Brantley Gilbert Biography

news-detailsFor Brantley Gilbert, it took an accident for him to wake up and pick the guitar. Born in Jefferson, Georgia on January 20, 1985, Gilbert never considered himself a great singer, songwriter or guitar player. Although he grew up with rock dominating the charts and bands such as REM rooting nearby, his heartache, personal story and feeling always leaned toward country.

He was nineteen when he was involved in a fatal car accident which threw him out of the back window. His truck rolled several times and hit a tree, almost costing his life. "I thought about how I might not be here tomorrow. And if I was going to do something with today, what would I do?" he said. So, after some soul-searching, he wrote "Prodigal Son" and "Indiana's Angel".

Gilbert began by taking the stage night-after-night and opening for other country artists throughout the southeast. By 2006, he was ready to release his first album "Modern Day Prodigal Son", but it was not until he signed with Average Joe's Entertainment in mid 2009 that he released the album. His popularity rose and he started writing songs for such artists as Colt Ford and Jason Aldean.

He released his second studio album "Halfway to Heaven" with Average Joe in March 2010, a few months before he joined Valory Music Group, a division of Big Machine Records. The sophomore effort was released in deluxe edition in September 2011, featuring remixes of all the tracks, as well as several new tracks that were not on the original version of the album.

"Country Must Be Country Wide" was the first single from the deluxe edition. It went number one on U.S. Country Songs Billboard chart. The second single "You Don't Know Her Like I Do" debuted at number 52 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in December 2011 and climbed its way up to the third position. The song eventually won Single of the Year: Breakthrough Artist at the 2012 American Country Award.

Shortly after releasing the second single, Gilbert shared "Kick It in the Sticks". The song was originally released in 2010 and re-released in 2012 as the third single from his sophomore album. The 2012 version received generally positive reviews and it went to No. 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as well as peaked at No. 38 on the Country Airplay chart.

In 2013, Gilbert was featured on Tim McGraw's "Two Lanes of Freedom" tour. The tour kicked off on May 2 in Birmingham, Alaska and run through July 27, when it wrapped up in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In the same year, Gilbert also embarked on eight-day tour to entertain troops in Italy and Kuwait. As part of his USO tour, he visited Italy's Aviano Air Base before moving on to Kuwait, where he stopped at Camps Buehring and Arifjan.

In May 2014, Gilbert released his third studio album "Just as I Am" via Valory Music Group. The set features eleven tracks, which were written and co-written by Gilbert. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart. It was then certified gold by the RIAA on June 30. In support of the album, he embarked on mini-tour "JUST AS I AM: From Athens to Arlington". He and a few of motorcycle riders cruised from Athens, Georgia to Arlington, Virginia and they were followed by tour buses that were covered by names of fallen soldiers.

"Bottoms Up" was the first single from the album. It debuted at No. 1 spot on the Billboard's Country Digital Songs and was later certified platinum by the RIAA on May 1, 2014. It became the first million-selling song by Gilbert. The second single "Small Town Throwdown" featuring Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard's Country Airplay.

In June 2015, Gilbert married Georgia school teacher Amber Cochran in a small ceremony at his home. He admitted that she was the girl who inspired some of his singles, including "You Don't Know Her Like I Do", "More Than Miles" and several others. Soon after the marriage, Gilbert announced "Black Out" tour, which kicked off in Amsterdam on November 11. The trek hit some big countries, including Germany, the U.K., the U.S., Canada and Australia.

After wrapping up his "Black Out" tour, Gilbert's gearing up to embark on another tour as in February 2016, he announced "Take It Outside" summer tour. The tour kicked off on June 2 in Mansfield, Massachusetts and it featured Justin Moore and Colt Ford as guest performers. In October 2016, Gilbert announced his fourth studio album "The Devil Don't Sleep". The album was released on January 27, 2017, and it features 16 tracks in total including its first single "The Weekend".