Dwayne “The Rock ” Johnson used to dream of becoming a country music singer.
The Hollywood star has carved out solid careers as an actor, businessman and WWE legend. He remembered that his late father, Rocky Johnson — who was a professional wrestler himself and died in 2020 at 75 — introduced him to the Southern genre.
“By the time I was eight years old, I could sing every Hank Jr. song, a lot of Hank Sr. songs, Merle [Haggard] songs, Johnny Paycheck,” Johnson recalled.
“I was in Nashville when I was 15 years old; we had no money. I was living in a motel; I had the bright idea that I could become a country star,” he said.
“I went down to Broad Street, and I started hanging out in these honky-tonks … I tried to get into Tootsie’s Famous Orchid Lounge,” Johnson continued.
“Country music connects me with my dad, and I miss my dad, you know? I lost him unexpectedly in 2020, and it was a way that we bonded. My dad was a professional wrestler before the big bright lights of WWE. This is why we lived in Texas and Georgia and Tennessee and Florida,” he told “Entertainment Tonight.”
The Black Adam star has now appeared in the music video for country crooner Chris Janson’s latest track, “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get,” and is hoping that the pair of them can team up once again for a show at the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee as a tribute to his father.
“If there’s a moment where we’re on stage at the Opry, it’s just [going to be] so much more than a song. It’s a brotherhood; it [represents] a father-son relationship, [too],” Johnson said.
“I’m just gonna call it here. When we make our Opry debut together, we will just call it ‘A Night For Rocky’,” he added.
