When Parker McCollum released his self-titled album last year, he was worried that he would be run out of Nashville.
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"I'd freak out, like, 'What have I done? This is career suicide,'" McCollum admitted. "Then I'd go back to the studio the next day and keep recording. You're forced to sit there and live with the album for several days in a row, so you're on this journey of 'All right, this is who I am.' But I just never enjoyed making a record as much as I enjoyed this one."
And while the album didn't kill the "Pretty Heart" singer's career, people are quick to point out that its streaming numbers don't match his previous work: the 2025 album has 102 million streams on Spotify.
While that seems great to us, it pales in comparison to his first two albums. According to Kworb, Goldchain Cowboy has about 458 million streams, and 2023's Never Enough has about 349 million.
And when people bring those stats up to McCollum, he responds with some strong words.
Parker McCollum Loves His New Record
Troy Cartwright mentioned the numbers of McCollum's albums to him on a recent episode of his podcast Ten Year Town.
"A lot of people have mentioned that to me. Compared to my last two records, [Parker McCollum] is not even remotely close to the same performance numbers-wise," the 33-year-old singer said. "And, I will tell you with 100% honesty, Troy. I don't give a s*** one bit for one reason."
"I love that record so much," he added. "Going into it, I was like, 'Man, this ain't — this record's for me."
McCollum Said He Made the Record After Feeling Burnt Out
McCollum added that he wanted to try something new after feeling a little burnt out writing his first two albums.
"I don't want to just do it to do it," he said. "If I'm not writing songs I love and songs that I think could stand the test of time, that are good for songwriting and country music, then I don't want to just be putting s*** out just to put s*** out."
He added, "Before I could ever really consider not doing [music] anymore, I'm going to go give every single thing I possibly have to this record.
"For the first time, really ever, all f***s were out the window. I'm going to be 100% Parker McCollum, the singer-songwriter, in the studio... I've never done that, man. I've always been just kind of reserved about it."
He then said, "I had to go make that record to fall in love with this thing again."
You can watch the full podcast episode below.
