“We've Become Good Friends”: Eric Church Shares How His New Song with Morgan Wallen, ‘Number 3 and Number 7’, Came About

Ahead of his spellbinding To Beat The Devil double-header at London's Royal Albert Hall, Eric Church sat down with Absolute Radio Country's Baylen Leonard to reveal how his new collaboration with Morgan Wallen, ‘Number 3 and Number 7’, came about.

It serves as one of the many stand-outs from Wallen's blockbuster new opus, I'm the Problem, which also features stellar link-ups with Tate McRae, ERNEST, Post Malone and HARDY.

‘Number 3 and Number 7’ is a storytelling masterclass from the song's co-writers, Rocky Block & Blake Pendergrass. Over the course of the undulating, enchanting offering, Wallen and Church regale listeners with the tale of a wild child who learns the hard way that a need for speed and a taste for whiskey are a dangerous combination.

It pivots nimbly around a play on the fact that No. 3 was the number associated with legendary racing driver, Dale Earnhardt, while No. 7 is emblazoned across Jack Daniel's bottles.

While chatting to Baylen Leonard, host of Absolute Radio Country and Head of Music at Holler, Eric Church reflected on the moment he first crossed paths with Morgan Wallen.

Church mused, “I met him just after he started out. We've become good friends, we golf and fish together...I think the first time - it makes you feel old - but he told me the story. I think he was 15 or 16, and he came to a show in Knoxville, Tennessee. The first time he saw me play, he decided he wanted to be a country artist”.

The ‘Springsteen’ hitmaker went on to light-heartedly joke that, while he was honoured, it also made him painfully aware of their age gap, “And that's great...until you realise he's 15 or 16, and I'm, you know, I'm that much older”, before warmly explaining, “But Morgan and I have become real good friends over the years”.

As for ‘Number 3 and Number 7’, which marks the second collaboration between Church and Wallen, after 2023's ‘Man Made a Bar’, The Chief emphasised that he was immediately a fan of the track, “I loved it. The song was great, and Morgan and I have gotten closer the last couple of years, so it was easy to do”.

In the lead-up to dropping I'm the Problem, Morgan Wallen touched on how he only wanted to record ‘Number 3 and Number 7’ if Eric Church was happy to be the featured artist, “I cut that song strictly because I wanted Eric Church on the song. I asked him beforehand if he wanted to get on it before I recorded it in the studio”.

The ‘I Got Better’ singer-songwriter endearingly expanded, “I've said many times how much of an impact Eric has had on me as a musician and as an artist, and now he's become one of my closest friends. To have a mentor and a friend like that is super special. I'm still a big fan of of his art and the way that he evolves as a musician”.

Although he wasn't a featured vocalist, Eric Church leant his pen to Morgan Wallen's 2021 masterpiece, Dangerous, with the ‘Drink in My Hand’ crooner writing the final track, ‘Quittin’ Time’. With Church and Wallen recently becoming co-owners of Field & Stream, we're hoping they'll be hanging out a lot in the next few months - and taking some time to cut another top-shelf duet before too long.

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