American singer Ricky Montgomery has shared the inspiration behind his hit song "Line Without A Hook", which propelled him to international fame in 2020 when it went viral on the video-sharing app TikTok.

Ricky talked about the viral song when he appeared in the latest episode of the online talk show PUSH Bets Live that was released last Friday, May 20.

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"There's no one that I dedicate it to anymore but probably an ex-girlfriend that I had in high school at the time. But I think it was more about... it's a song that I had in a few years, I rewrote it a number of times that by the time I needed to put the album out—because I had a pretty big following on Vine when I was doing the album virtually— it was kind of about a bunch of things," he said.

"It was about me realizing that I didn't need to have a girlfriend to feel special about myself. It's about venturing out from high school and having my own apartment for the first time and being my own person. It was also about experimenting with music and using strings and the piano and all these other things for the first time. Mostly it's all about first times, experiencing kind of freedom for the first time. And I think that that's ultimately why people from so many places, like the Philippines, are able to relate to it."

"Line Without A Hook" was released in 2016, as part of Ricky's Montgomery Ricky album which also includes his hit single "Mr. Loverman."

However, it was only years later that the song became a huge hit, spawning thousands of covers from TikTok users all over the world, including the Philippines.

Asked what inspired him to pursue a career in music, the 29-year-old artist said: "I was always around music. I played clarinet in school and I was always in the school band and stuff. My parents both had musical talent, they were theater majors. My dad worked in TV so he was around big sets a lot. So it was kind of present in my life.

"And more than that, I just was always writing songs in my head. So I kind of found myself doing it a lot, joining bands ... and one day it became my job—and it still is. So that's kind of a short answer for that."

The singer-songwriter, who just recently dropped a new EP called It's 2016 Summer, also discussed his latest musical release on the show.

"Well, I just put out 'It's 2016 Summer', my new EP. It's a collection of songs from around the same time ... that kind of will show people what I was doing and also what my next production thing will sound like. To kind of create a bridge from that era to the new one, give them a comfortable glide into the new sound," he said.

According to Ricky, his new EP will be followed by a studio album that he plans to release "very soon."

"The next thing after that is going to be a new album, which I hope to get out. I don't want to put a date on it, but very soon, you'll see. As soon as I can," he said.

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Aside from his music, Ricky also talked about the possibility of visiting the Philippines soon so he could meet and play for his Filipino fans.

"I wish I could say yes to that right now. It's all very up in the air. We've had a bunch of tours booked for a while now. We have to do that first, make sure our commitments are met. But it's the next thing on the table. I mean, it's one of the biggest priorities right now for us and I think we can see something more conclusive on that very soon," he said.

Watch the full episode below:

PUSH Bets Live is a weekly online talk show hosted by Gary Ann Lastrilla, featuring the hottest celebrities and events. It airs on ABS-CBN and PUSH's Facebook pages, PUSH YouTube channel, and on PUSH.com.ph.