Artist Friendly | Dan + Shay
Wed 26.08.2026 10:00
On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden sits down with Dan + Shay.
Dan + Shay met at a house party in Nashville in December 2012 and started writing songs together not long after — an unlikely pairing, given Dan came from an emo band background and Shay had been a solo artist on T-Pain's label. Since then, the duo has become one of the most decorated acts in country music history: three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "Tequila," "Speechless," and "10,000 Hours" with Justin Bieber, alongside dozens of ACM, CMA, and Billboard Music Award wins. Their crossover success has made them global streaming juggernauts, and in 2024 they became the first-ever coaching duo in the history of NBC's The Voice.
Sitting down with Joel, Dan + Shay open up about the highs of over a decade together — the awards, the arenas, the recognition — but also the harder work underneath it: learning to communicate honestly, untangling their self-worth from their results, and figuring out what it actually means to build a lasting partnership, both as a band and as best friends.
Performers
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Dan + Shay3x GRAMMY-winning duo Dan + Shay continue to etch a permanent mark on country music – and beyond – with the release of their brand-new single, “Save Me The Trouble.” It’s the first offering from their highly anticipated fifth studio album, Bigger Houses, co-produced by the band’s Dan Smyers and set to release worldwide on September 15th via Warner Music Nashville. Featuring an ascending melody that builds into an explosive chorus, “Save Me The Trouble” showcases a sound indicative of the new record’s direction that emphasizes a more live, organic feel. The long-awaited new music follows the duo’s record shattering, critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning album, Good Things. Also co-produced by Smyers, the highly imaginative LP featured their most recent country radio No. 1’s – the Platinum-certified hits “I Should Probably Go To Bed” and 2x Platinum “Glad You Exist,” which marked the duo’s sixth consecutive No.1 and ninth career No.1, as well as the 5x Multi-Platinum global smash “10,000 Hours” with Justin Bieber. In addition, Good Things was the first country album in the streaming era to achieve RIAA Gold certification at release and is one of the only 12 albums all-genre to be released and go Gold in 2021.
Recently announced as coaches for season 25 of NBC’s Emmy-winning program The Voice, Dan + Shay will join Reba McEntire, John Legend and Chance the Rapper in Spring 2024 as the first-ever coaching duo in the show’s history. The pair will bring a wealth of experience to their team, with a long list of impressive accolades that include becoming the first and only artist to win the GRAMMY Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance 3x consecutively since the category’s inception (2021 – “10,000 Hours,” 2020 – “Speechless,” 2019 – “Tequila”). The reigning Favorite Country Duo or Group winners also recently claimed their 3rd consecutive win for the category at the American Music Awards, where they had swept their categories in 2020, becoming the first country artist ever to win Collaboration of the Year. In addition, the 2x CMA Awards Duo of the Year and 3x ACM Awards Duo of the Year were named Top Country Duo/Group at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.
In the ten years since they formed, Dan + Shay have become global superstars, amassing more than 11 billion streams globally, multiple international No. 1 singles and 49 total RIAA Platinum and Gold certifications in the U.S. alone.