Short Biography

Singer and songwriter Luke Bryan comes by his country influences naturally: he grew up in Leesburg, Georgia, a small town 100 miles from the Alabama border where his father grew peanuts and sold fertilizer for a living. Bryan helped his family work the farm when he was young, but in his early teens he developed a passion for country music, picking up his influences from his parents’ record collection, listening to the likes of George Strait, Conway Twitty, Ronnie Milsap, Alan Jackson, and Merle Haggard. When he was 14, his folks bought him his first guitar, and a year later his playing and singing were strong enough that he started sitting in with local bands at a club featuring live country music. At 16, Bryan starting writing songs with the help of a pair of local tunesmiths who had enjoyed some success in Nashville, and he planned to head to Music City to try his luck after graduating from high school until his brother died in an auto accident. Wanting to offer emotional support to his family, Bryan opted to attend Georgia Southern University instead, though he didn’t give up music; he continued writing songs, formed a band, and was playing gigs on campus or at nearby watering holes most weekends while pursuing his studies. He recorded a self-released album, which he sold at shows during this period, but was reluctant to take the plunge and devote himself to music full-time until he returned home to work in the family business after receiving his degree. Bryan’s dad, confident of his son’s talent, made him an offer: he could either move to Nashville or be fired. In the early fall of 2001, Bryan pulled up stakes and relocated to Nashville, where his heartfelt songs of country life earned him a contract with one of the city’s many publishing houses. In his free time, Bryan continued to perform at local clubs, and after an A&R man from Capitol Records saw him perform a set of his original material, he was given a record deal. Capitol released Bryan’s first widely distributed album, I’ll Stay Me, in the summer of 2007, following it with Doin’ My Thing in 2009. Doin’ My Thing peaked at number two on the country charts — and at number six on the Top 200 — and spawned two number one singles in “Rain Is a Good Thing” and “Someone Else Calling You Baby,” with “Do I” hitting number two. Bryan returned with his third album, Tailgates & Tanlines, in the summer of 2011, its release being preceded by the single “Country Girl (Shake It for Me).”

Detailed Biography

Thomas Luther “Luke” Bryan (born July 17, 1976, in Leesburg, Georgia) is an American country music artist. He debuted in 2007 with the single “All My Friends Say”, a Top 5 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His debut album, I’ll Stay Me, was released onCapitol Records in 2007. This album also produced chart singles in “We Rode in Trucks” and “Country Man”. In addition to his own material, Bryan wrote Billy Currington’s 2007 Number One hit “Good Directions.”

In 2009, Bryan released his second album, Doin’ My Thing. This album produced the #2 country hit “Do I” as well as his first two number one hits, “Rain Is a Good Thing, and “Someone Else Calling You Baby.”

Bryan was raised in Leesburg, GA. At age fourteen, his parents bought him his first guitar, and after learning to play it, he joined various local bands and began to play in local clubsAfter graduating high school, Bryan planned to move to Nashville, Tennessee; however, this move was delayed, due to the death of his brother, Chris, on the same day he planned to leave. Luke attended Georgia Southern University, and is a member of the Eta Zeta chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

He moved to Nashville on September 1, 2001 and landed a deal as a songwriter within two months.Among his first cuts was the title track of Travis Tritt’s 2005 album My Honky Tonk History.An A&R representative at Capitol Records saw Bryan perform at a club, and signed him to a recording contract. His debut single, “All My Friends Say”, was released in early 2007, just as country music artist Billy Curringtonwas climbing the Hot Country Songs charts with “Good Directions”, which Bryan also wrote. “Good Directions” spent three weeks at Number One on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs charts in May 2007, while “All My Friends Say” reached a peak of #5. In August 2007, Bryan’s debut album for Capitol, entitled I’ll Stay Me, was released. The album’s second single, “We Rode in Trucks”, peaked in the Top 40 in early 2008. A third single, “Country Man”, was released in February 2008 and became his second Top 10 hit. Bryan also charted in late 2008 with a cover of “Run Rudolph Run” which peaked at #42 based on Christmas airplay.

In March 2009, he released an exclusive EP to iTunes titled Spring Break With All My Friends that featured two new songs, “Sorority Girls” and “Take My Drunk Ass Home,” as well as an acoustic version of “All My Friends Say.” After this EP, he released his fourth single, “Do I”, which is included on his second album, Doin’ My Thing. Bryan wrote the song with Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum, whose lead singer Hillary Scott also sings backing vocals on it. It debuted at #53 on the country singles charts dated for May 9, 2009 and reached #2 in December, having been held from the Number One spot by Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now.” “Rain Is a Good Thing” was released as the second single on January 25, 2010, and in July it became his first Number One on Billboard. The third single, “Someone Else Calling You Baby”, was released on August 2, 2010, and also reached Number One in February 2011.

Bryan presented at the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010.

Bryan released his seventh single, “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)”, to country radio on March 14, 2011. Also co-written by Bryan and Davidson, it served as the lead-off single to his third studio album, Tailgates & Tanlines, which was released August 13′ 2011. The album debuted at number 1 on the Top Country Albums and number 2 on the Billboard 200. “Country Girl” peaked at number 4 on the country charts and number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bryan co-wrote the album’s second single, “I Don’t Want This Night to End”, with Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip, who are collectively known as the Peach Pickers. In early 2012, this song became Bryan’s third number 1. “Drunk On You” is the album’s third single, which debuted at number 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. On March 6, 2012, Bryan released his fourth Spring Break EP entitled Spring Break 4 … Suntan City. Along with the title track, which Bryan co-wrote with Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins andBen Hayslip, the EP includes “Spring Breakup,”Little Bit Later On” and “Shake the Sand.” He was recently invited by the Kansas City Royals to sing theStar-Spangled Banner at the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, played at Kauffman Stadium. Despite singing the anthem flawlessly, his performance was marred by controversy because he wrote a few key words to the anthem on his hand and was criticized for glancing down to check the lyrics. The album’s fourth single “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” released to country radio on August 6, 2012. It was also announced in August 2012 that Bryan would appear on a song on Jason Aldean’s new album, Night Train. The song is titled “The Only Way I Know”; it is a collaboration among Bryan, Aldean, and fellow country singer Eric Church. It was released as the album’s second single. On October 11, 2012, Luke Bryan announced his first headlining tour which is called ‘Dirt Road Diaries Tour’ the tour is set to start on January 17, 2013 in Evansville, IN at the Ford Center and set to end on March 23, 2013 in Charlottesville, VA at the John Paul Jones Arena. Special guests for the tour is Thompson Square and Florida Georgia Line.

Luke Bryan married Caroline Boyer, a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, on Dec. 8, 2006. They welcomed a son, Thomas Boyer “Bo” Bryan, on March 18, 2008. Their second son, Tatum Christopher Bryan, was born on August 11, 2010.