Blanco Brown Opens Up in First Interview After Near-Fatal Crash
"The Git Up" hit maker details his 2020 motorcycle accident.
Blanco Brown has a way of projecting positivity — it was a big element of his danceable country rap smash, “The Git Up,” in 2019. But for the last few months he’s needed that positivity more than ever.
After a devastating motorcycle accident nearly took his life last August, Brown has slowly recovered to the point he can talk about what happened. And in his first interview since the crash, Brown says he almost didn’t make it.
“There’s nothing more real than laying there and you hear the doctor say, ‘If we don’t get him blood, he’s not going to make it,’ and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Brown tells Billboard. “That was a moment. I could only lay there. I was like ‘Please don’t let me leave.’”
Mixing hip hop with country and an infectious smile, Brown’s “The Git Up” had him on top of the world going into 2020, and is now certified triple-Platinum after spending 12 weeks at Number One on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart. But on August 31 in his hometown of Atlanta, a pickup truck collided head on with Brown’s Indian motorcycle, and the next thing he knew, he was in the hospital.
“It was a scary moment, but I’m just glad that God had his arms around me,” Brown says. “The accident was not my fault. That’s all I can speak on right at this moment.”
The hit maker had broken both arms, wrists, legs and his pelvis, and underwent a grueling 12 hour surgery to basically put his body back together. Doctors were able to save his leg, which Brown tells Billboard was left “hanging,” and the singer spent nearly a month in hospital recovering — much of it in intensive care.
Now home and continuing his recovery, Brown opens up about his emotional state in the accident’s wake, the way fellow country artists like Tim McGraw stepped up to support him, and more, and says he’s getting better little by little. But he also admits he’ll probably make some life changes.
“I can move a bit, but I move like a turtle,” Brown jokes, before going on to say he’ll never ride a motorcycle on the road again. “I’m going to be riding it on the track and the back of my house, but more than likely you won’t see me on the road near you. I’m never going to give someone the opportunity to hit me.”
Meanwhile, he’s looking forward to getting back to work. Brown’s follow up duet to “The Git Up” — the romantic good-timer “Just the Way” featuring Parmalee — continues to build momentum, now inside the Top 5 of Billboard’s Country Airplay radio chart. And with his second album still expected for release this fall, the optimistic talent is doing what he does best: Staying positive.
“I definitely feel like having another chance at life is God’s purpose for me and his will, so I can’t do nothing but keep on making great music that has a meaning,” he says. “The accident, it solidified that you’re here for this purpose. ‘Keep it going. Don’t stop what you’re doing. Don’t let this put a damper on what you do and how you shine and the joy you have. Just continue to be a blessing.’”
