Brett Charles Young (born March 23, 1981) is an American

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

singer, songwriter and guitarist from

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

. He was a college

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

but took up songwriting after an elbow injury. His self-titled debut EP, produced by

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

, was released by

Republic Nashville BMLG Records, formerly Republic Nashville, is a record label established in 2009 by Republic Records in New York and Big Machine Records in Nashville. It is headquartered on Music Row and utilizes the combined resources of Big Machine Records and ...

on February 12, 2016. The lead single, "

Sleep Without You "Sleep Without You" is a song recorded by American country pop singer Brett Young and co-written by Young, Justin Ebach, and Kelly Archer. Its official release to radio was on April 11, 2016, as the lead single from his debut self-titled album. ...

", was released on April 11, and he had a major success with his following single, "

In Case You Didn't Know ''In Case You Didn't Know'' is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Olly Murs, released on 25 November 2011, through Epic Records. The album's release was preceded by the number-one singles " Heart Skips a Beat" on 19 August 201 ...

". He released his second major label album ''

Ticket to L.A. ''Ticket to L.A.'' is the second studio album by American country music singer Brett Young (singer), Brett Young. It was released on December 7, 2018, through Big Machine Label Group. Its lead single, "Here Tonight (Brett Young song), Here Tonight ...

'' in 2018, and the third, '' Weekends Look a Little Different These Days'', in 2021.

Early life

Young was born in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

, Orange County. He attended Calvary Chapel High School in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...

, and then Ole Miss,

Irvine Valley College Irvine Valley College (also known as IVC or Irvine Valley) is a public community college in Irvine, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System. The college inherited its name from the Irvine family and the Irvine Compan ...

, and

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. He started singing in the late 1990s when he stepped in to replace an absent leader of the band during a Christian worship meeting at high school. Young was a pitcher on his high school baseball team and led the squad to a

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

championship. He went to Ole Miss on a baseball scholarship in 1999 after turning down pre-draft selection by both

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

and

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. In his one season on the Rebel baseball team in 2000, he earned a varsity letter and posted two wins and two saves. He then

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

for one season at Irvine Valley before moving to Fresno. However, his pursuit of a professional baseball career was cut short by an elbow injury while at Fresno in 2003.

Music career

According to Young, he was inspired by Gavin DeGraw after he heard his album ''

Chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

'' as well as singer-songwriter

Jeremy Steele Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), a given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ''Jeremy'', a 1919 ...

and decided to return to music. Young independently released a self-titled four-song EP in 2007, then ''Make Believe'' in 2011, followed by the albums ''Brett Young'', ''On Fire'', and ''Broken Down'' in 2012–13. After eight years based in Los Angeles, Young moved to Nashville. He was soon signed by the

Big Machine Label Group Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by ...

in August 2015.

2016–present: ''Brett Young'' EP and album

In February 2016, Young released a six-song self-titled EP. "

" was released as the first single from the EP in April 2016. Young wrote the song with Justin Ebach and Kelly Archer. The second single to be released from the album "

", was released January 9, 2017. The song was Young's first to reach number one on the

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart, and it has been certified 5× Platinum by RIAA. The album's third single, "Like I Loved You" released to country radio on July 17, 2017. On February 10, 2017, Young released his self-titled debut studio album '' Brett Young''. The album was produced by

, and released through

. It debuted at number two on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

chart. Brett is currently touring with his band which includes lead guitarist Keaton Simons, drummer Billy Hawn, Keys/guitarist Matt Ferranti, and bass guitarist Noah Needleman.

2018–2020: ''Ticket to L.A.''

In December 2018, Young released his sophomore album ''

''. The lead single for the album, "Here Tonight", which he co-wrote with Ben Caver, Justin Ebach and

Charles Kelley Charles Burgess Kelley (born September 11, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and lead singer and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, which was formed in 2006 and are signed to Big Machine Records. Early life and career Kelle ...

, was released in September 2018. It reached at number one on the Country Airplay in April 2019. The album's second single, " Catch" released to country radio on June 3, 2019.

2020–present: ''Weekends Look a Little Different These Days''

In April 2020, Young released the single " Lady", which he wrote about his wife and daughter. It serves as the lead-off single to his third studio album '' Weekends Look a Little Different These Days'', which was released on June 4, 2021. "Lady" reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in April 2021. The album's second single "Not Yet" was released the same month. In October 2021, Young released a Christmas album ''Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics''.

Personal life

In February 2018, Young got engaged to his girlfriend Taylor Mills. The couple wed in

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has bee ...

on November 3, 2018. On April 6, 2019, they announced they are expecting their first child in the fall 2019. Their daughter Presley was born on October 21, 2019. On January 27, 2021, they announced they were expecting their second child in summer 2021. Their second daughter Rowan was born on July 21, 2021.

Discography

*''Brett Young'' (2012) * ''On Fire'' (2013) *''Broken Down'' (2013) * '' Brett Young'' (2017) *''

'' (2018) * '' Weekends Look a Little Different These Days'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

Television appearances

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Brett American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Country musicians from California Living people Musicians from Orange County, California Republic Records artists Singer-songwriters from California 1981 births 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers