9 Things to Know About Cole Swindell

Cole Swindell turns 37 on June 30, one day after officially sending his new single, “Single Saturday Night,” to country radio, which means he has a few things to celebrate this week. Over the years, the Georgia native has made a name for himself in country music with songs that are both upbeat and downright emotional, with singles like “Chillin’ It” and “You Should Be Here” spanning the emotional spectrum and showing fans that Swindell has plenty to offer.

In 2018, he released his most recent album, All of It, which contains his No. 1 single, “Break Up in the End.” In addition to releasing his own music he’s also written hits for other artists, including Luke Bryan’s “Roller Coaster,” Thomas Rhett’s “Get Me Some of That” and Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll.” Read on for a few facts you might now know about Swindell.

His real name is Colden Rainey

Swindell was born Colden Rainey Swindell, named after his grandfather. While he got teased as a child (the name sounds uncannily like a forecast for a “cold and rainy” day), he said he didn’t mind because of the meaning his name holds.

After leaving college, he sold merchandise for Luke Bryan

Swindell may have started his career as an artist on tour with Bryan, but before that, he was selling merchandise for Bryan. “Me and Luke went to the same college and were in the same fraternity, but at different times,” Swindell explained to Cleveland.com over the phone. “Everybody thinks we went to school together.”

He played multiple sports in high school

The 37-year-old played football, baseball, basketball and golf in high school, and he also ran track. Swindell looked back on his high school days with his video for “The Ones Who Got Me Here,” which saw him visit his high school football field.

He attended Georgia Southern University

Swindell studied marketing there, and the school is the reason for Swindell’s ever-present “GS” hat, which he is rarely photographed without. In 2015, Swindell even partnered with the university for a line of apparel including hats and t-shirts that was sold in stores throughout the Southeast and on Swindell’s tour.

The first time he visited his father’s grave was shot in the video for ‘You Should Be Here’

Swindell’s father, William Swindell, passed away about six weeks after Cole got to tell his dad that he had signed a record deal with Warner Music Nashville in 2013. To honor his dad, Swindell wrote “You Should Be Here” with Ashley Gorley, and the video features footage of the first time he visited his father’s grave in Georgia.

“I wanted this song and video to be as powerful as it could,” he told The Tennessean. “I’ve always wanted to release a song that could actually touch someone and help them through a tough time. I was thinking, ‘Wow, this is that song.’ Getting to shoot this video, I was watching a rough cut of it, I started thinking, ‘Maybe this song is to help me.’”

He knows the words to Rihanna’s “Work”

During an interview with Sounds Like Nashville, Swindell joked that the most inappropriate song he knows all the words to is Rihanna’s 2016 hit. To be fair, the majority of the song is the word “work,” something Swindell noted in the interview. He also named Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl Shake it for Me” as another option.

He drank tea instead of whiskey for his “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey” video

For the video for the third single from Swindell’s debut album, the singer swapped out alcohol when it came to the shoot to make sure he was on his A-game.

“I actually have a tea buzz. I’ve drank more tea than I ever did growing up in Georgia,” he joked to the CMT Hot 20 Countdown. “They’re feeding us tea instead of whiskey, and I got water instead of beer. I’ve gotta be able to perform and sing and do all that. But some of my buddies, we might slip them a beer or two ’cause they’re not used to this.”

His guilty pleasures are pretty universal

Swindell named beer, fat-free popcorn and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream as some of his favorite foods while speaking with Draft Magazine. On the road, he likes to snack on fat-free popcorn, though he admitted that his guitar player sometimes mixes M&Ms in as well.

“We like to do that and find something good on TV to watch,” Swindell shared. “One of my favorite guilty pleasures is Ben & Jerry’s; there’s one in the freezer right now.”

He co-wrote Luke Bryan’s “Beer in the Headlights”

The song appeared on Bryan’s 2013 album Crash My Party, and Swindell told The Boot that he regrets giving it away. “That was my baby,” he said. “I felt like, when he recorded that song… I said, ‘All right, if I write another song I’m that crazy about, and I think I could use it to break into the scene, then I’ve gotta keep it.’”

Swindell also co-wrote two other songs on that album — “Out Like That” and the project’s fifth single, “Roller Coaster.”