Artists

A singer and songwriter whose music balances the sophistication of contemporary pop with the emotional palette of modern country, Brett Young cut his teeth on the West Coast before finding major success in Nashville. Young's songs deal with the big emotions that are part of life, love, and family, and his music has a potent dramatic sweep, whether he's channeling classic power ballads or working with more subtle acoustic arrangements. A former college baseball star, Young's eventual switch to music paid off with the platinum success of his second album, 2018's Ticket to L.A. He took a second look at some of that album's songs on 2019's The Acoustic Sessions, and offered a more mature look at life on 2021's Weekends Look a Little Different These Days. Brett Young was born and raised in Orange County, California, and was a teenager when he first developed a love for music and learned to play guitar. In the late '90s, Young was a student at Costa Mesa's Calvary Chapel High School, and he volunteered to help the school's worship leader with performances on Friday mornings. One day, the music leader was out of town, and Young ended up taking his place. The experience convinced him he had what it took to perform in front of an audience, but even as his confidence grew, his first loyalty was to sports. Young was a star pitcher on Calvary Chapel High's baseball team, and in his senior year he helped the team achieve a 28-1 record and took them to the CIF championships, chalking up 130 strikeouts and a 0.90 ERA that season.