Chance McKinney is a country music artist from

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. In 2009, while working as a math teacher at

Kamiak High School Kamiak High School is a public high school in Mukilteo, Washington, United States. It was the second high school in the Mukilteo School District when it opened on September 8, 1993. The first and only high school within Mukilteo city limits, it ...

, he entered and won

Country Music Television Country Music Television, often abbreviated to CMT, is an American pay TV network that launched on March 5, 1983. It is currently owned by Paramount Global through the MTV Entertainment Group unit of its networks division. CMT was the first na ...

's Music City Madness competition for unsigned artists.

Early life

Chance grew up in

Lolo, Montana Lolo is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Missoula metropolitan area. The population was 4,399 at the 2020 census, an increase from its population of 3,8 ...

. He attended

Big Sky High School Big Sky High School is an American public high school in Missoula, Montana, United States, opened in 1980. The school made Missoula the first city in Montana to have four secondary schools. It is a part of the Missoula County Public Schools. It i ...

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

. Throughout high school, McKinney was a 3-time National Champion in javelin throwing, an All-state basketball player, and held a 4.0 GPA. Division I All-American javelin thrower in college. He graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

and received a degree in Mathematics and teaching.

Musical career

Prior to entering

's contest, McKinney was a member of the band Nathan Chance, which disbanded in September 2009. Chance McKinney was also a founding member of the now disbanded group Timeless Soul (A Motown/Philly Review) Show. Other founding members of Timeless Soul were Thomas Wray, Charles McNairy & Glen Speed, Jr. Timeless Soul. Other key members of Timeless Soul were George Dowdy, Tripple J and Austin Cooper.

CMT's Music City Madness

In 2009, Chance McKinney, at the time a math teacher at Kamiak High School in

Mukilteo, Washington Mukilteo ( ; ) is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located on Puget Sound between Edmonds, Washington, Edmonds and Everett, Washington, Everett, approximately north of Seattle. The city had a population of 20,254 at ...

, entered Country Music Television's Music City Madness competition for unsigned artists with his single, "Be Real". He entered the contest only a few minutes before the deadline. The contest ran from October through December, and he won when he received over one million votes in the final round. McKinney was teaching a class when he learned that he had won the contest. He then took out his guitar and played the song for his students. His students finished the song for him when he became too choked up to sing. He later performed the song at a school pep assembly. As the winner of the contest, McKinney was given the chance to audition for a record company in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Be Real

McKinney wrote the song "Be Real" in 2005 in the back of a van. At the time, he was heading home from coaching a track meet in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Chance wrote part of the song lyrics on an envelope. He then recorded it on his voice mail while on an airplane flying home when the flight attendant was not paying attention. "Be Real" eventually ended up securing over 1 Million Votes / Views in the final round of CMT's Music City Madness which propelled him to No. 1 on CMT's unsigned singer/songwriter competition.

Touring

Chance McKinney has toured with

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Count ...

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Do ...

Colt Ford Jason Farris Brown (born August 27, 1969) known professionally as Colt Ford, is an American country rap musician, songwriter, entrepreneur, and former professional golfer. He is also the co-founder of record label Average Joes Entertainment. ...

Trace Adkins Tracy Darrell Adkins (born January 13, 1962) known professionally as Trace Adkins, is an American country music singer and actor. Adkins made his debut in 1996 with the album ''Dreamin' Out Loud'', released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since t ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

, CCR,

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carol ...

and more... He's played Watershed Music Festival, Bi-Mart Country Music Festival, Oregon Jamboree, Cape Blanco Music Festival and other shows for tens of thousands of spectators in one sitting.

Personal life

Chance married his wife, Lisa, in 2009. They have one daughter and a son. He stands at 6'6". Prior to his country career, McKinney was a trigonometry teacher at Seattle area schools, Skyline High School,

Inglemoor High School Inglemoor High School is a public high school located in Kenmore, Washington, United States. In 2024, the student population was approximately 1,463 students in grades 9–12. Starting from the 2017 school year, the school accommodates 9th grade ...

Woodinville High School Woodinville High School is a public secondary school in the northwest United States in Woodinville, Washington, a suburb northeast of Seattle. Serving grades 9 through 12, it educates the eastern portion of the Northshore School District and is a ...

, and Kamiak High School. He was also a

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

track coach. As a former Seahawks employee, McKinney is an avid fan of the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. He spends his time between Seattle and

Hendersonville, Tennessee Hendersonville is the most populous city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 61,753. Hendersonville is the fourth-most populous city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nas ...

Discography

* ''Be Real'' (2010) * ''Think About That'' (2013) * ''Down To Get Up'' (2016) * ''I, Chance McKinney'' (2018) * ''I-Squared'' (2018)

Charity

On Friday, April 4, 2014 he performed a concert to benefit the

2014 Oso mudslide A major landslide occurred east of Oso, Washington, United States, on March 22, 2014, at 10:37 a.m. local time. A portion of an unstable hill collapsed, sending mud and debris to the south across the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, ...

victims at

Tulalip Resort Casino Tulalip Resort Casino is an Indian casino and resort in Quil Ceda Village, Washington, owned and operated by the Tulalip Tribes of Washington. It opened in 2003 as the Tulalip Casino and features of total space and a parking lot with 5,740 st ...

where one hundred percent of more than $16,000 in proceeds were donated to victims and their families.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Chance Singers from Seattle Living people American country singer-songwriters 21st-century American musicians Country musicians from Washington (state) Washington State University alumni Musicians from Missoula, Montana Country musicians from Montana American male singer-songwriters Songwriters from Montana Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) People from Mukilteo, Washington 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)