HARDY went hard for his first official Rock album, QUIT!!, which released last month, and now, the Philadelphia, MS native is taking time to reflect on how it all panned out.

With features including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, the record definitely fits the Rock category, but also invites HARDY’s established Country fan base in as the lyrics lean towards the redneck side.

“I will never, ever be able to escape the Country lyrics because it’s really the only thing I know how to do and whatever kind of music is behind that,” the 33-year-old told Audacy’s Rob + Holly during the Friday Night Takeover. Moving forward, the singer-songwriter says he’ll be making more of an effort not to label his music with a genre when possible and just focus on continuing to stay true to his unique style.

“For the sake of charts and stuff you have to put a genre behind it, but I’m going to try and do a better job or just sayin’, ‘It’s just me, it’s just my music,'” he shared. Whatever genre you want to call it, QUIT!! includes 13 tracks that each stand-out in their own way, with one in particular that has captured the emotions, attention, and love of fans everywhere titled, “Six Feet Under (Caleigh’s Song).”

The reflective, deeply personal tune closes out the album as track 13 and is dedicated to HARDY’s wife, Caleigh, who is well-known by his fans for her support, love, and good time personality.

“I’m not usually a method writer where I feel like everything I go through I have to write, but I just needed to get that emotion out,” HARDY shared of the song that details the highest and lowest moments of his life. “Basically… the month of October in 2023 started off as the worst month of my life and ended as the best,” he shared of the inspiration behind the song. “It started off with the bus accident, which was the first, second maybe third of October… and the 29th was the day I got married. That was such a difficult emotional roller coaster because all the stuff goin’ on.”

He continued, “The best moment of my life — and I can still say that to this day — was Caleigh and I did private vows and hearing her give those vows and I’m sitting there listening to them, and I’m like, ‘I thought I was going to f**king die three weeks ago, I thought I was dead,” he shared. “I owed her that song, I owed her that emotion because sometimes it’s hard for me to put into words all of that.”

The song shows a new side of the couple’s deeply rooted relationship which brings a smile to so many fans as HARDY and Caleigh are well known to be the life of any party. Their own wedding had beer burros, a tattoo parlor, and a 90s Country cover band.

“When I met my wife, I was afraid of her,” HARDY said of his wife’s love for a good time. “She was an animal, dude. She went to Ole Miss [University of Mississippi], which is very — especially in the South — it’s a huge party school and dude, that girl was like, scary.”

He continued, “The first few times I would go down and hang out with her, I would be like, ‘Don’t kill me tonight,’ she was a pretty animal and she could go forever... she’s got that killer instinct in her and I love that about her.”

Hear more about Caleigh’s song, the QUIT!! album and exactly when HARDY plans on attending a Limp Bizkit show by checking out his entire conversation with Audacy’s Rob + Holly for the Friday Night Takeover above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly