Brad Paisley

He has scored 32 Top 10 singles on the US Billboard Country Airplay chart, 19 of which have reached number 1. He set a new record in 2009 for the most consecutive singles (10) reaching the top spot on that chart.

Paisley has sold over 11 million albums and has won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 14 Country Music Association Awards, and two American Music Awards. He has also earned country music’s crowning achievement, becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Paisley also wrote songs for Pixar’s Cars franchise (“Behind the Clouds”, “Find Yourself”, “Collision of Worlds” (along with Robbie Williams), “Nobody’s Fool”, etc.).

Paisley was born and raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia. He is the only child of Douglas Edward “Doug” Paisley, who worked for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, and Sandra Jean “Sandy” (née Jarvis) Paisley, a teacher. He has stated that his love of country music stems from his maternal grandfather, Warren Jarvis, who gave him his first guitar, a Sears Danelectro Silvertone, and taught him how to play at eight years old. In third grade, he performed for the first time in public by singing in his church.

Initially, they were just going to have him play the song on the guitar instead of a piano. But then the adults heard him sing the tune and said, “forget the choir, let’s just have Brad do the whole thing.” After that, he never had to ask for a gig until he left Glen Dale.