Clearing up any rumors surrounding the infamous day. It’s safe to say that Koe Wetzel is known for a lot of things. While many might point to his patented country-grunge sound, which, for all intents and purposes, opened up a path for other bands like Treaty Oak Revival and more to become stars, or even his rowdy live shows, it’s safe to say that February 28th (and the events surrounding it) has remained one of the most important pieces of Wetzel’s lore. In case you’re unfamiliar with what all went down on that fateful day, which inspired his now-iconic, certified-gold song, “February 28, 2016,” the story is actually quite simple. The track was written after Koe was arrested for public intoxication in Stephenville, Texas, many years ago, and wound up spending a few nights in jail. It was included on his 2016 album Noise Complaint, and remains one that fans still scream along every word to at his concerts. Though Wetzel has gone on record saying he’s grown a little tired of the song over the past few years, the track and the day itself have only gotten more popular as he continues to become a mainstream star in the genre. At first, every February 28th was a little more than a celebration of Wetzel and the song itself. Nowadays, it’s become nothing short of an unofficial holiday with fans taking to social media every year joking about how they’re either going to get trashed, go to Taco Bell, catch a public intoxication charge or all three in honor of the East Texas singer. Despite the day and the song itself being such an important part of Koe’s ethos over the years, not much was known about the exact moments leading up to the arrest and iconic mugshot. That changed today with a brand new video he posted to his socials, and boy, is it a doozy. View this post on Instagram Opening the video up, Wetzel would admit that he never thought the song was going to become as popular as it is today: “I didn’t think whenever I wrote this song that it was gonna do what it did.” At the time, the “Sweet Dreams” singer was living in Stephensville, Texas, working a “sh*tty” job at the local baseball fields. Not having a lot of money at the time, he went to a party at a friend’s house with nothing but a bottle of White Wolf vodka. As his late friend told him after getting out of jail, he’d leave the party at one point, come back, then proceed to drink for a few more hours. At some point in the night, Wetzel would then keep going on and on about how he wanted Taco Bell. Clearly intoxicated, everyone at the party told him not to go, but he didn’t listen. Saying “f*** this,” he’d then leave to get food before waking up in jail. “I was in Stephensville, Texas. I wasn’t going to school. I think I was working at the baseball fields. I don’t know what it was; I was working a sh*tty job. [I] went to my buddy’s house one Friday night, and we drank all night long. I didn’t have a lot of money, but I had a bottle of White Wolf vodka. My buddy, he’s not with us anymore, he passed away, but he told me after I got out of jail. He was like, ‘Yeah, you left, and then you came back, and then we drank for another two or three hours. Then you kept talking about Taco Bell and how you wanted some food. So we tried to stop you from leaving, but you just said f*** this and you left.’ Then I woke up in jail.” Wetzel would then describe the aftermath of the moments leading up to the public intoxication arrest. As he describes it, his truck was five blocks from his friend’s house with the hood popped up and the front doors swung wide open. More importantly, he was found by the police lying face down in a soccer field, leading the police who found him to think he was dead before he woke up and got arrested. “My truck was about five blocks from his house, out of gas. The hood was popped, and my front doors were swung open. I was laying face down in the middle of a soccer field. The cop said he thought I was dead whenever he walked up on me. But yeah, so I got arrested.” The “Good Die Young” singer would then reflect on the impact both the night and the song have had on his career over the past decade. Noting how he still finds it unbelievable that so many fans still love the track and celebrate it as a holiday, Wetzel would admit that he’s not sure if he’s ready to celebrate the 10-year anniversary this weekend. “In a sense, I guess you could say that February 28, 2016, kind of helped me get to where I am today. Here we are, 10 years later, and it’s crazy that people are still jiving with the song. And i’s become this holiday in Texas, I guess, unbeknownst to me. Yeah, I don’t know if I’m ready for the 10-year anniversary.” Given the fact that we’ve had quite literally a decade to speculate everything that went down that fateful night, it seems a bit surreal to actually receive the full explanation of the events leading up to the now-famous arrest. I’m honestly not sure how to even feel about knowing the true backstory now. Either way, Koe has finally given fans the full story, something they’ve been craving for what feels like forever at this point. “February 28, 2016” The post “Cop Said He Thought I Was Dead”: Koe Wetzel Reveals The Real Story Behind “February 28, 2016” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.