Why Some Fans Think Dan + Shay Are Deaf
Successful musicians must have a pretty good ear, which is why a certain rumor about the country duo Dan + Shay was so surprising. Why are some people convinced that music stars Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay are deaf?
Dan + Shay’s music career
Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney are Dan + Shay. They began their country careers as solo artists but teamed up after meeting at a house party in Nashville. The pair started writing songs together and got signed to Warner/Chappell Music as songwriters.
“We wrote 80 or 90 songs the first three months [of our friendship],” Smyers and Mooney told Country Fancast. “We became best friends … When we were singing together, it felt natural. We started turning a lot of heads. It seemed to be working. No stress, no fights. It was just about the music.”
They began performing and releasing music as Dan + Shay in 2013, scoring opening-act gigs for other country stars, such as Hunter Hayes, Rascal Flatts, and Blake Shelton. The duo shot to stardom in 2018, thanks to a single off the pair’s third album, Dan + Shay. “Tequila” is their highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100.
Why do some people think Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay are deaf?
Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney are talented singers and songwriters. So, where did the rumor come from that the Dan + Shay members are deaf? Most chalk it up to the storyline of the music video for their hit single “Tequila.”
The video follows the romance of a skier and a hiker meeting in Colorado and falling in love. Nyle DiMarco, an actor and model who is deaf, portrayed the hiker. The video shows DiMarco and the skier, played by Mica Von Turkovich, learning to communicate through sign language.
That’s probably how the rumor got started that the members of Dan + Shay are deaf. But neither Smyers nor Mooney is hard of hearing.
Another rumor about the 2 country stars
There’s another rumor about Dan + Shay — that the pair is a gay couple. Though Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney are close, they are not in a romantic relationship. In fact, both are married to women.
Smyers’ wife is Abby Law, whom he dated for three years before popping the question in 2016. The couple got married the following year. Although they don’t have any children, the two animal lovers are parents to four rescue dogs.
Coincidentally, Mooney also got engaged in 2016 and wed in 2017. He’s married to former Miss Arkansas USA Hannah Billingsley. The couple has two sons: Asher, born in January 2017, and Ames, born in February 2020.
The musicians even made their nuptials part of their music, using footage from both weddings in their “Speechless” music video.
Celebrities often face gossip about their personal and professional lives. The members of Dan + Shay are no strangers to the rumor mill.
