Eli Young Band 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, ...

band composed of members who met while students at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

: Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drums). They released their self-titled debut album in 2002, followed by the Carnival records release ''Level'' in 2005. Their third album, ''

Jet Black & Jealous ''Jet Black & Jealous'' is the second studio album by American country music group Eli Young Band. It was released on September 16, 2008 by Universal South. The album's first single, "When It Rains", peaked at #34 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country ...

'', was released in 2008 by

Universal South Records Show Dog Nashville is an American independent record label specializing in country music artists. It was founded in 2005 by singer Toby Keith. It was later merged with Universal South Records into Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009 until ...

. A second major-label album, '' Life at Best'', was released in 2011 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 ...

, with '' 10,000 Towns'' following in early 2014. The band has charted eight times on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country charts, with four of their singles having reached No. 1: "

Crazy Girl "Crazy Girl" is a song recorded by the Eli Young Band, an American country music group. It was released in March 2011 as the fifth single of their career, and the first from their album '' Life at Best''. It won song of the year at the 2012 ACM Awa ...

", which was the top country song of 2011 according to ''Billboard'' Year-End, along with "

Even If It Breaks Your Heart "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" is a song written by Will Hoge and Eric Paslay in April 2009 and originally recorded by Hoge on his seventh studio album, '' The Wreckage''. The song was made popular by American country music group the Eli Young Band ...

", "

Drunk Last Night "Drunk Last Night" is a song recorded by American country music group the Eli Young Band. It was released on July 1, 2013, as the first single from their fifth studio album, ''10,000 Towns'', their second for Republic Nashville. The song was writt ...

", and " Love Ain't".

Biography

Mike Eli and James Young met at the

where they became dorm roommates their freshman year. They played guitar and eventually began writing and singing songs together; they formed the acoustic duo, Eli & Young, while attending the University of North Texas and played locally at Rockin Rodeo before they got their big start. Chris Thompson and Jon Jones joined them later on and they became the Eli Young Band. They released ''Level'' on Carnival Records on April 5, 2005, and opened shows for

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

. ''Level'' is their last Texas country album before becoming a Nashville act. Many of these songs can still be heard in their live shows today, such as “Small Town Kid” and "Everything Is You".

''Jet Black & Jealous''

While touring, they were also making songwriting a top priority and made time for writing trips and retreats at the Young family ranch. Energized with new songs, they were ready to begin working on a new album in late 2007. Working with producers

Frank Liddell Frank Liddell (born November 13, 1963) is an American record producer. A former artists and repertoire director at Decca Records, he founded Carnival Music in 1999. Liddell is also married to singer Lee Ann Womack, for whom he has produced. Oth ...

and Mike Wrucke (who have also produced for Lambert), they took time off from touring to record at Omni Studios in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. Their third album, ''

'', was released in 2008. Its lead-off single, " When It Rains", spent 37 weeks on the country charts and peaked at No. 34. A second chart single, "

Always the Love Songs "Always the Love Songs" is a song written by David Lee Murphy and George Ducas, and recorded by American country music group Eli Young Band. It was released in September 2008 as the second single from the album '' Jet Black & Jealous''. This son ...

" (co-written by

David Lee Murphy David Lee Murphy (born January 7, 1959) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known for his #1 country hits " Dust on the Bottle" and " Everything's Gonna Be Alright", as well as the hit songs " Party Crowd", "Out with ...

and

George Ducas Voivode George Ducas (Greek: ''Γεώργιος Δούκας'', Romanian: ''Gheorghe Duca'') (c. 1620 – 31 March 1685) was three times prince of Moldavia (September 1665 – May 1666, November 1668 – 20 August 1672, November 1678 – Januar ...

), peaked at number 11 on ''Billboard''. After it came "Radio Waves" and "Guinevere".

