Kentucky native Chris Stapleton turns 44 today. The singer songwriter got his start as a songwriter with over 170 songs to his credit, including six number one country hits. His own music has produced hits for the SteelDrivers as well as with his solo career.
Stapleton was born in Lexington, Kentucky and grew up in a coal mining community in eastern Kentucky. He spent one year studying engineering at Vanderbilt before dropping out in favor of pursuing music full time.
In 2001, he came on board as a songwriter, and in 2007 he began fronting the bluegrass band the SteelDrivers. In the two years Stapleton was with the band, they had two albums reach the top five on the bluegrass charts and received three Grammy nominations.
Chris Stapleton spent a brief time with his own band, the Jompson Brothers, before embarking on his solo career in 2013. Traveller, released in 2015, won three Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. He says that he and his wife sorted through 15 years of songs to select the nine included on the album.
Stapleton has dominated the country music awards this decade, named CMA Male Vocalist of the Year four times and Academy of Country Music Male Artist of the Year three times. This year, he won three Grammys for his latest record.
His work has included a wide variety of collaborations with Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Adele, and Mike Campbell. Stapleton lists earlier Kentucky artists as his influences, including Dwight Yoakam and Patti Loveless, and adds that “the list goes on and on. Those names are just part of life in Kentucky. You can’t help but be aware of them and be influenced by them.”
