“No Wonder Flatts Fired Your Ass”: Eric Church Hilariously Shares What Happened When He Criticised Toby Keith's White Jeans

During his spellbinding Highways Festival double-header at London's Roundhouse this weekend, Eric Church regaled attendees with an array of fascinating, eyebrow-raising and tear-jerking stories as he reflected on his stellar career so far.

As well as serenading the enchanted audience with stirring, choir-backed renditions of ‘Johnny’ and ‘Hell of a View’, The Chief delivered pared-down takes on fan-favourites such as ‘Springsteen’, ‘Record Year’, ‘On the Road’ and ‘Closer Than You’.

During the intimate set, one of the most entertaining stories arrived when Church was reflecting on the period that followed the release of his debut album, Sinners Like Me.

He began by recalling the now-infamous moment he got kicked off the Rascal Flatts tour for repeatedly playing past his curfew, before being replaced by Taylor Swift.

Church stated that the Rascal Flatts run was “the biggest tour in country music”, quipping that this was “shocking to me too”, drawing laughs throughout the Royal Albert Hall. He outlined, “I'm not getting along with Flatts. They're not getting along me”.

He went on to explain how Taylor Swift rang him to tell him she'd be replacing him, gushing that she “was lovely, by the way. She called and said, ‘I hope there's no hard feelings. I love what you do’ and I said, ‘Listen, Taylor. They're going to love you’”.

The only stipulation Church made was that, when Swift earned her first gold record, she'd send it to him - and he joked that this moment arrived barely “nine minutes later”.

After getting removed from the Rascal Flatts tour, Eric Church was recruited as an opener for Bob Seger, during which time Church grew his fanbase significantly. Church admitted, however, that he couldn't “get anywhere in country music”.

Eric Church credits Toby Keith as changing this, “The guy that saved me there was Toby Keith...I got a phone call one day...Toby was like, ‘Hey man, I really love the record...you really get fired from Flatts?’ It seemed to be the common question. He was like, ‘Perfect. You're going to fit in great! And I went out with Toby, and it was awesome. His crew was awesome. He was awesome. His fans were awesome”.

Eric Church went on to recall one night when, fuelled by more than a little alcohol, Church decided to offer some fashion advice to Toby Keith, “Toby liked to wear white jeans - like, really white, like stone-washed straight out of 1989. He would wear a pearl snap shirt, but he looked like he chewed the sleeves off himself with his teeth”.

He expanded, “So this one particular night, Toby had finished playing, and I had had about one too many [drinks]...I'm standing out by the bus, and Toby comes walking up in his jeans. And everybody's like, ‘Good show, Big Dog, good show’. And I look at his tour manager, I said, ‘Man, you gotta do something about his white jeans’”.

Church outlined, “He goes, ‘I totally agree. We've been telling him that he can't wear those white jeans’. I said, ‘No, man, it's 2008, like, what the fuck?’...He's like, ‘Listen, we all agree with you. You should tell him’. And this is the time when there should have been flashing lights - danger. I said, ‘Okay’, so we head off for Toby's bus door”.

Ultimately, though, Church was being pranked, “What I didn't know is the joke was on me. Everybody had been watching me say that I was going to tell Toby he does not need to wear white jeans, and the tour manager opened the bus door went up on the bus, but he left the door open. As we go down to the front lounge, all the band and crew crawl into the front lounge, because they have got to hear this shit”.

“We get midway through the front lounge”, he mused, “And the tour manager goes, ‘Hey, Big Dog’, and I see Toby. He's in the back, and I just see his head pop out - ‘Yeah, what's up?’ He goes, ‘EC needs to talk to you - man to man’. I thought, ‘Shit, this is already elevated’, and we walked into Toby's back lounge. He was sitting on a couch, he was on a computer, and then he had his bed beside him. The only way that I could sit across from him was to sit on his bed as he sat on his couch”.

Church set the hilarious scene, “Our knees touched each other, because we're both big guys. So I sit on his bed. I pull my knees up. He sits up. We're touching knees. Those fucking white jeans are still on. And he goes, ‘Everything okay? Everything good?’ I said, ‘Man, it's unbelievable. It's amazing. It's the greatest tour we've ever been on. I cannot thank you enough for this. This has been unbelievable...But I need to talk to you about your jeans’. And he goes, ‘My jeans?’ I said, ‘Man, friends don't let friends wear white jeans in 2008...I can't let you do this’”.

Hilariously, Toby Keith wasn't having any of it, “Toby had this little crooked smile, and he gave it to me - a pirate smile. He said, “No wonder Flatts fired your ass”, before going on, “He said, ‘But out here, we don't fire you. We kick your ass’”.

Church quickly attempted to backtrack, “And Toby's fucking big, so I went, ‘You know what? I changed my mind. I think the jeans are cool...They're almost back in’. I said, ‘You know what? I'm even thinking about, fuck it, I'll wear some tomorrow’”.

He concluded, “And everybody in the whole front lounge busted out laughing. So the next night, true his word - true story - I got to my dressing room and there's a pair of white jeans in my size. It says ‘To Eric, it takes a big dog to wear these daddies’”.

Endearingly, Eric Church revealed that he still has the jeans, before touching on how much he misses those early days of touring, with 13 guys crammed into a 12-person bus. Church finished this segment of the show with a moving rendition of ‘On the Road’.

It was one of the many highlights from Eric Church's powerful London, UK residency, with fans hoping The Chief is planning to return across The Pond before too long.

Elsewhere during his sets, Church spoke about the challenges he faced when he first moved to Nashville, as well as stressing how 2018 was the hardest year of his life, due to facing a life-threatening blood clot, the loss of his brother and the Vegas shooting. This paved the way for his grand finale, which featured spine-tingled, choir-accompanied renditions of ’Johnny’, ‘Take Me to the River’ and ‘Hell of a View’.

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