Brett Young Biography

Brett Charles Young (born March 23, 1981) is an American country pop singer-songwriter from Orange County, California. He was a college baseball pitcher but took up songwriting after an elbow injury. His self-titled debut EP, produced by Dann Huff, was released by Republic Nashville on February 12, 2016. The lead single, "Sleep Without You", was released on April 11, and he had a major success with his following single, "In Case You Didn't Know". He released his second major label album Ticket to L.A. in 2018.

Early life

Young was born in Anaheim, Orange County. He attended Calvary Chapel High School in Costa Mesa, California, and then Ole Miss, Irvine Valley College, and Fresno State. 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 championship. He went to Ole Miss on a baseball scholarship in 1999 after turning down pre-draft selection by both Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Minnesota Twins. 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 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 as well as influential singer/songwriter Jeremy Steele 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 in August 2015.

2016-present: Brett Young EP and album

In February 2016, Young released a six-song self-titled EP. "Sleep Without You" 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 "In Case You Didn't Know", was released January 9, 2017. The song reached number one on the Country Airplay chart, and was certified triple 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 Dann Huff, and released through Big Machine Label Group. It debuted at number two on the Top Country Albums chart. Brett is currently touring with his band which includes lead guitarist Keaton Simmons, drummer Billy Hawn, Keys/guitarist Matt Ferranti, and bass guitarist Noah Needleman.

2018-present: Ticket to L.A.

In December 2018, Young released his sophomore album Ticket to L.A.. The lead single for the album, "Here Tonight", which he co-wrote with Ben Caver, Justin Ebach and Charles Kelley, was released in September 2018.

Personal life

In February 2018, Young got engaged to his girlfriend Taylor Mills. The couple wed in Palm Desert, California on November 3, 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions				Sales	Certifications
		US Country	US	AUS	CAN
Brett Young	Release date: February 10, 2017 Label: Big Machine	2	18	"?	26	US: 253,400	RIAA: Platinum
Ticket to L.A.	Release date: December 7, 2018 Label: Big Machine	1	15	93	38	US: 49,700
""?" denotes releases that did not chart

Extended plays

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions			Sales
		US Country	US	US Heat
Brett Young	Release date: February 12, 2016 Label: Republic Nashville	31	189	10	US: 19,200

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions					Sales	Certifications	Album
		US Country	US Country Airplay	US	CAN Country	CAN
2016	"Sleep Without You"	3	2	47	7	93	US: 377,000	RIAA: Platinum	Brett Young
2017	"In Case You Didn't Know"	2	1	19	1	50	US: 1,096,000	}} MC: Gold
	"Like I Loved You"	3	1	46	1	91	US: 256,000	RIAA: Gold
2018	"Mercy"	2	1	29	8	56	US: 459,000	RIAA: Platinum
	"Here Tonight"	6	3	53	4	72	US: 69,000		Ticket to L.A.
""?" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs

Year	Single	Peak chart positions	Album
		US Country
2018	"Don't Wanna Write This Song"	32	Ticket to L.A.

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2016	"Sleep Without You"	Shane Drake
2017	"In Case You Didn't Know"	Jennifer Rothlein
	"Like I Loved You"	Phillip Lopez
	"O Holy Night"
2018	"Mercy"	Seth Kupersmith
	"Here Tonight"	Greg Crutcher

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Recipient/Work	Result	Ref
2017	Academy of Country Music Awards	New Male Vocalist of the Year	Himself
	CMT Music Awards	Breakthrough Video of the Year	"In Case You Didn't Know"
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Country Song
	Country Music Association Awards	New Artist of the Year	Himself
2018	Academy of Country Music Awards	New Male Vocalist of the Year	Himself
	Billboard Music Awards	Top Country Song	"In Case You Didn't Know"
		Top Country Album	Brett Young
	CMT Music Awards	Video of the Year	"Mercy"
	Country Music Association Awards	New Artist of the Year	Himself	Nominated