Chris Young

“If you’ve lost a person and they were special to you, it’s gonna be one of those things where it just hits you,” Chris Young told Apple Music about his song “Drowning”, which addresses a friend who unexpectedly passed away. “It’s emotional. And that’s what music is supposed to be.” Young’s rich, expressive baritone provides the bedrock for that emotional music, whether he’s singing about a sultry date night or losing a pal. Born in 1985 in Tennessee, Young sang his way into the collective consciousness of Music City’s country scene when he won the reality TV competition Nashville Star in 2006. Just a few years later, his second album, The Man I Want to Be, hit platinum in the U.S. thanks to its throwback sensibilities—with a little bit of rock thrown in—and the strength of singles like the reflective title track and the seductive “Gettin’ You Home”. Young specialises in two major songwriting moods that make him a crowd-pleaser pretty much anywhere: rowdy and raucous party jams like “Raised on Country” and sensitive fare like “Tomorrow”, a Billboard No. 1 about the pain of ending a toxic relationship. In 2020, his emotional scope grew to focus on everyday miracles, praising the almighty’s mysterious ways with “If That Ain’t God”.