Brown began co-writing "Chicken Fried" with Wyatt Durrette several years before the song's release.

Following the September 11 attacks, Brown decided to add the third verse, which has a patriotic theme ("I thank God for my life / For the stars and stripes…").

The Zac Brown Band first recorded "Chicken Fried" in 2003 and later included this version on their self-released 2005 album Home Grown.

[3] Later on, in 2006, The Lost Trailers covered the song as their first release for the BNA Records label, with Blake Chancey serving as producer.

Although The Lost Trailers' version had entered the country charts, it was soon withdrawn from radio and replaced with "Call Me Crazy", as Brown had changed his mind about licensing the song to BNA.

In the Nashville episode of Sonic Highways, Zac Brown explained the situation in greater detail: We had this song Chicken Fried, we put it on a CD in '05.

He sat down at the table, and he's like, ya know staring down at his drink and he said "I had to meet the kid that told Joe Galante to fuck off."

And that was the beginning (of our relationship and commercial success).In 2008, the Zac Brown Band re-recorded "Chicken Fried" for their fourth album, The Foundation, which Keith Stegall produced.

[8] An Applebee's TV advertisement featuring the song was aired on CNN while covering Russia’s military deployment across the border of Ukraine the night of February 24, 2022, causing controversy.