Jackson Dean stopped by The Bobby Bones Show for the first time to talk about the viral video of him singing the National Anthem, the story behind getting his record deal, and his first number one song “Don’t Come Lookin'.”
Dean has been talked about before on the show from an old video of him that went viral where he is in full football pads with his acoustic guitar singing the National Anthem before one of his High School football games. When the school’s athletic director asked him to do it, he said yes, but only if he could do it his own way. He admitted that going viral felt wild. He had just turned 18 and people would recognize him while he’d be out getting food. While he was getting a tattoo done, he received a phone call from Ellen DeGeneres asking him to come on her show to talk about the video. It never happened, but he did go on Steve Harvey’s show.
He grew up singing music at his grandfather's bar that would host an open mic night every Thursday. For the longest time, Dean’s dad would try to get him to go and sing there, but he never would. When he finally decided to do it, the first song he ever performed was a cover of Ronnie Dunn “Cost of Livin’.” The song means a lot to his father because he is a blue-collard stonemason. The first time he heard him perform that cover, he cried. His father has always been very supportive of him pursuing music.
Dean has a lot to celebrate these days. He just got his first number one song with “Don’t Come Lookin',” but it took Dean a while to find his place in Nashville. He started coming to Nashville when he was 15 with his family. Back home, he was writing songs and starting to sell out places in his hometown. People started to notice and would call and ask him to have a meeting. He hired a publisher and started writing songs with songwriters and doing some shows around Nashville. He got offered four record deals and decided to sign with Big Machine Records because he felt they truly had a spot for him there.
Dean’s number one song, “Don’t Come Lookin'” is featured on his debut album, Greenbroke, that came out earlier this year. It also was played on an episode of Yellowstone.