Zach John King Releases ‘I’m What You Get’ with His Late Father in Mind: ‘You Just Want to Make Your Dad Proud’ (Exclusive)

Zach John King’s father’s memory inspired the song “How to Not,” which has already been streamed 4.6 million times. Now the country artist is preparing for his headlining Get to Drinkin’ Tour and has collaborated with Brooks & Dunn on a track for his debut album ‘I’m What You Get.’

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Zach John King released his debut album I’m What You Get while mourning the sudden death of his father

His father’s memory inspired the song “How to Not,” which has already been streamed 4.6 million times

King is preparing for his headlining Get to Drinkin’ Tour and has collaborated with Brooks & Dunn on a track

Zach John King knows exactly what his dad would want him to do right now.

“He would be the first person to be like, ‘Please go back out there and do this,’” King tells PEOPLE from his record label’s office in Nashville. “He’s motivating me to keep going because that’s what he would want,” the musician says, laughing. “He’d be pissed if I was sitting here moping around!”

So, the Georgia native puts one foot in front of the other, releasing his debut album I’m What You Get while still reeling from the sudden death of his father, John King, this past July.

“I’m just grateful for the time I got,” King, 29, says. “The last time I saw him was his birthday week we spent down at the beach together, which we’ve never done. We just spent a week together with the cousins and played golf. We’d never played golf together. I would have loved another 30 years with him.”

King’s voice begins to trail off.

“We got a lot of time together and a lot of beautiful time at that,” he says. “And he lived life to such an extent that he didn’t have any regrets either.”

Frankly, there is not much time these days for King to dwell on regrets or what ifs, as the singer/songwriter currently finds himself in the middle of the beautiful chaos that happens when a career begins taking off.

“You can only control the momentum — you can’t create it,” says King, who moved to Nashville in 2021 to pursue a career in country music. “You can work really hard and that momentum can come, but ultimately, the only thing you can do is steer it.”

And there is certainly plenty for King to steer these days. Along with watching “Get to Drinkin’” climb the country charts, King has collaborated with none other than Brooks & Dunn on the album track “Way to Go” and prepping to head out on his upcoming headlining Get to Drinkin’ Tour, kicking off in Indianapolis in October.

“The tour stuff starting back is really my responsibility to keep my head on straight for the guys and my team,” he says.

It’s what his dad would want him to do — and his father’s memory is already influencing the direction King takes with his music. That was certainly the case with last month’s release of “How to Not,” off the new album.

“My dad had heard that one,” says King of the song he wrote alongside Kyle Fishman, Randy Montana and Sasha Alex Sloan. “It had been written and recorded, and it was going to be on the album, and we loved that song.”

But following his father’s death, plans changed.

“It felt less genuine to go promote a breakup song right after Dad had gone,” he explains. “So, we were like, ‘Well, let’s just put this one out,’ because I wrote it about him, but he was still here when I wrote it.”

“How to Not” has already been streamed 4.6 million times.

“My dad has already had his hands in it,” says King of the song whose music video also includes his grandfather Bill Butler’s old Coleman cooler and the old Chevy C10 that his grandfather passed down to him.

Indeed, it’s a thrilling time for King and all those who have supported him. “Our focus was writing the best music we could, putting the best show on we could and working as hard as we could,” says King, who spent much of his summer touring with the likes of Luke Bryan, Riley Green, Thomas Rhett and Morgan Wallen.

So when the opportunities started to roll, they were ready for them.

“I don’t think we ever set out to see this big wave of momentum happen as much as we’re just trying to do the small things well,” King says. “That’s really my focus. I try not to get too caught up in the pressure of sustaining it.”

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And while King can’t wait to see what just might be around the corner career-wise, he also realizes that he will have to face it without his father here in the flesh. Luckily, he has found someone who understands.

“Cole [Swindell] has helped me a lot lately,” says King of the country music hitmaker who also unexpectedly lost his father as his own career was taking off. “The success and stuff was cool for me on my own. But what made it really cool was getting to share specifically with Dad. As a son, that’s just what you want to do. You just want to make your dad proud.”

And King plans to keep doing exactly that.

“I think it’s going to be an interesting road to hopefully continue to see the success, but not necessarily have that person you want there,” he says. “It’ll be okay. We can do it.”