Jake Owen

Joshua Ryan Owen (born August 28, 1981), known professionally as Jake Owen, is an American country music singer.

Joshua Ryan "Jake" Owen and his fraternal twin brother Jarrod were born in Winter Haven, Florida, on August 28, 1981.

The brothers regularly participated in a variety of sports.

Jake eventually took up golf, and began pursuing a career as a professional golfer, winning his first tournament at 15.

After graduating from Vero Beach High School, he attended Florida State University.

A wakeboarding accident which required reconstructive surgery left Jake unable to continue participating in the sport.

While recovering from his injuries, he borrowed a neighbor's guitar and began to teach himself how to play it.

After seeing a guitarist perform at a campus bar, he asked the bar's owner if he could play a gig there.

Eventually, he became a regular at the bar, and soon took up writing his own material as well.

He then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, making his first stop at a bank to open a savings account; after telling the bank teller that he was a singer and songwriter, the teller then asked if he had any recordings available.

He gave her a CD of his work, which she sent to the Warner/Chappell Music publishing company.

Although Warner/Chappell did not sign him to a contract, Jake Owen eventually met the record producer and songwriter Jimmy Ritchey.

They, along with songwriter Chuck Jones, wrote a song "Ghosts".

which they had intended for Kenny Chesney.

During this tour, the three acts began performing "Life in a Northern Town" (a cover of British pop group The Dream Academy's hit single from 1985).

A music video of their live performance was aired on CMT.

Chesney, ultimately, did not record "Ghosts", although it drew the attention of Sony BMG Nashville executives, who signed Owen to their RCA Nashville label in 2005.

Per their suggestion, Owen changed his first name to Jake, so as to avoid confusion with Josh Turner and Josh Gracin.

Signed to RCA Nashville in 2006, he released his debut studio album, Startin' with Me, that year.

This album produced three singles, all of which reached top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart: his debut "Yee Haw", "Startin' with Me", and "Something About a Woman".

In early 2006, Jake Owen released his debut single, titled "Yee Haw".

He describes the song (an up-tempo party anthem in which the narrator expresses his enjoyment with a cry of "yeehaw") as being written "to make people have a good time".

It peaked at No.16 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and served as the lead-off single on his debut album, Startin' with Me.

Released on July 25, 2006, the album featured 11 tracks, all co-written by him and his producer.

Among them were his own recording of "Ghosts" and a duet with Randy Owen (no relation) of Alabama entitled "You Can Thank Dixie".

After the album's release, Jake Owen was signed as an opening act for acts such as Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

The album's title track, a ballad in which the narrator expresses his desire to change everything in his life, was released as his second single.

Spending more than thirty-five weeks on the Billboard country chart, "Startin' with Me" became his first top 10 hit, reaching a peak of No.6.

Also in 2007, he went on tour with Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn.

"Something About a Woman" was released in late 2007 as the third single.

In September 2007, he and country quartet Little Big Town joined country duo Sugarland's tour.

In April 2008, a recording of this performance entered the Billboard country chart based on unsolicited airplay.

His second studio album, 2009's Easy Does It, accounted for three more singles: "Don't Think I Can't Love You", "Eight Second Ride", and "Tell Me".

Jake Owen released his second studio album, Easy Does It, on February 24, 2009.

The album debuted at No.2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and No.13 on the Billboard 200.

The lead-off single to the album, "Don't Think I Can't Love You" became his first top 5 country hit, reaching No.2 on the Hot Country Songs chart in April 2009.

"Eight Second Ride", a song which was originally on Startin' with Me and newly recorded for Easy Does It, was the album's second single; it peaked at No.11 in January 2010.

In September 2011, Owen achieved his first number one hit with the title track to his third studio album Barefoot Blue Jean Night; also toppers were "Alone with You", "The One That Got Away", and "Anywhere with You".

His fourth studio album, Days of Gold, produced two singles with its title track, which broke the top 20 in 2013, and the number one single "Beachin'".

Owen has also toured as an opening act for several other country artists, including Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Little Big Town, Sugarland, Keith Urban, and Jason Aldean.