William Drake White (born October 3, 1983) is an 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, ...

singer and the leader of Drake White & The Big Fire.

Early life

White was born in

Hokes Bluff, Alabama Hokes Bluff is a city in Etowah County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,446. History Hokes Bluff was established on a high bluff overlooking the Coosa Riv ...

, where he attended Hokes Bluff High School. White started writing his thoughts down when he was 14, some of which would later become lyrics in his songs. He started singing when he was asked to join the youth choir at First Baptist Church of Hokes Bluff by his parents. He later attended

Gadsden State Community College Gadsden State Community College (Gadsden State, Gadsden, or GSCC) is a public community college with campuses in Gadsden, Centre and Anniston, Alabama. The college was founded as a merger between Alabama Technical College (1925), Gadsden State T ...

and then

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, graduating with a degree in building science. Later, he worked with a general contractor in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

before quitting that job in favor of a musical career.

Music career

In concert, he and his band ("Drake White & The Big Fire") opened up performances for such musicians as

Eric Church Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billboar ...

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

Tyler Bryant Tyler Dow Bryant (born February 24, 1991) is an American guitarist from Paris, Texas. He is best known as the lead guitarist and vocalist of the rock band Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown. Early and personal life Tyler got his first guitar at the ...

, and Channing Wilson. White has opened for

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbro ...

and the

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini ( fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulel ...

. In early 2013, he released his debut single "Simple Life" through

MCA Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...

. White signed to

Big Machine Records 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 fo ...

' re-establishment of

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

in June 2014. The first single, "It Feels Good" released to country radio on February 24, 2015. The second single, "Livin' the Dream" released to country radio on December 7, 2015. On August 19, 2016, White released "Spark", his debut album under Dot Records. It charted at No. 4 on the Top Country Albums chart. The album's third single, "Makin' Me Look Good Again", was released in 2016. A new 5-song EP titled "Pieces" was released on May 4, 2018.

Personal life

In January 2019, White was diagnosed with

arteriovenous malformation Arteriovenous malformation is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, bypassing the capillary system. This vascular anomaly is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system (usually cerebral AVM), but can appea ...

(AVM), a rare vascular disorder.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Drake 21st-century American singers American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Auburn University alumni Country musicians from Alabama Country musicians from Tennessee Dot Records artists Living people MCA Records artists Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee People from Etowah County, Alabama Singer-songwriters from Tennessee 1983 births 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from Alabama