KELLIE PICKLER LAUNCHES “TOUGH”

NASHVILLE, TN – May 27, 2011 – Growing up the way Kellie Pickler did, being tough was a necessity. That strength is the essence of her new single “Tough,” the debut single from her forthcoming album. The song was written by hit songwriter Leslie Satcher specifically for Pickler, and is now at country radio.

Nearly three years removed from her sophomore album, Pickler has been writing with a diverse array of songwriters from Dean Dillon to Leslie Satcher, and recording with accomplished producer Frank Liddell and engineer Luke Wooten. During a writing session, Satcher was quickly taken by Pickler’s personality and story and decided to write a song about her. “Kellie speaks lyrically,” enthused Satcher. “Many of the lines in ‘Tough’ were inspired by conversations I had with her. I’ve only written two other songs specifically for artists. One was ‘Troubadour’ for George Strait and the other was ‘You Remain’ for Willie Nelson which he recorded with Bonnie Raitt.”

Of the song Pickler said, “When somebody tells you they’ve written a song for and about you, the first thing I think is ‘how do they see me?’ When I heard that Leslie had written a song called ‘Tough’ for me, I just wanted to love it so much and I do! She knows me, she knows my heart and she captured who I am. When we recorded the song I said, ‘I want spoons on the record and one of the musicians got up, went to the kitchen, grabbed some spoons and bam, we got spoons on the track!”

On Saturday, Kellie will join CNN’s Anderson Cooper at the Indianapolis 500 Parade. She will kick off the parade with a performance of “Tough.” Fans can listen to and share the new song exclusively at kelliepickler.com.