Zachary Lane Bryan (born April 2, 1996) 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-songwriter and rock musician from Oologah, Oklahoma. After two self-produced studio albums—''

DeAnn ''DeAnn'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Zach Bryan, released on August 24, 2019, through Belting Bronco. The album is named after Bryan's mother, who died in 2016. The album first charted in 2021 and debuted on the US ...

'' (2019) and '' Elisabeth'' (2020)—he signed with

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

to release his third album and

major label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

debut, '' American Heartbreak'' (2022), which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was led by the ''Billboard'' Hot 100-top ten single, " Something in the Orange". His self-titled fourth album (2023) debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200, while its lead single, " I Remember Everything" (featuring Kacey Musgraves), peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100,

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

, and

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charts simultaneously, also earning him a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. His fifth studio album, '' The Great American Bar Scene'' (2024), peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 and spawned the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top-ten single " Pink Skies". Throughout his career, Bryan has been recognized with several awards including an Academy Award of Country Music Award, a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

and four ''Billboard'' Music Awards. He has sold over 30 million albums and singles, according to the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Early life

Bryan was born in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Japan, where his parents were stationed as part of a U.S. Navy deployment. He is the son of Dewayne Bryan and Annette DeAnn (''née'' Mullen) Bryan, and has a sister, Mackenzie. DeAnn battled

alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of alcohol-related substance abuse. This spectrum can range from being mild, moderate, or severe. This can look like consumption of more than 2 drinks per day on average for men, or more than 1 drink per ...

. When Bryan was in the eighth grade, his family moved to Oologah, Oklahoma. His parents divorced when he was 12. He started writing songs at the age of 14. Continuing a family tradition, Bryan was an active-duty member of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for eight years, enlisting at the age of 17. Bryan attained the rate/rating of Aviation Ordnanceman Second Class (AO2). He used his spare time while in the Navy to write music for his enjoyment. He finished his service in the Navy in 2021 at the age of 25.

Career

2017–2019: Beginnings

Bryan started uploading his music to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in 2017, with his friends recording him performing using his

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. Bryan's first song uploaded to YouTube was the single "God Speed" which ended up being a track on his debut album. Many of the songs Bryan would upload to his YouTube were written and recorded by him while serving in the Navy. Bryan uploaded 16 songs of varying popularity onto his YouTube before " Heading South" went viral. The song was recorded outside his Navy barracks.

2019–2020: ''DeAnn'' and ''Elisabeth''

His debut album, ''

'', was dedicated to his late mother and released on August 24, 2019. It was written in two months and recorded with his friends in an Airbnb located in Jacksonville, Florida. The album consisted of 12 tracks, many of which had been previously uploaded to his YouTube. Bryan's first public concert was in

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...

, in October 2019. He has since made his debut at the historic

Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (originally Union Gospel Tabernacle and renamed Grand Ole Opry House for a period) is a historic 2,362-seat live-performance venue and museum located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in the downtown core of Nashville, Tennesse ...

, among other noteworthy appearances. A second album, '' Elisabeth'', was released on May 8, 2020. He recorded the album in a repurposed barn behind his home in Washington. The album is named after his ex-wife. The album contains 19 tracks including the tracks "Heading South" and "Revival". Bryan released his first EP, ''Quiet, Heavy Dreams'', on November 27, 2020.

2021–2022: ''American Heartbreak'' and "Something in the Orange"

On April 10, 2021, Bryan made his

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

debut. He later signed a deal with

to release his music. Zach Bryan Navy

On October 14, 2021, Bryan announced that he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy after eight years of service to pursue his career in music just ahead of his nationwide Fall 2021 "Ain't For Tamin' Tour". He said, "If it was my decision, I would never get out of the world's greatest Navy, but here I am and they kindly honorably discharged me to go play some music." On January 25, 2022, Bryan announced that he would release his major-label debut, a triple album, '' American Heartbreak'', on May 20, 2022. On April 22, 2022, Bryan released the hit single " Something in the Orange", which became a mainstream hit and is regarded as one of Bryan's most recognizable and identifiable songs. The song was Bryan's breakthrough onto the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 debuting at position 55 on May 7, 2022, and peaking at 10. ''American Heartbreak'' debuted at number five on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 with over 70,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s, marking the biggest first week for a country album in 2022. The album consisted of 34 tracks including "Something in the Orange – Z&E's Version" a more raw and acoustic version of the hit song. On July 15, 2022, Bryan released his second EP, '' Summertime Blues'', which featured collaborator Charles Wesley Goodwin. The EP contained nine tracks including the charting song of "Oklahoma Smokeshow" which peaked at number 75. On September 8, 2022, Bryan released the single " Burn, Burn, Burn" followed by the single "Starved" on October 10. These were followed by the two singles "Fifth of May" and "The Greatest Day of My Life" on November 11, 2022. On December 25, 2022, he released a live album called '' All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live from Red Rocks)'', recorded at