''Life at Best''

In 2011, the Eli Young Band moved to

and released their fifth overall single, "

" as the lead single off '' Life at Best''. It became the band's first platinum-selling digital single, as well as their first No. 1 single, and also was the number 1 song on that year's

Billboard Year-End ''Billboard'' Year-End charts are cumulative rankings of entries in '' Billboard'' magazine charts in the United States in any given chart year. Several hundred Year-End charts are now published by ''Billboard'', the most important of which are ...

charts. The band received three nominations for the 2012

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

: Song of the Year, Top Vocal Group of the Year, and Single Record of the Year. On April 1, 2012, the band won the Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year. In January 2012, the band released its second single from the album, "

", which was originally recorded by co-writer

Will Hoge Will Hoge (born November 14, 1972) is an American Americana country music singer, songwriter, and musician from Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Early life Will Hoge was born and grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, located just south of Nashv ...

. Their version of the song reached the No. 1 spot as well. "Even It If Breaks Your Heart" is certified platinum by the RIAA. In the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the band was nominated for Best Duo/Group Performance for "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" and "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" was nominated for Best Country Song. The band is nominated in the 48th ACM Awards for Vocal Group of the Year and "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" is nominated for Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year. "

Say Goodnight "Say Goodnight" is a song recorded by American country music group the Eli Young Band. It was released in August 2012 as the third single from their album '' Life at Best''. The song was written by Katrina Elam, Melissa Peirce and John Paul Whit ...

" was the third and final single, peaking at number 22.

''10,000 Towns''

", the first single from Eli Young Band's fifth studio album, '' 10,000 Towns'', was released to country radio on July 1, 2013. On August 16, 2013, the band announced they would be headlining a "Drunk Last Night" Fall/Winter Tour. On September 10, 2013, they were nominated for Vocal Group of the Year in the CMA Awards. "Drunk Last Night" hit number 1 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 in December 2013. On January 7, 2014, Eli Young Band announced the release date, the album cover, and the track listing for ''10,000 Towns'', which was released on March 4, 2014. The album debuted #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart. The album's second single, "

Dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...

", was released to country radio on February 3, 2014. On April 2, 2014, Eli Young Band performed "Dust" on CONAN. The band was also nominated for Vocal Group of the Year in the 2014

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music ...

Awards. Also in late 2013-early 2014, Mike Eli sang guest vocals on

The Cadillac Three The Cadillac Three, originally known as The Cadillac Black, is an American rock band consisting of Jaren Johnston (lead vocals, guitar), Kelby Ray (lap steel guitar, bass guitar, vocals), and Neil Mason (drums, vocals). All three members were or ...

's debut single " The South", along with

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's ''Modern Day Drifter'', ar ...

and

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 ...

''Turn It On'' EP

"Turn It On", the first single from Eli Young Band's ''

Turn It On ''Turn It On'' is the third studio album released by Boyzone frontman and Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The album was released on 17 November 2003, a week after the release of the lead single, " Lost for Words". The album became the w ...

'' EP, was released to country radio on March 9, 2015. "Turn It On" was the most added song at radio on that date. The Turn It On EP was released on March 10, 2015, via Apple Music and other digital outlets. The official music video for "Turn It On" premiered on VEVO on Monday, May 4.

''Honey, I'm Good''

"Honey, I'm Good", a duet with pop artist Andy Grammer, was released to country radio on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, as well as being made available via Apple Music and other digital outlets.

''Winter Tour 2015/2016''

Eli Young Band announced their Winter Tour 2015/2016 on Monday, September 21, 2015, which includes concerts in Philadelphia, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Washington D.C. Tickets and VIP packages for the 14 tour dates went on sale on Friday, September 25, 2015.

''Fingerprints''

The album's first single, "Saltwater Gospel" released to country radio in mid-2016. A full album, ''

Fingerprints A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surf ...

'', followed on June 16, 2017.

''This Is Eli Young Band: Greatest Hits''

After a nearly three-year chart hiatus, the band announced a greatest hits package, '' This Is Eli Young Band: Greatest Hits'' in 2019. The album's lead single is " Love Ain't".

Discography

* ''Level'' (2005) * ''

'' (2008) * '' Life at Best'' (2011) * '' 10,000 Towns'' (2014) * ''

'' (2017) *''Love Talking'' (2022)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eli Young Band Musical groups established in 2000 Country music groups from Texas Show Dog-Universal Music artists Republic Records artists Musical groups from Denton, Texas Big Machine Records artists