Luke Bryan

Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country singer, songwriter, and television personality. His first ten albums – I'll Stay Me (2007), Doin' My Thing (2009), Tailgates & Tanlines (2011), Crash My Party (2013), Spring Break...Here to Party (2013), Spring Break...Checkin' Out (2015), Kill the Lights (2015), Farm Tour... Here's to the Farmer (2016), What Makes You Country (2017), and Born Here Live Here Die Here (2020) – have included 30 number-one hits. Bryan often co-writes with Jeff Stevens. Since 2018, Bryan has been a judge on American Idol. Bryan is a five-time "Entertainer of the Year", being awarded by both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association. In 2019, Bryan's 2013 album Crash My Party received the first Album of the Decade award from the Academy of Country Music. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with over 75 million records sold. Early life Luke Bryan was born in Leesburg, Georgia, to LeClaire and Tommy Bryan, who owned a peanut farm. Shortly before Luke was going to move to Nashville at age 19, his elder brother Chris "was unexpectedly killed in a car accident ... I'm kind of hyperventilating talking about it. ... You never truly ... move beyond it." His mother, LeClaire, had made a statement: "We knew Luke at some point would come to Nashville," his mother said. "But ... you can't leave your family, and ... I couldn't bear the thought of him being away." Instead, Luke went to college at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity, briefly dated his future wife Caroline, and graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Luke reconnected with Caroline several years later when he was performing at a bar in Statesboro when she was in town, later resuming their relationship and eventually marrying.