Brett Charles Young (born March 23, 1981) is an American country pop singer and songwriter from Orange County, California.[2] He was a college baseball pitcher but took up songwriting after an elbow injury.[3] His self-titled debut EP, produced by Dann Huff, was released by Republic Nashville on February 12, 2016.[4][5] The lead single, "Sleep Without You", was released on April 11.[4]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Music career 2.1 2016–present: Brett Young EP and debut album 3 Personal life 4 Discography 4.1 Studio albums 4.2 Extended plays 4.3 Singles 4.4 Music videos 5 Tours 6 Awards and nominations 7 References 8 External links Early life

Young was born in Anaheim, Orange County.[1] He attended Calvary Chapel High School in Costa Mesa, California, and then Ole Miss, Irvine Valley College, and Fresno State.[6][7] 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.[7]

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.[8][9] 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.[10] However, his pursuit of a professional baseball career was cut short by an elbow injury while at Fresno in 2003.[11][12]

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.[7] Young independently released a self-titled four-song EP in 2007,[13] then Make Believe in 2011,[14] followed by the albums Brett Young,[15] On Fire,[16] and Broken Down in 2012–13.[17]

After eight years based in Los Angeles, Young moved to Nashville.[18] He was soon signed by the Big Machine Label Group in August 2015.[19]

2016–present: Brett Young EP and debut album

In February 2016, Young released a six-song self-titled EP.[11] "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.[20] The second single to be released from the album "In Case You Didn't Know", was released January 9, 2017, and it reached number one on the Country Airplay chart.[21] 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 Sam Davis, drummer Billy Hawn, guitarist Matt Ferranti, and bass guitarist Noah Needleman.

Personal life

In February 2018, Young got engaged to his girlfriend Taylor Mills.[22]

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chartpositions Sales Certifications US Country[23] US[24] CAN[25] Brett Young Release date: February 10, 2017 Label: Big Machine 2 18 26 US: 225,100[26] RIAA: Platinum[27] Ticket to L.A.[28] Release date: December 7, 2018 Label: Big Machine To be released