"Backup Plan" is a high-octane duet between Bailey Zimmerman and Luke Combs. It's the first collaboration between the two Nashville stars.
The song is a motivational anthem about tuning out naysayers in favor of chasing one's own ambitions. It tells us that the only real "backup plan" you need is the one that involves standing up, dusting yourself off, and charging ahead.
Zimmerman handles the verses like a man who's been through a few storms and has figured out how to smile through the downpour. Combs reflects on the inevitability of hardship but assures us we'll be fine if we keep moving forward.
Bailey Zimmerman didn't write "Backup Plan"; Jimi Bell, Jon Sherwood, and Tucker Beathard penned the track. Bell and Beathard previously wrote Zimmerman's
Religiously. The Album cut "
You Don't Want That Smoke."
Zimmerman first heard "Backup Plan" as a demo. He immediately connected with its message, and knew he wanted to record it. From that first listen, he had a hunch: Luke Combs had to be the other half of it. There was, however, a small hitch; they'd never met and Zimmerman didn't have his number.
Fate intervened when Combs invited Zimmerman to perform at his Concert For Carolina benefit concert, which allowed them to meet and exchange numbers. "I was still a little nervous to send it to him, so I kept listening to the song and listening to it, and then one day I was like, 'Dude, I'm sending it,'" Zimmerman recalled.
Along with the voice recording of what would become "Backup Plan," Zimmerman wrote, "I don't know what you got going on this year as far as music but I've been wanting to send you this song for a while that I think me and you could crush." He instructed Combs to "jam it and let me know what you think."
Combs didn't respond immediately - Zimmerman later joked about nearly being "ghosted" – but he eventually replied and the collaboration moved forward.
Bailey Zimmerman and Luke Combs debuted "Backup Plan" live on April 27, 2025, at Stagecoach 2025, which, for the uninitiated, is like Coachella's flannel-wearing cousin.
The music video, directed by Jenny Stoff and Chris Perkel, was filmed during their Stagecoach performance. In the clip, Luke Combs says of the song,
"I was on tour in Australia in January, and it was a whole lot of fun. We enjoyed the hell out of it... I got a text message from a number that I didn't have saved in my phone. It was like an MP3 of a song… and then I realized as I listened to it who it was, and now we're doing this song together, and this gentleman is going to come out on stage with me tonight. His name is Bailey Zimmerman."
Zimmerman and his producer Austin Shawn first got their hands on a barebones demo co-written by Tucker Beathard, Jimi Bell, and Jon Sherwood in early 2023. The demo was about as stripped down as they come, just Tucker on guitar and vocals, recorded as a voice memo. But for Shawn, it sparked an idea.
"I loved it right away because it reminded me of '
The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac,"
Shawn told Billboard. "It had that red dirt energy, but with the hooks of modern country - exactly the mix Bailey and I lean toward."
Once Combs agreed to come on board, Shawn sent the session files to Combs' longtime producer Chip Matthews, and soon enough, Bailey and Shawn found themselves hanging out at Chip's house.
"We spent about two hours just talking, laughing, telling stories - and maybe 10 minutes recording vocals," Shawn said. "Luke's that good. Three passes and it sounded like a finished record."
"Backup Plan" may now feel like a chest-thumping anthem, but that's not how it started. "It was just Tucker, his guitar, and a phone," Shawn explained. "But the sentiment was there - that idea of overcoming adversity, of not being somebody's fallback."
With that emotional spark in place, Zimmerman and Shawn went to work building it up. They wanted it to hit hard. They wanted the stomp, the swagger, the let-me-show-you-who-I-am energy. The result? A song that blasts out of the speakers like it was born for festival stages and tailgate stereos.
Zimmerman told Genius that when he first listened to the opening verse, he envisioned a struggling person surrounded by doubters, emphasizing that success isn't about quitting when others talk trash - it's about getting back up no matter what.
The song's chorus embodies Zimmermans's philosophy: If you have a "do or die dream," protect it, pursue it relentlessly, and don't let anyone clip your wings. For him, this fire is a gift most people never get to experience, making it central to his approach to life and music.
