50 Fun Facts About Dan + Shay

Before Dan + Shay formed, Shay Mooney had a solo record deal on Nappy Boy Entertainment, the label of which rapper?

T-Pain signed Mooney as a solo act, but the deal ended once the singer teamed up with Dan Smyers to form a country duo.

Which Canadian pop star sings with Dan + Shay on '10,000 Hours', a number-four debut on the Billboard Hot 100?

Justin Bieber also co-wrote the love song, which came out four days after he got married in South Carolina.

Dan + Shay's 'Tequila' video follows a skier and a hiker who fall in love in the mountains of which state?

Colorado's ski town of Breckenridge hosted the shoot, which was captured on 35mm movie film.

The music video for Dan + Shay's ballad 'Speechless' is built from real 2017 footage of what?

Their own weddings supplied the clips, including each groom's first look at his bride and the walks down the aisle.

Dan + Shay became the first coaching duo in the history of which American TV singing contest in 2024?

The Voice signed the pair for season 25, where they coached alongside Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper.

The first song Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney ever wrote together was put on hold for which country group?

Rascal Flatts held the song, written the day after the pair met, and later took the duo out on the 2018 Back to Us Tour.

The video for Dan + Shay's first country number one stars which animals, a cause close to the duo's hearts?

Rescue dogs fill the clip: a Doberman bolts from a diner and the duo chase after it, gathering a muddy pack along the way.

Dan Smyers of Dan + Shay once fronted the emo band Transition, which played which punk festival in 2004 and 2006?

Warped Tour hosted Transition twice, and bandmate Dustin Hook later became the touring bassist for Dan + Shay.

Dan + Shay were guests in 2020 on a Sesame Street spin-off talk show hosted by which Muppet?

Elmo fronts The Not-Too-Late Show, a 15-minute talk show built around children's bedtime routines.

Which powerhouse singer joins Dan + Shay on 'Keeping Score', a duet from the duo's 2018 self-titled album?

Kelly Clarkson joined the duo to sing it on live television at the 2019 ACM Awards, where the track was nominated for Musical Event of the Year.

Dan + Shay opened the 2014 leg of the Ten Times Crazier Tour for which chart-topping country star?

Blake Shelton had the newcomers open for him from June to October 2014, after which they set out on a ten-date headlining run of their own.

Dan Smyers of Dan + Shay grew up in Wexford, a suburb of which Pennsylvania city?

Pittsburgh kept him through college too: he studied at Carnegie Mellon, planning on finance and football, before moving to Nashville in 2010.

Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay was raised in the community of Natural Dam in which southern US state?

Arkansas is also where Mooney went to Van Buren High School and where he returned to marry Hannah Billingsley in 2017.

Dan + Shay made their debut at which famous Nashville country institution in February 2014, before their first album?

Grand Ole Opry audiences saw the pair just over a year after they first met, while their debut single was still at country radio.

Dan + Shay wrote the ballad 'From the Ground Up' inspired by the lasting love shared by which relatives?

Their grandparents were on their minds: the song was written shortly after Dan lost his grandfather and while Shay's was in hospital.

In 2023 Dan + Shay revealed that the duo had come close to doing what after their 2021 arena tour?

Breaking up was a real possibility: Dan Smyers said he came home at the lowest point of his life and ready to quit music.

Dan Smyers played every instrument on Dan + Shay's 2020 single 'I Should Probably Go to Bed' while working where?

At his own house, Smyers built the whole track alone, and he had kept its title stored on his phone for months beforehand.

Which 2015 single gave Dan + Shay their first number one on Billboard's Country Airplay chart?

Nothin' Like You reached the top in December 2015, beating the duo's previous best of number eleven with their debut single.

Dan + Shay and Carrie Underwood covered 'Only Us' for the 2021 film soundtrack of which stage musical?

Dear Evan Hansen reached cinemas in 2021, and its soundtrack added covers by pop names including Sam Smith and SZA.

Which deaf model and actor plays the hiker who teaches sign language in Dan + Shay's 'Tequila' music video?

Nyle DiMarco, a winner of both America's Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars, inspired the duo with his advocacy for the deaf community.

Which visual theme runs through Dan + Shay's dark-room video for 'All to Myself', where the duo never appear together?

Shadows of the song's own words fall across the wall, cast by sheets of paper with the lyrics cut into them.

Which songwriter from Sterling, Kansas, has writing credits on both 'Tequila' and 'All to Myself' by Dan + Shay?

Nicolle Galyon was named BMI Country Songwriter of the Year in 2019, the first woman to take that title since Taylor Swift in 2010.

In the playful video for Dan + Shay's single 'Steal My Love', the duo play which kind of criminals?

Bank robbers after a mysterious briefcase locked in a vault, the pair end up leading rival crooks on a chase through town.

The video for Dan + Shay's debut single was filmed in which South Carolina resort city named in the song?

Myrtle Beach spots in the clip include the Fun Plaza arcade and the city's oceanfront boardwalk.

Dan + Shay's 2021 song 'Lying' borrows from which Bill Withers classic, earning the late singer a writing credit?

Lean on Me, a number one for Withers in 1972, is worked into a jazzy, piano-driven tune that the duo paired with a choreographed dance video.

Which pop star, a co-writer of the Dan + Shay track 'Body Language', took the duo on tour in Australia in 2019?

