Baylee Thomas Wylee Littrell (born November 26, 2002) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer. His debut album, ''770-Country'', was released on November 15, 2019. It has songs written by Gary Baker, Corey Crowder, Seth Ennis,

Tyler Hubbard Tyler Reed Hubbard (born January 31, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, and musician, best known as a member of the Nashville-based duo Florida Georgia Line. After that duo went on hiatus in 2021, Hubbard began recording as a solo artist on ...

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line was an American country music duo founded in 2010 by vocalists and songwriters Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was downloaded over ...

, Steven Lee Olsen, Daniel Ross, and Littrell himself.

Early life

Littrell was born on November 26, 2002, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

to model and actress Leighanne Wallace and

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

member

Brian Littrell Brian Thomas Littrell (; born February 20, 1975) is an American singer and a member of the Backstreet Boys. He is also a contemporary Christian music artist and released the solo album '' Welcome Home'' in 2006. He is the father of country singe ...

. He is an only child. Littrell played on Little League baseball and basketball teams, both coached by his father. He was active in karate,

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and soccer. When he was six, he developed Kawasaki syndrome, characterized by a collection of symptoms caused by swollen blood vessels around his heart. When he was around seven or eight he began to be

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

and was able to skip a grade at home and on the road. He was an actor and a singer while being homeschooled. His father has been his musical director and his mother his manager.

Career

Early career

Littrell became involved in music when he was two years old, accompanying his father on the

Never Gone Tour The Never Gone Tour is the sixth headlining concert tour by American boy band, the Backstreet Boys. The tour was launched in support of their fifth studio album, ''Never Gone'' (2005). It is the last BSB tour with all five members of the group, a ...

. However, he never really got into music until around first grade, when he attended band, theater, and acting camps during the summer. Later, he even began writing songs consisting of short poems, when he was six or seven. His piano teacher heard him sing when he was six. By the time when Littrell was 8 years old, he did a skit with his cousin and was in a band; he realized that he wanted to be a performer follow his parents' footsteps even if they had concerns about that type of career. He started taking lessons in acting, singing, playing the piano, and had guitar instruction from his father, Brian.

Broadway

When he was 13, his family left their Atlanta home for the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

while Littrell made his

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

debut in the musical ''

Disaster! Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! was a dark ride attraction at Universal Studios Florida. Set on a soundstage of a fictitious movie company, ''Disaster!'' was based on the park's former Earthquake: The Big One ride, which ...

'' playing twins Ben and Lisa on March 8, 2016, at the

Nederlander Theatre The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre) is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhatt ...

. He received a

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

nomination for the performance in 2016.

Solo artist

By the time he was nine, he was opening arena shows for his father and the

worldwide, usually performing two songs. After being on Broadway, he announced to his parents that he wanted to start his career as a country artist, which he did, writing his songs and listening to Florida Georgia Line. On April 3, 2019, the Backstreet Boys announced Littrell as an opening act for their North American leg of the

DNA World Tour The DNA World Tour was the tenth concert tour by American vocal group Backstreet Boys in support of their tenth studio album, ''DNA'' (2019). The tour performed over 150 shows in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. It was the ninth ...

. The tour ran from July 12, 2019 in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

at the

Capital One Arena Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened o ...

until September 2019. Starting on October 31, 2019, Littrell joined American country music artist

Chris Lane Christopher Eric Lane (born November 9, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released one album as frontman of the Chris Lane Band, a second album, ''Girl Problems'', and a third album, ''Laps Around the Sun (Chris Lane ...

for a string of performances on his Big Big Plans tour in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

;

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

; and Atlanta. On November 15, 2019, Littrell released his debut album, ''770-Country'', via BriLeigh Records. The album includes songwriting and production from Gary Baker, Corey Crowder, Seth Ennis, Tyler Hubbard, Steven Lee Olsen, Daniel Ross, and Littrell. It features "Boxes," "Don't Knock It," and "We Run This Beach." In May 2022, he announced that he was working on a second album. On July 27, Littrell joined his father, cousin (once removed) Kevin Richardson, and the rest of the Backstreet Boys in a charity softball game in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, for On Our Sleeves, a Nationwide Children's Hospital mental health charity. On September 9, 2022, he released his first ep, EP Vol. One. In March 2025, Littrell appeared on ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' and was given a golden ticket to Hollywood. He also sang a short duo with his father on the show. His appearance on the show sparked some controversy, with some viewers saying that due to him being a "

nepo baby Nepo baby, short for nepotism baby, is a term referring to someone whose career is similar or related to the career in which a parent succeeded. The implication is that because the parent already had connections to one or more specific industries, ...

", he should not be on a program meant for undiscovered talent.

Influences

Littrell said that some of his biggest musical influences include

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

(his greatest inspiration), Florida Georgia Line,

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

, and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

. Other than his father, he says that his favorite Backstreet Boy member is

AJ McLean Alexander James McLean (born January 9, 1978) is an American singer. He is a founding member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys. Early life McLean was born on January 9, 1978, in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Denise (née Fernandez, now ...

Personal life

Littrell lives in

Alpharetta, Georgia Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818; in 2010, the population had been 57,551. History In the 1830s, ...

with his parents. He is private about his romantic life. On June 26, 2022, Littrell lost his maternal grandmother from a heart condition. He said that he was strongly influenced by her.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littrell, Baylee American country singer-songwriters Living people 2002 births Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) American male singer-songwriters American Idol participants