University of North Carolina Athletics
Rice Takes Music To The Top
August 25, 2014 | Football, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
There was a time in Chase Rice's life when late August meant preparation for the Carolina season opener. Now, he's about to start a nationwide tour on the back of a new album that currently heads the iTunes country charts.
Rice spent five years in Chapel Hill as a Tar Heel linebacker, going out in style with a career-high 10 tackles in his final home game--a victory over Duke--in 2008. But around the same time his football career was ending, which often puts a punctuation on the can't-believe-this-is-happening part of life for many people, Rice's incredible post-football life was just beginning. It's a journey that would eventually see him described as the "Forrest Gump of country music" in an ESPN feature story last week, because of the way he's seemingly fallen to the top of everything he's tried. He's been a major network reality television star. He's won a NASCAR championship as a member of the pit crew.
And now, he has the number-one country album in America according to the iTunes country charts, not too long after many people in Nashville told him he probably wouldn't succeed as a singer. Rice broke into the country scene as a songwriter, including a writing credit on the inescapable Florida Georgia Line hit "Cruise."
With songwriting credibility in hand, Rice crafted a unique business setup for his own performing career that might be a trendsetter in the music business. That led him to last week's album release, when his Ignite the Night appeared on iTunes on Tuesday and immediately shot to number-one on the country chart, where it has resided ever since.
Of special note from that album to Carolina fans is the song "Carolina Can," with numerous references to Chapel Hill and the Tar Heel state:
Fittingly, Rice's album was released on his father's birthday, a perfect tribute to a man who had a significant impact both on his son's football career and music career before passing away in 2008. Rice, who calls his time playing football for Carolina "the best experience of my life," will make multiple stops nearby during his Ignite the Night tour: he'll be in New Bern on September 3, Winston-Salem on September 16, Charlotte on Oct. 11 and Raleigh on Dec. 18.
Rice's full album is available for purchase in stores or on iTunes.