Songfacts®:

• Here, Lee Brice sings about a small-town guy and girl who have known each other for ever. They are very close, but not in a romantic relationship, but tongues are wagging about the nature of their friendship.
  
  There's a rumor going round about me and you
  Stirring up our little town the last week or two
  So tell me why we even trying to deny this feeling
  I feel it, don't you feel it too?
  
  The guy is ready to take their relationship to the next level.
• Brice penned the song with Kyle Jacobs and Ashley Gorley. The singer produced the track himself and he revealed to People that he took an authentic approach to the recording of the tune so he wanted to play every instrument he could, including some "simple but hopefully hooky guitars." As the producer, he "wanted to keep the track emotional, raw and soulful."
• The romantic visual was shot by Brice's friend Ryan "Spidy" Smith and filmed in Nashville. It shows the singer and his wife Sara getting ready for a night out together.
  
  "The idea behind the video was essentially us making the 'Rumor' true," Brice said. "One area of our lives that we have to work so hard at is 'us time.' Between three children, and me being on the road so much, it's important that I show Sara she's loved and appreciated as much as I possibly can. So this is a video romanticizing about a special night out together - just us."
• Back in the mid 2010s, Lee Brice experienced some vocal problems and he had surgery for the condition in October 2016. Before his operation Brice was really struggling to sing or even talk. This lent him to writing more soulful songs rather than rangy tunes and "Rumor" was one of the first ones he penned with this in mind. Brice recalled how the song came together.
  
  "I've got a bass line going," he told ABC Radio "and I'm going to this kind of Motown, groovy, bluesy thing because of the fact that my voice was injured."
  
  "It'll be cool to look back one day," Brice added, "and go, 'You know, there's a reason why that song was created, because I was at a different place vocally.'"
• Lee Brice tips a hat to Bonnie Raitt's song "Something To Talk About" during the second verse.
  
  Well I can shut 'em down, tell them all they're crazy
  I can do whatever you want me to do, baby
  Or you could lay one on me right now
  We could really give them something to talk about
  
  Raitt's 1991 single was written about small-town gossip concerning her relationship with a guy.