As the TV series Yellowstone comes to an end, Newsweek spoke to star Luke Grimes about how it feels to say goodbye to a show he’s been a part of for seven years.
The popular Western drama, created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, premiered in 2018 after filming started in 2017. It follows the Dutton family, led by patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner), who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the U.S., and their battle to defend their land and lifestyle against constant threats. Grimes plays Kayce Dutton, John’s youngest child, with the two men having a complex and tense relationship with each other.
Season 5, Part 1 of Yellowstone aired from November 2022 to January 2023, with the second half of the last season scheduled to debut on November 10, 2024. The fifth and final season of Yellowstone was announced in May 2023.
Grimes told Newsweek that the hit show was “not at all” easy to say goodbye to.
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“You know, I finished shooting over a month ago and it’s still, I’m still sort of processing all of that and I still have moments of the day where, you know, it feels very heavy and very big that that’s over and that chapter of my life is over because it was a huge part of my life,” he explained.
“I played that character for seven years, since 2017. And, you know, my cast mates and the crew became like another family. And there are people that will stay in my life and I’ll see them from time to time, but just in the capacity that we were making something together that we all believed in, that was so good and we were somewhere beautiful.
“It was such a special project and I doubt it will ever be topped in my life.”
When asked what he would miss most about Yellowstone, the actor said two things come to mind: the friends he’s made and the character he played.
“Two things popped out: one is the people, the sort of, you know, the set family that we created, and I guess the other would be the character,” he continued.
“I really fell in love with Kayce over the years, and, you always kind of, I feel like as an actor, you want to approach a character with love. You want to look up to them so that you do them justice and I really did that with him and I think he’s a much better person than I am and I’m really gonna miss it.”
While Grimes may be struggling to say goodbye to the show that has taken up a huge part of his life, he has kept himself busy with a variety of other projects, including his country music career. In March, he released his self-titled debut album, “Luke Grimes,” and in November, he is embarking on his Playin’ on the Tracks Tour, performing in cities such as New York, Nashville and Los Angeles.
Carhartt
“We’re going on a tour this fall, so I’m going to be hitting some cities this fall that I haven’t been to yet. And then currently writing another album, and we should have that done next year,” he told Newsweek.
“So yeah, plenty to look forward to. I just feel lucky to be able to do anything musically. It’s not something that I really ever saw coming and I’ve just been lucky enough to sort of enjoy this process and I hope I get to do it for a very long time.”
Grimes said that when it comes to writing music, he is inspired by a variety of things, such as the exciting life he’s lived. Having been able to travel the world with his career has provided him with a unique viewpoint.
“Like any artist in any form, I’m just sort of inspired by my experiences and my life. I’m lucky enough that those experiences have been very broad and spanned a lot of different cultures and you know, social constructs and economic constructs,” he explained.
“I have been all over the place—I’ve gotten to travel the world, I’ve gotten to play a lot of different characters and live in a lot of different places and so I draw from all of that. I feel very lucky to have had such an interesting life so far that I get to sort of talk about in the songs.”
Country music was one of 2023’s fastest growing streaming genres in the U.S., according to industry data firm Luminate, with country on-demand audio streams exceeding 20 billion, a 23.7 percent increase over the prior year.
In 2024 it’s seen a huge resurgence, with Beyoncé releasing a country album, country songs regularly going viral on TikTok and the charts being full of exciting country and folk artists, including the likes of Noah Kahan, Lainey Wilson and Zach Bryan.
“I think it always kind of ebbs and flows, but I think people are sort of craving—just with the way technology is going, the way that music gets more electronic and more digital and kind of easier to produce—quantity over quality,” Grimes said.
“I think country music has always been about the song and been about humans writing lyrics, playing music on instruments and just bringing it back to that simple core of what Americana music really is. I think people are just craving that right now because for a while they weren’t getting it.
“One of my favorite things about country is it allows itself to be indulgent in the emotional life, you can indulge in sadness or joy or family. It’s about the human experience without going into the abstract—it’s about the fact of the matter of life.”
The actor is also collaborating with the iconic workwear brand Carhartt, which involves being a part of its “History In The Making” campaign. He features in the brand’s short film, Made in Montana, to celebrate the hardworking ranchers and farmers in Montana who are actively working to preserve their land and provide the essential food and natural resources that people rely on every day.
