When you think of Eric Church, you probably envision him and his signature look that’s usually brought together by a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses. He even has a song titled “Through My Ray-Bans.”
It’s part of the “Chief’s” persona now, thought it wasn’t always meant to be. Country fans might think that some marketing executive way back when said, “Let’s have Eric Church wear sunglasses, that’ll make him look cool,” but that’s simply not the case.
So why has Eric Church worn sunglasses throughout most of his career? As it turns out, the decision to sport shades indoors (and like the famous Corey Hart song, at night) is a very practical solution to a problem that Church experienced early on in his career.
The “Talladega” singer was asked about his sunglasses way back in 2012 after he and other country artists paid tribute to Levon Helm with a benefit concert. Backstage, Church was stopped and asked about his sunglasses inside look, and he revealed that the accessory choice wasn’t as exciting as some people would’ve hoped:
“I wear contacts, and my eyes don’t do real well with lubrication. We would play all these bars and clubs and the bar can lights… I’m 6’3” so they’d bake my contacts and they’d fall out. So I ended up being blind on stage.
Somebody suggested to put glasses on, and it worked. What’s funny is that it stuck. It was never thought out. We never thought, ‘This would be good.’ We actually at the time thought, ‘This is not good,’ you know? But it ended up being a thing.”
Sometimes our idols and heroes are more like us normal people than we thought – just struggling with contacts and not wanting to wear glasses.
That simple fix has now turned into a staple of the “Chief,” and it’s hard to imagine Erich Church without wearing his sunglasses up on stage. He’ll certainly have them on when he fires up his Nashville residency, which is set to take place at his new bar Chief’s when it opens in April.
You can view Erich Church speak on the origin of his signature sunglasses look in the video below:
And in case you were wondering about the specific dates for Church’s run of Nashville shows, they are listed here, with Friday, April 5 acting as both the first show and the Grand Opening of his new Broadway bar.
Eric Church: To Beat The Devil Dates:
Friday, April 5 (Grand Opening)
Wednesday, April 17
Thursday, April 18
Monday, April 29
Tuesday, April 30
Wednesday, May 1
Tuesday, May 7
Wednesday, May 8
Friday, May 10
Saturday, May 11
Tuesday, May 14
Wednesday, May 15
Friday, May 17
Tuesday, May 21
Wednesday, May 22
Thursday, June 6
Friday, June 7
Saturday, June 8
Sunday, June 9
