Eric Thomas Paslay (born January 29, 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 songwriter. He has released one album for EMI Nashville, which contains the hit singles " Friday Night", " Song About a Girl", and " She Don't Love You". In addition to these, Paslay has written several hit singles for other artists, and has collaborated with

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

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 ...

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 ...

, among others.

Early life

Eric Thomas Paslay was born in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...

, and started playing guitar at the age of 15. He graduated from

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together off ...

in the fall of 2005 with his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree.

Career

In mid-2011, Paslay signed to

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

Nashville. After his first two singles " Never Really Wanted" and "If the Fish Don't Bite" failed to make top 40, his third, " Friday Night", was a Top 5 hit on

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 ...

in early 2014. The song was originally recorded by

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

, and Paslay's version appears on his self-titled debut album, released in early 2014. The album went on to produce two more singles in " Song About a Girl" and " She Don't Love You". He also co-wrote

Jake Owen Joshua Ryan Owen (born August 28, 1981), known professionally as Jake Owen, is an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2006, he released his debut studio album, '' Startin' with Me'', that year. This ...

's "

Barefoot Blue Jean Night ''Barefoot Blue Jean Night'' is the third studio album by American country music artist Jake Owen. It was released on August 30, 2011 via RCA Records Nashville. The album's first single, " Barefoot Blue Jean Night," is the fastest-rising single ...

", the

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 Nashvi ...

Eli Young Band Eli Young Band is an American country music band composed of members who met while students at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas: Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drum ...

song "

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 ...

", and Love and Theft's " Angel Eyes" all of which were number 1 singles on the country charts. He has written album cuts for

Lady A Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar), ...

ntebellum,

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

' 2014 single " Rewind" and

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

's 2021 single " Wild Hearts". In 2013, Paslay appeared on

's album '' How Mercy Looks from Here'', sharing lead vocals with Grant and

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...

on a song he wrote called "Deep As It Is Wide". In publicity for the album, Grant stated that she is most excited about Paslay as an up-and-coming artist. Paslay is featured alongside

's debut solo single "The Driver" which was released on September 28, 2015. "The Driver" received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the

58th Annual Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 20 ...

. This is Paslay's first Grammy nomination as a recording artist. In October 2015, Paslay released "

High Class High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

" as the lead single to his upcoming second studio album. The album's second single, "Angels in This Town", released to country radio on July 18, 2016. Paslay released a five-song digital extended play, ''The Work Tapes'', in July 2017. Paslay parted ways with EMI Records Nashville in September 2018.

Personal life

On April 26, 2015, Paslay married Natalie Harker. On December 8, 2018 they had their first daughter, Piper Lily Paslay. Paslay has type 1 diabetes.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As a featured artist

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paslay, Eric 1983 births American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Living people Singer-songwriters from Texas EMI Records artists People from Abilene, Texas People from Waco, Texas People from Temple, Texas People from Murfreesboro, Tennessee People from Nashville, Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Tennessee 21st-century American singers Country musicians from Texas Country musicians from Tennessee 21st-century American male singers People with type 1 diabetes