Shawn Mendes had the duo join the Australian and New Zealand dates of his 2019 tour, two years before the co-write appeared on an album.

Dan + Shay were the featured guests on the 2023 single 'That's Not How This Works' by which pop singer-songwriter?

Charlie Puth wrote it with the duo over Zoom in April 2020, then held it back for three years; Sabrina Carpenter stars in the video.

Dan + Shay sing on 'Those Days', a track from the 2016 album Brave Enough by which violinist?

Lindsey Stirling, the dancing YouTube violinist, also recruited Christina Perri and Rivers Cuomo as guest singers on the album.

Which song became the third single from Dan + Shay's second album after winning a fan vote?

Road Trippin' won the poll but stalled at number 42 on Country Airplay, making it the duo's first single to miss the top 40.

Which 2013 debut single by Dan + Shay was the most added debut single of the year at country radio?

19 You + Me picked up 59 station adds in its first week and went on to reach number seven on Hot Country Songs.

Dan + Shay named their second album after which hashtag fans kept using about the single 'From the Ground Up'?

#obsessed fit so well that the duo made it the album title, with Shay Mooney saying they were even more obsessed with making music for the fans.

Dan + Shay's 2024 Christmas double album pairs one disc of festive standards with a second disc of what?

New original songs fill the second disc, with Dan Smyers a writer on all eleven tracks and Shay Mooney on five.

The backing vocal on the post-chorus hook of Dan + Shay's 'Tequila' is sung by which relative of Dan Smyers?

His wife Abby sang it, and she is credited again as a background vocalist on the 2020 single 'I Should Probably Go to Bed'.

Which chart-topping single from Dan + Shay's second album was written entirely by outside songwriters?

How Not To came from Adam Hambrick, Paul DiGiovanni and Kevin Bard, and it still gave the duo a third straight Country Airplay number one.

Alongside Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews Band, Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay has cited which R&B star as an influence?

Usher sits on his list of influences, an R&B streak that suits a singer whose first record deal was on a rapper's label.

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that Dan + Shay's country-pop was smooth enough to suit which radio format?

Adult contemporary was his pick, and he heard the duo's sweetness as a counterpoint to the swaggering bro-country of the mid-2010s.

Which former Capitol Nashville president co-produced 'All to Myself' and 'Tequila' with Dan Smyers of Dan + Shay?

Scott Hendricks has produced more than 30 country acts, and during his time running Capitol he oversaw the career of Garth Brooks.

'All Nighter' on Dan + Shay's second album was first recorded by which country trio for a deluxe edition of 747?

Lady Antebellum cut it first as a 2014 bonus track; it is one of only two songs on the duo's album that neither Dan nor Shay co-wrote.

Dan + Shay sang the US national anthem at SoFi Stadium in 2026 before the hosts' opening match of which tournament?

FIFA World Cup organisers booked the duo for the United States' opener against Paraguay, where Jason Sudeikis also took the field as an ambassador.

Dan + Shay sang their Christmas album's title song in November 2024 at a famous New York parade held on which holiday?

Thanksgiving morning's Macy's parade came six weeks after the album's surprise release, which the duo announced only a day in advance.

Dan + Shay appeared in a June 2016 episode of which ABC dating show, during JoJo Fletcher's season?

The Bachelorette booked the duo days after their second album came out, in a season that ended with Fletcher accepting a proposal.

Dan + Shay were the opening act on the We're Not Invisible Tour, starting in March 2014, for which country singer?

Hunter Hayes, in 2012 the youngest solo male act yet to top Hot Country Songs, took the duo out again later in 2014 on his Tattoo (Your Name) Tour.

Which power ballad led off Dan + Shay's 2023 album campaign and peaked at number two on the Country Airplay chart?

Save Me the Trouble came out the day the album was announced, and Dan Smyers said he had never been prouder of a song.

Which track from Dan + Shay's 2023 album gave its name to the duo's 2024 headlining tour?

Heartbreak on the Map was written by Dan Smyers with Jimmy Robbins and the country singer Ernest, and came out the day the album was announced.

Dan + Shay teamed up with which veteran funk and soul band for a 2017 episode of CMT Crossroads?

Earth, Wind & Fire, members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2000, shared the stage with a duo then only two albums into their career.

Which actress from The Bold Type plays a recovering alcoholic in a 2017 Dan + Shay music video?

Katie Stevens, once an American Idol finalist, plays Sophie opposite Pierson Fodé in a story about two people falling in love during recovery.

Dan + Shay's '10,000 Hours' beat the Streaming Songs chart peak of which Florida Georgia Line smash in 2019?

Cruise had peaked at number nine; the duo's collaboration went higher to become the chart's top-ranked non-holiday country song to that point.

The 2006 album by Dan Smyers's emo band Transition was produced by Mike Herrera, frontman of which pop-punk band?

MxPx's singer and bassist produced the Floodgate Records release, years before Smyers swapped emo for country.

Dan + Shay released their 2014 debut album through the Nashville division of which major record label?

Warner companies moved fast: within two months of meeting, the pair had several publishing offers and signed with Warner/Chappell Music.

Dan + Shay spent the summer of 2016 on the Good for a Good Time Tour as guests of which country star?

Darius Rucker took the duo out from June to September 2016, the same summer their second album arrived.