On this day (October 28) in 1972, Brad Douglas Paisley was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia. Arriving on scene in February 1999 with the weepy “Who Needs Pictures”, Paisley soon established himself as a driving force of modern-day country music. He has gone on to notch 19 No. 1 singles on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, including an unbroken string of chart-toppers between 2006 and 2009.
Skirting the line between traditional country and Southern rock, Paisley is just as capable of producing tearjerkers—such as his first-ever No. 1, “He Didn’t Have to Be”—as he is raucously witty wordplay with songs like “Ticks” and “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)”.
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Amassing nearly 4 billion on-demand streams, the West Virginian has collected three Grammy Awards in addition to 14 trophies from the Country Music Association and 15 Academy of Country Music Awards. Nearly three decades after his debut, Paisley has maintained his cultural relevance, even recently contributing a brand-new song to the long-running animated sitcom South Park.
Today, we’re highlighting the many achievements of Brad Paisley in honor of the “Whiskey Lullaby” crooner’s 54th trip around the sun.
Brad Paisley Was a Teenage Prodigy
Like many country music legends, Brad Paisley’s love of music is deeply rooted in family. At age eight, he received his first guitar from his maternal grandfather, who also taught the young Paisley how to play.
“My earliest memory was having Buck Owens’ ‘Tiger by the Tail’ on a turntable at my grandmother’s, running in circles every time they would play that song,” he recalled.
The third grader made his public performance debut in church, and after that, he didn’t have to look far for musical gigs.
“Pretty soon, I was performing at every Christmas party and Mother’s Day event,” Paisley recalled. “The neat thing about a small town is that when you want to be an artist, by golly, they’ll make you one.”
He Started Out as a Songwriter
Brad Paisley wrote his first song, “Born on Christmas Day”, at age 13. Around this time, he also formed a band, Brad Paisley and the C-Notes, with local guitarist Clarence “Hank” Goddard, who had been giving the teenager lessons.
A Wheeling radio station director heard Paisley perform at a local Rotary Club meeting and invited the teen to guest star on the station’s Jamboree USA show. This led to a regular weekly gig, and he spent the next eight years opening for country singers including the Judds, George Jones, and Ricky Skaggs.
Graduating from high school in 1991, Paisley attended West Liberty Stage College in his home state for two years before receiving a full scholarship to Belmont University from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). So he moved to Nashville, earning a degree in music business in 1995.
Within a week of his college graduation, Paisley had inked a songwriting contract with EMI Music Publishing. He scored his first hit in early 1997 when country singer David Kersh took his song “Another You” to No. 3 on the country songs chart.
The Road to Country Music Stardom
Brad Paisley parlayed his early songwriting successes into a recording contract with Arista Records in 1998. His studio debut, Who Needs Pictures, arrived a year later. All four singles reached the top 20 of the Hot Country Songs chart, including two No. 1 hits in “He Didn’t Have To Be” and “We Danced”.
While promoting his debut album, Paisley also collaborated with country singer Chely Wright on her 2001 album Never Love You Enough. That same year, the 28-year-old musician joined the Grand Ole Opry as its youngest-ever inductee.
In 2008, Brad Paisley became the first artist to score 10 consecutive Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 singles. Two years later, he earned the highly-coveted Entertainer of the Year trophy from the Country Music Association.
[RELATED: Brad Paisley Takes His Country Music Talents to ‘South Park’ With New Original Song]
Paisley has collaborated with the likes of Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, and Alabama.
In 2003, he married actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley. The couple have two sons together.
Featured image by Mark Wieland/Getty Images
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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Pianist Floyd Cramer performs on stage at the Country Music Festival held at Wembley Arena, London in April 1979. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns) -
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – SEPTEMBER 25: Dallas Frazier performs at "Songs That Tell a Story," the final Marty Stuart Artist-in-Residence Show at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on September 25, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum) -
Singer Mahalia Jackson singing at reception in hotel. (Photo by Don Cravens/Getty Images) -
UNITED KINGDOM – American country music singer Hoyt Axton performs on stage in 1981. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
