Dan + Shay Reveal Social Media Break Helped Them Prep for New Music in 2026
Dan + Shay have revealed that stepping away from social media was exactly what jump-started their creative engines for new music. The duo, who are once again nominated for this…
Dan + Shay have revealed that stepping away from social media was exactly what jump-started their creative engines for new music. The duo, who are once again nominated for this year’s CMA Vocal Duo of the Year, a category they've won twice, shared their excitement about the nomination and why they took a much-needed social media hiatus.
Dan + Shay: 'We’re Grateful'
Shay Mooney told Country Now how grateful they are to still be recognized: “We’ve been doing this for so long. We’re grateful to, truly, just grateful to be involved and included in the conversation. It’s been amazing over the years to be able to even be included with so many amazing artists. And the fact that we’ve been doing this since 2012 is unbelievable.”
The duo is up against Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Maddie & Tae, and The War And Treaty.
Creativity Loves a Good Reset
Aside from their nomination, the Grammy Award-winning singers also addressed their social media hiatus, a break that had fans worried they might have split up. Dan Smyers explained, “This year has been a bit of a change for us. We took a year off the road to reset. It was necessary after 10 years of doing the thing, and we just wanted to spend more time writing. Shay’s got a new baby at home…We’ve been locked in the studio. We didn’t post on social media. People were like, ‘Oh my gosh, did they break up?’ We just literally forgot to post on social media.”
Dan + Shay also reassured their worried fans by popping on Instagram to explain what they've been up to and share that they’ve been working hard to release new music. The pair recently released their brand-new holiday song, “Long Live Christmas.”
They explained that they have been in a good space creatively. “We were just in the studio nonstop, hanging, enjoying being home. We hadn’t taken a break from the road since 2013, so it was…it felt good. It was our first kind of real break, even though it wasn’t a break. We were in the studio. But no, it’s been really good.”
They also recently covered Taylor Swift’s “Back to December” and joked that if Swift and fiancé Travis Kelce are looking for performers for their wedding, they’ll drop everything instantly: “We can put it out in the world. We are open for business. We will do it for free…Even if we’re not open, we’ll just clear whatever we’re doing. We’ll be free, I’ll tell you that.”
Dan + Shay practically have VIP wedding passes at this point. They performed “10,000 Hours” for Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin, and sang “Speechless” at Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s Las Vegas wedding.
