ExclusiveBilly Ray Cyrus Praises Sam Elliott for His ‘Powerful Charisma’ While Shooting Super Bowl Commercial
Yeehaw! Billy Ray Cyrus teamed up with rapper Lil Nas X and actor Sam Elliott for “The Cool Ranch” Doritos commercial, which is set to air during the 3rd quarter of the 2020 Super Bowl on Sunday, February 2. Ahead of the 54th annual sporting event, Billy Ray opened up to Closer Weekly about what it was like working alongside the iconic A Star Is Born actor.
“There is no way for me to articulate this. It has to be, being a kid from Flatwoods, Kentucky, it has to be as much like what it would’ve been to do a city with Elvis [Presley],” the “Achy Breaky Heart” heart singer, 58, gushes in a new, exclusive interview with Closer Weekly. “It just had to be … like, his charisma is just so freaking beautiful and powerful at the same time.”
Billy Ray — who can be seen strumming on his guitar as Lil Nas X, 20, and Sam, 75, compete in a dance-off in the hilarious Super Bowl commercial — couldn’t help but praise the gun-slinging, cowboy-playing actor for being such a joy on the commercial’s set.
“Some people have either or … Sam Elliot’s [charisma] is both,” the country music star sweetly continued. “And guess what? So is Lil Naz’s. They have the same chemistry … the same beauty about them.”
Billy Ray was beaming as he recalled being apart of the laugh-worthy commercial. “Sam Elliott and Lil Nas facing off with each other, riding the horse like ‘Old Town Road,'” the Hannah Montana alum shared with Closer, adding, “For me, all I got to do is sit there and hit on that old guitar and wear one of my fancy costumes. It was like, one of the best days of my life,” he marveled.
While chatting with Closer, Billy Ray also revealed why he thinks it’s so important to collaborate with artists across different genres. The singer, who took home his first-ever Grammy at the 2020 awards show alongside Lil Nas X for their hit song “Old Town Road,” said his piece of advice is to “not think outside of the box,” but “think like there is no box.”
Considering the amount of success that has come from the hit country-pop song — which has broken several records, including becoming the longest-running No. 1 hit in the Billboard Hot 100 — Billy Ray couldn’t feel more grateful.
“That was my goal … to make music and touch people’s lives around the world and [I] prayed that God would use my music to represent his light and his love,” the former Doc star — who shares kids Brandi Cyrus, 32, Trace Cyrus, 30, Miley Cyrus, 27, Braison Cyrus, 25, and Noah Cyrus, 20, with longtime wife Tish Cyrus — gushed. “For this horse to have run this far, this fast and me still in the saddle … I’m just very humbled and grateful right now.”
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