Dierks Bentley's Hit "5-1-50" Inspired from His First Days Playing Electric Guitar as a Kid

Capitol NashvilleDierks Bentley is on track to score another #1 hit with his latest single, "5-1-50."  That number refers to the police code for someone being put on involuntary psychiatric hold.  It's also the title of Van Halen's 1986 album that had a big impact on Dierks.  He was about 13-years-old when a friend first taught him how to play electric guitar along to Van Halen's music. Dierks says, ""That's all I listened to for awhile was that stuff."

Fast forward a few decades, and Dierks included a line about "getting 51-50" in his song "Country and Cold Cans."  His friend and co-writer Jim Beavers took that line and came up with the line, "5-1-50, somebody call the po-po."

"I thought it was the stupidest thing I’d heard in my life," Dierks admits, "but every time I’d see him, he’d sing that.  He’d be like 'Man, my kids keep -- they can't get that out of their heads, it stuck. We got to write it.'"

Not long after that, Dierks and Jim got stuck in a writing session, so Dierks agreed to write "5-1-50."  It's now the latest hit from his current album, Home.

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