‘Yellowstone’ star Luke Grimes on music vs acting: ‘There’s really no hiding, if you’re doing it right’

Luke Grimes shook up the social media realm in September with his first post to Instagram. The Yellowstone star made his grand entrance with a simple (and let’s be honest — jaw-dropping) image of himself and a guitar, and the following picture was the Stagecoach lineup featuring, you guessed it, Grimes himself. 

So how did his foray into country music start? Well, the journey is something as easy to him as breathing. Music has been part of his life since he played the drums in his church choir as a child, but he wasn’t sure it was something he’d go on to make a career path out of. 

Speaking to the New York Post, Grimes shares how a phone call changed everything for him. 

“I was writing some stuff, singing it into my iPhone, and sent it to a few friends. One thing led to another, and I get a phone call from this great music manager, and he says, ‘Do you really want to try this?’ And I said, ‘Well, why wouldn’t I?’, not really thinking much of it. Now here I am signed with Universal Nashville, I’ve got a record deal, and I have a show booked!”

It’s unsurprising to fans that the path to music unfolded so smoothly for Grimes. He’s a talent, a force to be reckoned with, and it’s not hard to believe that he’ll blow us away with his first song — and every single one after that. 

It’s a different experience, signing vs. acting, and Grimes says it’s been an emotional journey. 

“With music, there’s really no hiding if you’re doing it right. Telling the truth and being vulnerable as yourself.”

There’s an innate vulnerability to Grimes as a person and an actor that fans have seen in everything from his role as Kayce Dutton in Yellowstone to Marc Lee in American Sniper and the mysterious Elliot Grey in the Fifty Shades saga. 

His talent allows him to bring multifaceted characters to life, and we’re sure we’ll see that play out across his journey with music as well. 

Grimes isn’t giving much away about what exactly we’ll hear when he drops his first single or what storytelling exists in the album he’s working on, but we can guess it’ll be an emotional experience for fans. 

Looking at his new craft as a platform to be truthful, vulnerable, and raw means that we’ll see a side of Grimes we’ve yet to discover before — and we can’t wait. Until his first song graces our ears, fans can watch Grimes handle business at the ranch as Kayce in Yellowstone, with the first four seasons streaming now on Peacock.