Brad Paisley

Background

Brad Douglas Paisley was born to West Virginia Department of Transportation employee Douglas Edward Paisley and professor Sandra Jean Paisley. When he was eight, his maternal grandfather gave him a guitar and taught him how to play. ‘Born on Christmas Day,’ his first song, was written when he was 13 years old. He soon began playing at social functions and club meetings. The program director of a West Virginia radio station requested he come on “Jamboree U.S.A.” after hearing him perform. He was promptly introduced to the weekly program and spent the next eight years opening for The Judds, George Jones, and others.

He attended Belmont University on a grant and interned at A.S.C.A.P., Atlantic Records, and Fitzgerald-Hartley. He subsequently encountered Frank Rogers, Kelley Lovelace, and Chris DuBois, with whom he teamed extensively. He received a composition agreement with E.M.I. Record Label about a week after graduation and wrote ‘Another You,’ released in 1997, for David Kersh, and ‘Watching My Baby Not Come Back,’ released in 1999, for David Ball. With ‘Who Needs Pictures,’ he made his singing debut and went on to record two number-one hits.

He won the C.M.A. Horizon Award and the Academy of Country Music Award. He was shortlisted for a Grammy for Best New Artist in 2001 and was subsequently inducted as the Grand Ole Opry’s youngest member. His Grand Ole Opry performance garnered him a C.M.A. contender for Vocal Event of the Year. He has earned the Academy of Country Music’s Top Male Vocalist of the Year award five times, as well as three Grammys and two A.M.A.s. Paisley has two boys with his wife, Kimberly Williams.