked my friend Luke Bryan about Thomas Rhett. I go up to Luke, and I say, 'Luke! What do you know about this Thomas Rhett guy? Is he a good guy? He said, 'He's a good one.' He was also jealous. He was like, 'I can't believe it."

Perry added, "This is the first time we've met in real life. It's pretty cool. I heard this song, and I was like, 'Oh! There it is!' After wanting to do a song in the country genre, I've never found that song until today."

Katy came to Nashville to make music before hitting it big and said, "I've always wanted to do this. I've always wanted to come back to my roots, and this is the first chapter of that. It's an example of great storytelling. That is what country music is. It is perfect at telling the best story. When I sing that second verse, that's the life that I've already lived. I was here in Franklin, Tennessee, from age 13-16, staying at the Mara Suites eating my Chick-Fil-A, and going to Bluebird Café. When I started, I had two cars repossessed. I would always go overdrawn by like one Crunchwrap supreme. It would be like, 'Okay. $3.75 is going to cost me $38.75. But just all of those beautiful moments of hard times."

Thomas said, "When we wrote 'Where We Started,' it wasn't even on my brain to have a feature, to be honest with you. As I started to listen to it, it felt like it was missing something. Then I was told it was sent to Katy, and I was like, 'There's no way she's going to respond. Second of all, she has probably never heard of me. Third of all, is she going to like it at all? Then the next day, she said she resonated with the lyric so much and the melody. I was just floored."

Rhett added, "I'm so glad we met today. This is truly a dream come true of mine. This is our first meeting ever and also our first kind of performance scene together in this music video. So, we're really just now getting to know each other. Every scene is a little more cohesive."

Thomas Rhett has released four albums including his latest effort, Center Point Road.

He's moved to the top of the country heap quickly: he's already playing big arenas and has scored 19 number one songs and is the reigning Male Vocalist of the Year for the CMA and the ACM.

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NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Recording artist Thomas Rhett attends the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for NARAS)


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NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Kelsea Ballerini, Thomas Rhett and Rhett Akins take photos during CMT Artists of the Year 2016 on October 19, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT)


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NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 14: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Lauren Akins and singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett attends the 52nd annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 14, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)


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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 07: Thomas Rhett accepts the Male Artist of the Year award onstage during the 54th Academy Of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 07, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)


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TWIN LAKES, WI - JULY 27: Singer/Songwriter Thomas Rhett performs at Country Thunder USA - Day 4 on July 27, 2014 in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Thunder)


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CULLMAN, AL - JUNE 03: Singer/Songwriter Thomas Rhett is joined on stage by his Dad Singer/Songwriter Rhett Akins during Pepsi's Rock The South Festival - Day 1 at Heritage Park on June 3, 2016 in Cullman, Alabama. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Pepsi's Rock The South )


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LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 02: (L-R) Recording artists Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line attend the 52nd Annual ACM Awards celebration with Big Machine Label Group at Sake Rok on April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Big Machine Label Group)


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LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 31: Singer Thomas Rhett performs onstage during Big Machine Label Group Outnumber Hunger Launch Event during ACM Weekend on March 31, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Big Machine Label Group)


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LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 02: Singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett, winner of the awards for Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year, poses in the press room during the 52nd Academy Of Country Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)


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LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 02: Recording artists Thomas Rhett (L) and Maren Morris perform onstage during the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.