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also known colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheater in the Western United States, western United States near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the c ...

. Bryan's single "Something In The Orange" was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the

65th Annual Grammy Awards The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year – October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022 – as de ...

marking Bryan's first career

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination.

2023–present: ''Zach Bryan'' and ''The Great American Bar Scene''

On January 27, 2023, Bryan collaborated with Maggie Rogers and released "

Dawns Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

", his first single of the year. The single reached a peak of 42 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In May 2023, Bryan received the Academy of Country Music Award for New Male Artist of the Year. On August 25, 2023, Bryan released his self-titled fourth album. It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album also contained Bryan's first number one single, " I Remember Everything", featuring Kacey Musgraves, which debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the top spot. All sixteen tracks of the album charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with "I Remember Everything", "Hey Driver" (featuring The War and Treaty), "Spotless" (featuring The Lumineers), "East Side of Sorrow", and "Tourniquet" all appearing in the top 20. On September 22, 2023, he released his third EP, '' Boys of Faith'', which included songs featuring fellow artists Noah Kahan and

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

. All five tracks on the EP charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with "Sarah's Place" featuring Kahan peaking at 14. Bryan was named ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s top new artist of 2023 for his increased popularity through the year, such as his first appearance at the top of both the ''Billboard'' 200 and ''Billboard'' Hot 100. At the

66th Annual Grammy Awards The 66th Annual Grammy Awards honored the best recordings, compositions, and artists from October 1, 2022, to September 15, 2023, as chosen by the members of The Recording Academy, on February 4, 2024. In its 21st year at the Crypto.com Arena ...

Bryan was nominated for three categories. His self-titled fourth album was nominated for Best Country Album. "I Remember Everything" featuring Musgraves was nominated for the Best Country Song. The song was also nominated and won the Best Country Duo/Group Performance marking Bryan's first Grammy award win of his career. In early 2024, Bryan began teasing and announcing his fifth studio album, '' The Great American Bar Scene''. On May 24, 2024, Bryan released the lead single from the album, " Pink Skies". The single would debut at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the second highest charting single of his career up until this point. Bryan released the second single from the album titled " Purple Gas" which featured Noeline Hofmann, on June 7. The album was released on July 4, 2024. It contains 19 tracks including songs featuring artists Noeline Hofmann, John Moreland,

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, and Watchhouse. In early November 2024, following his breakup with

Barstool Sports Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in New York City that publishes sports journalism and pop culture-related content. It is owned by Dave Portnoy, who founded the company in 2003 in Milton, Massa ...

podcaster Brianna LaPaglia, Bryan released two songs, "High Road" and "This World's A Giant". Both songs were commercial successes; "High Road" peaked at number 28 in Canada and number 29 in the US and Ireland, while "This World's A Giant" peaked at number 32 in Ireland, number 41 in Canada, and number 49 in the US. On December 20, 2024, roughly two years after he released ''All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live from Red Rocks)'', Bryan released '' 24 (Live)'', a compilation live album recorded during his 2024 ''Quittin' Time Tour''. After the NFC divisional playoff game between the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and the

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on January 19, 2025, which the Eagles won, Bryan announced he would release a new song, "Blue Jean Baby", if the Eagles won the 2025 NFC Championship on January 26; the Eagles beat the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

55-23. "Blue Jean Baby" was released at midnight on January 27. In an Instagram post announcing the release of the song, Bryan promised to release an EP and Album by the end of the year. He headlined Stagecoach Festival on 25 April 2025.

