* En anglais uniquement
Georgia-born singer/songwriter
Brantley Gilbert emerged in the early 2010s with a new-fashioned style of traditional country, one that was rooted in the country-pop and arena rock fusions of the '90s and receptive to sly modern R&B and electronic elements. Not long after his churning, minor-key rocker "Country Must Be Country Wide" made it to number one, two of his earlier songs -- "Dirt Road Anthem" and "My Kinda Party" -- became monster hits for
Jason Aldean, further establishing
Gilbert's own rise to stardom. Led by its career-making hit "Bottoms Up," 2014's platinum-selling
Just as I Am topped the country charts, a feat he repeated on each of his next two albums. Along the way, he continued to rack up hits like 2016's "The Weekend" and the
Lindsay Ell duet "What Happens in a Small Town" from his 2019 album
Fire & Brimstone. Heading into the next decade,
Gilbert focused on high-profile singles, collaborating with
Toby Keith and
Hardy for 2021's "The Worst Country Song of All Time" and with
Aldean on 2022's "Rolex® on a Redneck."
Gilbert was born in the small town of Jefferson, Georgia, just outside of Athens. He grew up hearing country music, but he also listened to a lot of Athens rock bands like
R.E.M. and
the B-52's, plus the swaggering Southern rock of bands like
Lynyrd Skynyrd; at his best,
Gilbert blends all of these various strains together in his music. It was a near-fatal car accident when he was 19 years old that spurred him to give music his all, and he started writing songs in earnest, playing mostly solo acoustic gigs before forming a band that could bring his vision of a hard-stomping country/rock/soul show to fruition.
Moving to Nashville, he signed with Warner Chappell Publishing and began working toward completing an album.
Modern Day Prodigal Son finally appeared in 2009 from Average Joe's, which also released the follow-up,
Halfway to Heaven, in 2010.
Gilbert signed with Big Machine's Valory Music imprint in 2011 and the label reissued
Halfway to Heaven. With Valory's support, the album took off: "Country Must Be Country Wide" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do" both topped the U.S. country chart on their way to being certified platinum. Around this same time
Jason Aldean plucked the song "My Kinda Party" from
Gilbert's debut and turned it into the title track of his chart-topping fourth album.
Aldean also scored big with "Dirt Road Anthem," a country rap song
Gilbert co-wrote with
Colt Ford;
Gilbert's own version was included on
Halfway to Heaven. By late 2013, he had completed sessions for his next record with producer
Dann Huff. Released in December, the single "Bottoms Up" became
Gilbert's biggest hit to date in reaching number one on the charts on its way to selling over a million copies. Its success whetted the appetite for
Just as I Am, which saw release in May 2014.
Just as I Am went to number one on the Billboard country chart and number two on the Top 200, eventually getting certified platinum thanks to a bevy of hit singles "Small Town Throwdown," "One Hell of an Amen," and "Stone Cold Sober." In the summer of 2016, he released "The Weekend," the first taste from his fourth outing,
The Devil Don't Sleep. The song was another Top Ten hit and the album, released in January 2017, became
Gilbert's second consecutive number one, yielding another hit in "The Ones That Like Me." In early 2019,
Gilbert paired with Canadian country artist
Lindsay Ell for "What Happens in a Small Town." Another Top Ten hit, it helped his fifth album
Fire & Brimstone to yet another number one berth.
Heading into the next decade,
Gilbert offered up the heartfelt 2020 single "Hard Days" before teaming up with
Hardy and
Toby Keith for the churning country anthem "The Worst Country Song of All Time." Early 2022 saw the release of an EP, How to Talk to Girls: Love Songs, and the
Aldean collaboration "Rolex® on a Redneck." ~ Steve Leggett & Timothy Monger