Baylee Wylee Littrell (born November 26, 2002) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer. His debut album, ''770-Country'', was released on November 15, 2019, and included songs written by Gary Baker, Corey Crowder, Seth Ennis,

Tyler Hubbard Tyler Reed Hubbard (born January 31, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, and musician, best known as a former member of the Nashville-based duo Florida Georgia Line. Hubbard, a native of Monroe, Georgia, had been involved with music since a y ...

, Steven Lee Olsen, Daniel Ross, and Littrell himself.

Early life

Littrell was born on November 26, 2002, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, to model and actress Leighanne Wallace and

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gr ...

member

Brian Littrell Brian Thomas Littrell (born February 20, 1975) is an American singer and a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian music artist, and released the solo album '' Welcome Home'' in 2006. He is the father of country singer ...

. His father's cousin, Kevin Richardson, is also a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is an only child. Being a sports fan like his father, Littrell started playing on a Little League and basketball rec teams both coached by his father as well as

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. He also took lessons in acting, dance and cooking. When he was six, he developed

Kawasaki syndrome Kawasaki disease is a syndrome of unknown cause that results in a fever and mainly affects children under 5 years of age. It is a form of vasculitis, where blood vessels become inflamed throughout the body. The fever typically lasts for more tha ...

, a collection of symptoms that stem from swollen blood vessels around his heart. His parents announced the diagnosis on Brian's official website. Littrell has been homeschooled since he was around seven or eight and was able to skip a grade at home and on the road. In doing so, he has been working on his schooling while performing as an actor and a singer, with his dad as his musical director and his mom as his manager. Now that he has graduated, and just released his first country album, he still plans on going to college.

Career

Early career

Littrell first became involved in music when he was two years old, accompanying his dad on the

Never Gone Tour The Never Gone Tour is the sixth headlining concert tour by American boy band, the Backstreet Boys. The tour was launched in support of their fifth studio album, '' Never Gone'' (2005). It is the last BSB tour with all five members of the group, ...

, but never really got into music until around first grade, when he attended band, theater, and acting camps over the summer. Later, he even started writing songs consisting of little poems, when he was 6–7. Pretty soon, his piano teacher heard him sing when he was only 6. By the time when he was 8 years old, he did a little skit with his cousin and was a band in elementary school, which lead him to realized that this is what he wants to do, follow his parents' footsteps despite them being concerned about him. He eventually started taking lessons in acting, singing, playing the piano, and learned to play the guitar from his father, Brian.

Broadway

When he was 13, his family left their Atlanta home for the Upper West Side of Manhattan while Littrell made his Broadway debut in the musical ''

Disaster! Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! was a dark ride attraction at Universal Studios Florida. Set on a soundstage of a fictitious movie company, ''Disaster!'' was based on the park's former Earthquake: The Big One ride, which ...

'' playing identical twins Ben and Lisa on March 8, 2016, at the

Nederlander Theatre The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was desi ...

. His performance earned him a

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

nomination in 2016.

Solo artist

By the time he was nine, he started opening arena shows for his dad and the Backstreet Boys around the world, usually performing two songs. When he finished his time on Broadway, he turned to his parents and announced that he wanted to start his career as a country artist, which he did, writing his songs and listening to

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line is an American country music duo founded in 2010 by Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was ...

. On April 3, 2019, the

announced Littrell as an opening act for their North American leg of the DNA World Tour. The tour started on July 12, 2019, in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

at the

Capital One Arena Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place (WMATA station), Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. It has been largely considered ...

and ran through September 2019. Starting on October 31, 2019, Littrell joined American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Chris Lane Christopher Eric Lane (born November 9, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released one album as frontman of the Chris Lane Band, a second album, ''Girl Problems'', and a third album, '' Laps Around the Sun''. via Big ...

for a string of performances on his Big Big Plans tour in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

;

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

; and

. On November 15, 2019, Littrell released his debut album, ''770-Country'', via BriLeigh Records. The album includes songwriting and production from Gary Baker, Corey Crowder, Seth Ennis,

, Steven Lee Olsen, Daniel Ross, and Littrell himself. It features singles such as "Boxes", "Don't Knock It", and "We Run This Beach". In May 2022, he reported he was working on his second album. On July 27, Littrell joined his dad, cousin, and the rest of the Backstreet Boys in a charity Softball game in Columbus, Ohio for charity benefitting On Our Sleeves, the movement for children’s mental health powered by behavioral health experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. On September 9, 2022, Littrell released his first ep, EP Vol. One.

Influences

Littrell has said that some of his biggest musical influences include

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

(his greatest inspiration),

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

, and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

. He has said that other than his father, his favorite Backstreet Boy member is AJ McLean.

Personal life

Littrell resides near Atlanta in Alpharetta, Georgia, with his parents. He has an uncle named Harold Littrell III, a singer and actor, and his paternal grandparents are named Harold Littrell Jr. and Jacqueline "Jackie" Rhea (nee Fox). Littrell has dated a number of women but has not married.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littrell, Baylee American country singer-songwriters Living people 2002 births Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) American male singer-songwriters