Personal life

In 2013, Bryan enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served as an Aviation Ordnanceman in Florida as well as Washington, and served tours in Bahrain and Djibouti before receiving an honorable discharge to pursue his musical career. Bryan's mother died in 2016. On September 7, 2023, he was arrested by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for obstruction in Vinita, Oklahoma, and released on bail. Bryan completed his bachelor's degree in psychology in the fall of 2023, while touring and creating an album, fulfilling a promise made to his late mother.

Relationships

Bryan married Rose Madden in July 2020; the pair dissolved their marriage in 2021. Bryan was in a relationship with Deb Peifer from 2022 until May 2023. He started dating Brianna LaPaglia, co-host of the '' BFFs'' podcast published by

, in July 2023. Bryan announced his breakup with LaPaglia on October 22, 2024, via an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

Story. LaPaglia was blindsided by the breakup, as said in a story she shared on her own Instagram. She later claimed Bryan blocked her after the breakup, and that he emotionally abused her and offered her $12 million to sign an NDA after the breakup. In response to the breakup with LaPaglia, BFFs co-hosts Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards released a song about Bryan titled "Smallest Man", which was subsequently removed from several platforms due to takedown requests from Bryan and Richard's label

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

Discography

* ''

'' (2019) * '' Elisabeth'' (2020) * '' American Heartbreak'' (2022) * '' Zach Bryan'' (2023) * '' The Great American Bar Scene'' (2024)

Tours

;Headlining * The American Heartbreak Tour (2022) * The Burn Burn Burn Tour (2023) * The Quittin' Time Tour (2024)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

, - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, " Something in the Orange" , Best Country Solo Performance , , - , rowspan="3" ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, '' Zach Bryan'' , Best Country Album , , - , rowspan="2" , " I Remember Everything" , Best Country Song , , - , Best Country Duo/Group Performance ,

Berlin Music Video Awards

, - , 2024 , Nine Ball , Best Narrative ,

Billboard Music Awards

, - , rowspan=14,

, rowspan=8, Himself , Top New Artist , , - , Top Male Artist , , - , Top Hot 100 Songwriter , , - , Top Hot 100 Producer , , - , Top Streaming Songs Artist , , - , Top Country Artist , , - , Top Male Country Artist , , - , Top Rock Artist , , - , rowspan=2, '' American Heartbreak'' , Top Country Album , , - , Top Rock Album , , - , rowspan=3, " Something in the Orange" , Top Streaming Song , , - , Top Country Song , , - , rowspan=2, Top Rock Song , , - , " I Remember Everything" ,

Academy of Country Music Awards

, - ,

, rowspan=2, Himself , New Male Artist of the Year , , - , rowspan=2,

, Artist-Songwriter of the Year , , - , " I Remember Everything" , Music Event of the Year ,

Country Music Association Awards

, - ,

, Himself , New Artist of the Year , , - ,

, "I Remember Everything" , Musical Event of the Year ,

CMT Music Awards

, - ,

, "Oklahoma Smokeshow" , Male Breakthrough Video of the Year ,

People's Choice Awards

, - , rowspan="2" ,

, Himself , The Male Country Artist of the Year , , - , " I Remember Everything" , The Collaboration Song of the Year ,

People's Choice Country Awards

, - , rowspan="5" ,

, rowspan="3" , Himself , The People's Artist of the Year , , - , The Male Artist of the Year , , - , The New Artist of the Year , , - , "Dawns" , The Crossover Song of the Year , , - , The Burn, Burn, Burn Tour , The Concert Tour of the Year , , - , rowspan="17" ,

, rowspan="2" , Himself , The People's Artist of the Year , , - , The Male Artist of the Year , , - , rowspan="3" , "Pink Skies" , The Male Song of the Year , , - , The Storyteller Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" , The Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" , "I Remember Everything" , , - , rowspan="2", The Collaboration Song of the Year , , - , "Hey Driver" , , - , "Better Days" , The Crossover Song of the Year , , - , ''Zach Bryan'' , The Album of the Year , , - , The Quittin Time 2024 Tour , The Concert Tour of the Year ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Zach 1996 births American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters American baritones American country singer-songwriters American country guitarists American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters Country musicians from Oklahoma Guitarists from Oklahoma Living people Grammy Award winners Progressive country musicians Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma United States Navy sailors Warner Records artists American expatriates in Japan