Brad Paisley

Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Paisley graduated from John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, West Virginia, in 1991, and then studied for two years at West Liberty State College in West Liberty, West Virginia.

He was awarded a fully paid ASCAP scholarship to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he majored in music business and received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Mike Curb School of Music Business in 1995.

He interned at ASCAP, Atlantic Records, and the Fitzgerald-Hartley management firm.

While in college, he met Frank Rogers, a fellow student who went on to serve as his producer.

Paisley also met Kelley Lovelace, who became his songwriting partner.

He also met Chris DuBois in college, and he, too, would write songs for him.

Starting with his 1999 debut album Who Needs Pictures, he has released twelve studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashville label, with all of his albums certified Gold or higher by the RIAA.

He has scored 35 Top 10 singles on the US Billboard Country Airplay chart, 20 of which have reached number one.

Within a week after graduating from Belmont, Paisley signed a songwriting contract with EMI Music Publishing; and he wrote David Kersh's Top 5 hit, "Another You", as well as David Ball's 1999 single, "Watching My Baby Not Come Back".

The latter song was also co-written by Ball.

His debut as a singer was with the label Arista Nashville, with the song "Who Needs Pictures" (released February 1, 1999).

In May of that same year, he made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.

Seven months later he had his first No. 1 hit with "He Didn't Have to Be", which detailed the story of Paisley's frequent co-writer Kelley Lovelace and Lovelace's stepson, McCain Merren.

The album also produced a Top 20 hit with "Me Neither" and his second number 1 hit, "We Danced", both in 2000.

Later in 2000, Paisley won the Country Music Association's (CMA) Horizon Award and the Academy of Country Music's best new male vocalist trophy.

He received his first Grammy Award nomination a year later for Best New Artist.

By February 2001, the album was certified platinum.

He set a new record in 2009 for the most consecutive singles (10) reaching the top spot on that chart.

Paisley has sold over 11 million albums and has won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 14 Country Music Association Awards, and two American Music Awards.

He has also earned country music's crowning achievement, becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Paisley also wrote songs for Pixar's Cars franchise ("Behind the Clouds", "Find Yourself", "Collision of Worlds" with Robbie Williams, "Nobody's Fool", etc.), and is known for his comedic songwriting style and skilled guitar playing.

Paisley was born and raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia.

He is the only child of Douglas Edward "Doug" Paisley, who worked for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, and Sandra Jean "Sandy" (née Jarvis) Paisley, a teacher.

He has stated that his love of country music stems from his maternal grandfather, Warren Jarvis, who gave him his first guitar, a Sears Danelectro Silvertone, and taught him how to play at eight years old.

In third grade, he performed for the first time in public by singing in his church.

Initially, they were just going to have him play the song on the guitar instead of a piano.

But then the adults heard him sing the tune and said, "forget the choir, let's just have Brad do the whole thing."

After that, he never had to ask for a gig until he left Glen Dale.

He later recalled that "Pretty soon, I was performing at every Christmas party and Mother's Day event. The neat thing about a small town is that when you want to be an artist, by golly, they'll make you one."

At age 13, he wrote his first song, "Born on Christmas Day", which later appeared on his album Brad Paisley Christmas.

He had been taking lessons with local guitarist Clarence "Hank" Goddard.

By 13, Goddard and Paisley formed a band called "Brad Paisley and the C-Notes", with the addition of two of Paisley's adult friends.

While in junior high, his principal heard him perform "Born On Christmas Day" and invited him to play at the local Rotary Club meeting.

In attendance was Tom Miller, the program director of a radio station in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Miller asked him if he would like to be a guest on Jamboree USA.

After his first performance, he was asked to become a member of the show's weekly lineup.

For the next eight years, he opened for country singers such as The Judds, Ricky Skaggs and George Jones.

He would become the youngest person inducted into the Jamboree USA Hall of Fame.

He also performed at the Jamboree in the Hills.