Chase Rice might have been a pro football player if an injury hadn’t altered his career path. Fortunately for country fans, football went by the wayside and Rice, born in 1985 in Florida and raised in North Carolina, pursued his musical gifts. He started putting out DIY records in 2010, but it was his 2014 major-label debut, Ignite the Night, that really launched him to mainstream success. “Ready Set Roll” and “Gonna Wanna Tonight” were all over country radio, and audiences were captivated by Rice’s seamless blending of country twang, pop hooks, and R&B and hip-hop production touches. By this time, he had already earned a piece of country history as a cowriter of Florida Georgia Line’s monumental smash “Cruise.” The duo eventually returned the favor by accompanying Rice to the top of the country charts on their 2020 collaboration “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.”