Joe Nichols is reflecting back on Anna Nicole Smith. She was a huge fan and supporter of the country artist before her death in 2007.
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Nicole Smith loved Nichols' music and called him one of her favorite artists. So when she passed away, her family reached out about Nichols performing at the funeral. Nichols reflected on the whole thing on Backstage Country with Elaina Smith.
"She was a big fan at that time, and when she passed away, all the craziness that was going on around her death, her family reached out and asked me to play at her funeral," he said. They asked for him to play "I'll Wait For You." "They were like, 'Will you play this song for her? And she loved 'Brokenheartsville,' one of your biggest fans. And if you wouldn't mind playing this Dolly Parton song 'Wings of a Dove.' She said those was her favorite song of all time."
Joe Nichols Talks Funeral
He also added, "'I'll Wait For You' was kind of dying. It was kind of floundering into, like, the 20s. And I was like, absolutely not, man. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be a part of that fray. It's crazy the things that people are saying and doing."
The country artist was hesitant. He really didn't want to be brought into any controversy or anything.
He said, "I was trying to do so many things, trying to be normal. I wanted to model my career after a guy like George Straight or Alan Jackson. Just no controversy, just music. And then I called one of my mentors, somebody I deeply trusted with my life. I said, 'What do you think I should do?' And he says, 'I think you should. You ought to do it. And maybe be a normal voice and a whirlwind of crazy voices. Maybe people start acting a little better when they see somebody that's in that situation not acting crazy. Maybe it might settle everybody down.' And I was like, 'That's a good way to look at it.' All right. So I decided to do it."
So Nichols decided to do the funeral for Smith.
He added, "Everybody had a station and a reporter and a camera set up, like, all throughout that place. It was nuts. And Larry King called and said, 'We'd like to have you on a little bit. But the first thing they'd ask me is, 'You have a relationship with her?' Because all these people were, you know, I'm a young guy at that time, and, you know, how many other guys was she with? And there's this other mystery guy over here and another guy that. It's anonymous. Then I pop up, and I'm her favorite artist. And they're like, 'Whoa, did you guys have a [relationship?] Then I'd be dealing with that forever. And I didn't want stuff like that to define me at that time."
