Ryan Hurd‘s enjoying his first top-ten song as an artist right now, duetting with his wife Maren Morris on “Chasing After You.”

Of course, Ryan’s already been to the top of the chart as a writer, having co-written “What If I Never Get Over You” for Lady A, Luke Bryan‘s “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset,” and Blake Shelton‘s “Lonely Tonight.” 

Ironically, his first major success comes with a tune he didn’t write — one that’s been a hot property for some time.

“This song has been around a long time,” Ryan explains. “And it was held by a handful of artists before us, and for whatever reason didn’t make those albums. And when it became available, I remember asking around if it would be something that I could kind of claim.”

“And I remember [Maren and I] were on our first trip together, which was a while ago, and we were on a beach,” he recalls. “We went to the Caymans, I think. I think that’s the night that Maren said she wanted to be a part of this song.”

“And so it’s gone through a few versions of recordings, and we settled on this one,” Ryan adds.

It turns out “Chasing After You” wasn’t even envisioned as a collaboration at first.

“It was originally not a duet,” Ryan reveals. “But I think picturing it and being able to do that, I think once we saw that it could be, it just became much more powerful.”

You’ll find “Chasing After You” on Ryan’s debut album, Pelago, which comes out October 15. 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.