Kacey Musgraves Recorded Grammy Award-Winning Zach Bryan Duet 'I Remember Everything' with Strep Throat

"I was like 'I hope this doesn't really suck,'" Musgraves recalled of her voice while recording in an interview on 'Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist'

Kacey Musgraves isn't "blowin' smoke" — she was really sick when she recorded "I Remember Everything" with Zach Bryan.

In an exclusive clip from the country star's interview on Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist, airing this coming Sunday, March 10, she opened up about the "funny story" behind her duet with the "Oklahoma Smokeshow" singer, 27.

"I got asked if I wanted to do the song, and of course, I was like, 'I'm down,' but I wasn't feeling well," she tells host Willie Geist. "Like my throat was hurting. I had just gone on like this trip. And they were like, 'Well, we kind of have a deadline. Like, if you want to be on this song you kind of got to get it in by like, this day.'"

Kacey Musgraves on 'Sunday TODAY'
Kacey Musgraves.

Sunday TODAY

Since it was in a few days, Musgraves, 35, decided to "give it a shot."

"So like, I go to the studio, and I'm like, man, my voice is not cooperating. And I was like, 'I hope this doesn't really suck,'" she recalls.

The seven-time Grammy winner was able to get through the song and felt "pretty good about it."

"But I left the studio, and I went to the doctor immediately and I had strep," she says. "And I like, texted like the engineer. I was like, 'I'm so sorry, I had strep, and I was just all up in your space.'"

Kacey Musgraves on Sunday TODAY
Kacey Musgraves on 'Sunday Sitdown' with Willie Geist.

Sunday TODAY

Because of her condition at the time of recording "I Remember Everything," Musgraves called the track "sick as f--- literally." (She made the same joke on Instagram when the song was released last August.)

Ultimately, she was just pleased to work with Bryan because the "Rainbow" artist loves the song.

"I connected with him immediately, and I'm just grateful he asked me," Musgraves concludes.

The pair's collaboration was released in August 2023 as a part of Bryan's self-titled second studio album.

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Kacey Musgraves at the Kacey Musgraves x Boy Smells "Deeper Well" Collaboration Launch Party
Kacey Musgraves attends the Kacey Musgraves x Boy Smells "Deeper Well" Collaboration Launch Party held on Feb. 22, 2024 in New York City.

Dolly Faibyshev/WWD via Getty Images

The track, a sparse ballad that details the downfall of a relationship from different perspectives, took home an award for best country duo/group performance at the 2024 Grammys.

Musgraves is set to release her sixth studio album Deeper Well on March 15. She shared the title track as the first single last month and the LP's second single "Too Good to Be True" last Friday.

The "High Horse" performer will also hit the road for her Deeper Well World Tour starting April 28 in Dublin, before hitting Europe and the UK ahead of the North American leg on Sept. 4 in State College, Pennsylvania. The tour will wrap in her hometown of Nashville on Dec. 7.

The full interview airs this Sunday, March 10 on NBC’s Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist.


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