Joe Nichols Begins a New Chapter With ‘Greatest Hits’

Joe Nichols is celebrating nearly a decade of hit-making, as well as some personal changes, with his new 'Greatest Hits' collection, released this week.

"I view it as a closing of a roller coaster chapter of my life, all of which is music." Joe tells The Boot. "It starts off with 'The Impossible,' the explosion of 'The Impossible' and 'Brokenheartsville,' then kind of a lull and then 'Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,' another explosion, and then 'Size Matters' and 'I'll Wait for You.' Those musical moments that I'm really thankful for, and then there are some that have been embarrassing and some have been tremendous for me. All that is summed up in this 'Greatest Hits' album."

Joe adds that when he considers the songs on the collection, he thinks about each one and the stories, events and places behind them. "It was really cool to look at that list of songs and reflect, and it makes me really grateful that I'm able to release a 'Greatest Hits' album, and hopefully, beginning a second chapter."

Joe's hits have overwhelmingly connected with fans, but the fact that he has mentioned a particular car -- Cadillac's Coupe de Ville -- in three of the 10 tunes on the record has not yielded the same kind of connection with a free vehicle. "It's karma. It's done well so far. [laughs] I haven't gotten a Cadillac endorsement or anything, which is what we were shooting for," he jokes. "It's pretty tough to get a Cadillac endorsement, apparently. You've got to be Tiger Woods, well, used to be anyway."

So how did Joe end up with three songs -- 'Brokenheartsville,' 'Size Matters' and 'I'll Wait for You' -- featuring a Coupe de Ville in the lyrics? "It's kind of just a coincidence," the singer says with a shrug. "'Coupe de Ville' sings pretty. [laughs] If you can fit it in a song, it sings well. No, there was nothing special about it."

The collection features his debut hit and first No. 1 song, 'The Impossible,' which successfully launched him as a household name, if not a household face. "'The Impossible' was huge for me for a number of different reasons. It was my introduction to country music," Joe says. "It was the first thing everybody saw of me, this brand new guy with this voice. I heard a lot of people say when they met me, 'Wow! We just pictured somebody a lot older, because it's a really country-sounding voice.' So, it was my introduction. It got people familiar with me."

"I think the meaning of the song, the message of the song, was humongous," he adds. "We were coming out of 9-11. We were still kind of young in the first year of recovery after 9-11. A lot of things had changed and people were still very, very aware of that, so the message of the song is kind of rebuilding; don't give up, never underestimate things that you think are impossible. That had a lot of hidden correlation with what was going on with the country."

Joe is currently scaling the charts with his latest single, 'The Shape I'm In,' which also appears on the 'Greatest Hits' album. He also just released the music video for the single as a tribute to military personnel who have been injured in service.

Download Joe Nichols Songs | Buy 'Joe Nichols' Greatest Hits'