Lee Brice Has 55 Reasons to Celebrate ‘Love Like Crazy’

Lee Brice was feted at a party in Nashville on Tuesday evening to celebrate the success of his hit, 'Love Like Crazy,' which, according to Billboard magazine's year-end issue, was the most-heard country song of 2010. The tune also broke records as the longest-running country chart hit at 55 weeks, usurping Eddy Arnold's 1948 hit, 'Bouquet of Roses' at 54 weeks.

The No. 55 has special significance for Lee -- it was the number of his high-school football jersey. "They called me double-nickel in high school," Lee tells The Boot. "That was my number all the way through high school, and I was always really proud of it. So, I didn't even notice until all of a sudden it was there. 'Love Like Crazy' was at 55 weeks, and they were all like, '55! 55!' I said, 'Guys! That was my football number in high school that I lived by!' [laughs] That was a cool thing."

While Lee didn't write the song himself, he felt connected to it as soon as he heard it, saying that it reminded him of the story of his grandparents who were married for 54 years and that fans relate to the song just as much as he does.

"We've got a rocking country show," the South Carolina native explains. "We've got a high-energy, loud, rock-and-roll, country show, and I look out and at almost every show and there's these young kids, young adults, and then there's always an elderly couple -- I mean, an 80-year-old couple that's sitting there the whole time. At first, I was like, 'What in the world is going on here?' So, I'll end up seeing them after the show, I'll go out and sign [autographs], and they come up to me and they're arm-in-arm. They're 80-years-old, and they tell me, 'We just had to hear that song. That is our life song.' I'm like, 'You sat through this rock-and-roll show? Are you OK? Are your ears OK?' They say, 'Oh, we can't hear anyway.' But their stories, they really feel like it was a song meant for them personally. And I believe it was ... everybody who shows up and tells me their stories, it is their song."

Lee will enjoy some time off over the holidays before hitting the road again for a show in Farmington, N.M., on January 19.