Brett Charles Young is an American country pop singer-songwriter from Orange County, California. He was a college baseball pitcher but took up songwriting after an elbow injury. His self-titled debut EP, produced by Dann Huff, was released by Republic Nashville on February 12, 2016. The lead single, "Sleep Without You", was released on April 11, and he had a major success with his following single, "In Case You Didn't Know". He released his second major label album Ticket to L.A. in 2018.
Early life
Young was born in Anaheim, Orange County. He attended Calvary Chapel High School in Costa Mesa, California, and then Ole Miss, Irvine Valley College, and Fresno State. 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. 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. 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. However, his pursuit of a professional baseball career was cut short by an elbow injury while at Fresno in 2003.
Music career
According to Young, he was inspired by Gavin DeGraw after he heard his album Chariot as well as singer/songwriter Jeffrey Steele and decided to return to music. Young independently released a self-titled four-song EP in 2007, then Make Believe in 2011, followed by the albums Brett Young, On Fire, and Broken Down in 2012–13. After eight years based in Los Angeles, Young moved to Nashville. He was soon signed by the Big Machine Label Group in August 2015.
2016–present: ''Brett Young'' EP and album
In February 2016, Young released a six-song self-titled EP. "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. The second single to be released from the album "In Case You Didn't Know", was released January 9, 2017. The song reached number one on the Country Airplay chart, and was certified triple Platinum by RIAA. 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 albumBrett 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 Keaton Simons, drummer Billy Hawn, Keys/guitarist Matt Ferranti, and bass guitarist Noah Needleman.
2018–present: ''Ticket to L.A.''
In December 2018, Young released his sophomore album Ticket to L.A.. The lead single for the album, "Here Tonight", which he co-wrote with Ben Caver, Justin Ebach and Charles Kelley, was released in September 2018. It reached at number one on the Country Airplay in April 2019. The album's second single, "Catch" released to country radio on June 3, 2019.
Personal life
In February 2018, Young got engaged to his girlfriend Taylor Mills. The couple wed in Palm Desert, California on November 3, 2018. On April 6, 2019, they announced they are expecting their first child in the fall of 2019. Their daughter was born in October 2019.
