Walker Hayes reflects on success of 'Fancy Like' and his favorite 2021 memories

By Stephen Hubbard & Cillea Houghton

Walker Hayes has had a whirlwind year, thanks to the success of "Fancy Like."

After posting a video of him and his 16-year-old daughter, Lela, performing an original dance to the track on TikTok, the video soon went viral, so much so the song and dance were featured in an Applebee's commercial.

"Fancy Like" also became Walker's first No. 1 song and scored him his first Grammy nomination, for best country song at the 2022 ceremony.

Looking back on where he was on Jan. 1, 2021, Walker said he could never have predicted that by the end of the year, he'd have a massive hit on his hands.

"It's just crazy. [I] didn't foresee that in my future when I woke up last year on the first of January, and so it's just insane how this year my life has changed the most," Walker said in an interview with ABC Audio. "It's pretty incredible."

The singer said that his favorite 2021 memories surround "Fancy Like" and the ripple effect that the song's success is having across his life, noting that his wife, Laney, and their six children are at the center of it all.

"Biggest memory to me will probably be me and my daughter doing the dance to 'Fancy Like' and the adjustments that the catapult of my career has, the impact that it's made on my family and how we've had to adjust," the singer said.

"I've gotten so busy, but they're able to come out with me, so we're making memories left and right," he added.

Hayes will perform "Fancy Like" and his new single, "AA," on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022," airing Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.