Hunter Hayes Admits ‘Storm Warning’ Was Not the First Song of His He Heard on the Radio

After living the dream in Nashville for almost a decade, it’s no wonder that Hunter Hayes doesn’t always remember the right story when it comes to hearing his song on the radio for the first time.

While many people look at “Storm Warning” for Hayes’ debut release, he actually found a touch of fame when his rough mix of the track, “Wanted,” got played on air by a massive Nashville DJ at the time. Even Hayes finds himself amazed by the spontaneous opportunity he had in that moment and still thanks the station for reaching out when he was still undiscovered in a sense.

“I have actually told the wrong story for a while, only because my brain chronologically files everything like we all do. For me, when we were on the radio tour or the first time we released the single… while I was in the studio, Gerry House’s second-to-last day on air, he played ‘Wanted’ before it was done. We rushed mix, because he had heard something or somehow he heard a piece of it and really wanted to play it on it. I had just started the record process, so I was a year away from the first single coming out, right? So we mixed ‘Storm Warning’ and ‘Wanted’ first because I was really excited about that opportunity. Sure enough, I have an iPhone recording literally listening to the radio at our house we were renting at the time because we had barely moved to Nashville,” explained Hayes to Sounds Like Nashville during an exclusive interview.

Although Hayes grew up in the spotlight somewhat, the quick taste of fame he experienced while having “Wanted” blast through those speakers was unimaginable for the country singer at the time and changed everything for the better in his career.

“Like this is way far ahead, like this is way better than I could have ever dreamed my first debut to be. So as far as like the record—my debut record with Atlantic—I was really fortunate. Our hometown station in Lafayette, Louisiana has always been super supportive. Growing up, they were playing my stuff. I kind of got a taste of what it would be like, but that was a really big moment because that was the debut record. That was the one. That was like the one thing my whole life zeroed in around and it was magic. It was really magic,” he said.

Hunter Hayes may soon hear himself on country radio once again as he’s just released his new single, “Rescue.”