Story Behind the Song: Thomas Rhett, ‘Sixteen’

While "Sixteen" could be the final radio single that Thomas Rhett releases from his 2017 album Life Changes, the country star says the song was actually one of the first he wrote for the project, and it played an important role in determining what the rest of the album would go on to sound like. Read on to learn more about how Rhett wrote the song, and why it became such an important piece of his third studio album.

"Sixteen" was actually one of the first songs I wrote for [Life Changes]. I wrote it when I was 25, and I'm almost 29 now, but the last lyric of the song says that I'm 25.

It's crazy how songs that are meant to be on the record kind of continue to raise their hand, and I think "Sixteen" was the first one I wrote that [made me think], "Okay, now we can start shaping the album." It was the first one that I really fell in love with. Then, I started to get in a room with [my co-writers for the album], and we really just started to shape Life Changes around all these different vibes, to make sure it was all really cohesive but every song still sounded fresh.

"Sixteen" is just one of those songs about growing up, you know? Whether you're 15 or 92, I think you can relate to the song two different ways, whether it's wanting to rush through life when you're 15 or wanting to go back to being 16 when you're 92. I think that everybody can relate to the song in some form or fashion.

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