Over the past ten years Brad Paisley has garnered critical acclaim for his unique brand of country, which combines a traditional guitar driven sound and lyrics deeply rooted in real life experiences, occasionally with a comical twist. He has also earned the reputation of an everyman who often plays practical jokes on his tour mates.
Paisley, however was on the other end of a prank in October 2008 when Jewel had him falsely arrested in Nashville for excessive noodling on his guitar, the video of the prank has since been widely circulated.
Brad Paisley's Early Years
Brad, a West Virginia native was born on October 28, 1972. He was drawn into country music at an early age by his grandfather Warren Jarvis, who gave him his first guitar when he was eight years old. When he was twelve he wrote his first song and a year later he found himself opening shows at the Capital Music Hall in Wheeling West Virginia for artists such as The Judds, Ricky Skaggs and George Jones.
A graduate of John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, West Virginia, he studied briefly at West Liberty State College before he was awarded a full ASCAP scholarship to Belmont University in Nashville.
Brad Paisley Debut Single "Who Needs Pictures"
On February 22, 1999 Brad released his debut single "Who Needs Pictures", his lead off single from the album of the same name. In September of the same year he earned his first number one single with "He Didn’t Have To Be", which was written by Kelley Lovelace about her relationship with her stepson. In 2000 he won both the CMA Horizon Award and ACM Best New Vocalist as well as receiving his first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
Brad Paisley's Personal Life
After seeing Kimberly Williams in "Father of the Bride Part II", Brad used the pretense of planning a video of the song "Part II" as a way to meet Kim, even though he never actually intended on making the video. They began dating in 2000, and got married three years later on March 15 at Stauffer Chapel on the campus of Pepperdine University.
The couple, who divide their time between Franklin, Tennessee and Malibu, California, have two sons William Huckleberry Paisley who was born on February 22, 2007 and Jasper Warren Paisley who was born on April 17, 2009 and named after Brad's grandfather who gave him his first guitar.
"Part II"
In 2001 he released his second album, aptly named "Part II". The first single, "I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song)", was paired with a humorous video, which included cameos, by Little Jimmy Dickens, Dan Patrick, Jerry Springer and girlfriend Kimberly Williams. "Part II" also included Top Ten hits "I Wish You’d Stay", "Wrapped Around" and "Two People Fell In Love".
"Mud on the Tires"
July 22, 2003 marked the release of Paisley's first number one album, "Mud on the Tires". The album included three Top Five hits, "Celebrity," "Little Moments" and "Whiskey Lullaby" (a duet with Alison Krauss) as well as the title track which went to number one.
"Time Well Wasted"
He followed up the "Two Hats and a Redhead Tour", where he appeared with Reba McEntire and Terri Clark, with his third album "Time Well Wasted". The record included "Alcohol", a haunting duet with Dolly Parton titled "When I Get Where I’m Going", "The World" and "She’s Everything".
"5th Gear"
June 19, 2007 marked the release of "5th Gear" which contained the number one hits "Ticks", "Online", "Letter To Me", "I’m Still A Guy" and "Waitin’ on a Woman", which was Brad’s eighth consecutive number one, setting the record for most consecutive number ones in the SoundScan era.
"Play and American Saturday Night"
In 2008 he released a mostly instrumental album entitled "Play", which features collaborations with James Burton, Little Jimmy Dickens, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, B.B. King, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Buck Owens, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner. The only single, a duet with Keith Urban titled "Start A Band" hit radio waves on September 8, 2008.
Brad's latest album, "American Saturdat Night" was released on June 30, 2009 and peaked at number one on the Billboard Country Album chart, his fifth album to do so. The album has produced three singles including his 14th number one, "Then", "Welcome to the Future" and his latest single "American Saturday Night".
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