Almost as if it was meant to be. Though it didn’t quite reach the meteoric heights of Riley Green and Ella Langley’s recent smash hit collaborations, “you look like you love me” and “Don’t Mind If I Do,” there’s absolutely no denying the success of Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood’s “I’m Gonna Love You” over the past year. Since its release on September 27, 2024, as the lead single off Johnson’s deluxe edition of Leather, the track has already racked up an impressive 99.5 million streams on Spotify alone en route to a Top 10 spot on both of Billboard’s country charts, Hot Country Songs (#7) and Country Airplay (#3). Additionally, it’s been shown quite a bit of love at the award shows, scoring nominations for Music Event and Visual Media of the Year at the 60th ACM Awards as well as Musical Event and Music Video of the Year at the 59th CMA Awards. With all of that being said, “I’m Gonna Love You” has been nothing short of a smash for both Johnson and Underwood, but there was legitimate chance the song never saw the light of day (at least for the “‘Til You Can’t” singer). During a recent conversation with RFD-TV for an episode of On The Record, Johnson would reveal that the road to recording the song was actually quite convoluted. When asked about collaborating with the “Before He Cheats” singer, he’d confirm the fact that Underwood was the first and only option as a duet partner for the song before also noting how much his daughters love her music. “I don’t know why. You know, God makes everything happen for a reason. My daughters love Carrie’s music, and I’ve been listening to her since her very beginning. But me, if I’m driving down the road in my the truck, I’m listening to old Merle Haggard and stuff like that. So there’s a lot of new artists that I find out like, ‘Oh, I  didn’t even know that was them,’ because I stay so glued to the old classics.” Johnson would then reveal that, at the time, “I’m Gonna Love You” was on hold for one of the track’s co-writers, Travis Denning, and amazingly was already pitched to Underwood once before he had even heard the song. “The first time I heard the demo, it was on hold for Travis Denning, one of the writers, and that didn’t work out. I didn’t know that Carrie had gotten the song, and it was talked about and then it didn’t work out. I said, ‘Where did that song go for Leather?’ Then we got it, and I said ‘Carrie Underwood.'” The Texas native would finish by confirming that he was so dead-set on Underwood’s appearance on the track that he was debating scrapping the recording entirely if she passed on it, noting how gracious she was to accept the song after passing on it the first time. “There were some other people in the room that named a few other female artists, a few of the artists I have a good friend/personal relationship with. And I love them, but I just heard Carrie. In my head, I just knew it’s gotta be Carrie. If it’s not her, I just don’t know if I’m gonna cut it. And being the second time that song came into her life, she was gracious enough to say yes.” Completely passing on a song with so much potential as “I’m Gonna Love You” had at the time without one specific artist was certainly a gamble for Johnson, but it turns out it was a pretty damn good one in the long run. Watch the full podcast here: Watch their performance of “I’m Gonna Love You” at the 58th CMA Awards here: Cody Johnson Tour Dates February 6-7 – Birmingham, Alabama – Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex February 13 – Champaign, Illinois – State Farm Center February 14 – Louisville, Kentucky – KFC Yum! Center February 27 – Winston-Salem, North Carolina – LJVM Coliseum February 28 – Columbia, South Carolina – Colonial Life Arena March 6 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – PPG Paints Arena March 7 – Baltimore, Maryland – CGF Bank Arena March 22 – Houston, Texas – Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo March 28 – Little Rock, Arkansas – Simmons Bank Arena April 10 – Bossier City, Louisiana – Brookshire Grocery Arena April 24 – Indio, California – Stagecoach May 2 – Clemson, South Carolina – Death Valley (Clemson Stadium) May 9 – Des Moines, Iowa – Casey’s Corner May 30 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Center July 11 – Cavendish, Prince Edward Island – Cavendish Beach Music Festival July 17-18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide ArenaThe post Cody Johnson Says He Didn’t Want To Record “I’m Gonna Love You” Without Carrie Underwood: “In My Head, I Just Knew It’s Gotta Be Carrie” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.