Judge Biography

Luke Bryan's music has always reflected life in all its complexities, both the challenges and the unbridled joy. The award-winning superstar does that yet again on his seventh studio album, "Born Here Live Here Die Here." Great songs have always been the foundation of Bryan's career. From his early days in Nashville as a songwriter, penning such notable hits as Billy Currington's chart-topping "Good Directions," to his current status as one of country music's reigning superstars, Bryan's career has been populated by songs that have had lasting impact. Country Aircheck declared him the Most Heard Artist of the Last Decade, an honor he earned with such No. 1 hits as "Rain is a Good Thing," "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye," "Crash My Party," "That's My Kind of Night," "Strip it Down," "Most People Are Good" and "Fast."

Since his 2009 debut, Bryan has amassed 25 No. 1 hits and more RIAA-certified digital singles than any other country artist with 54.5 million sales. Bryan has sold 12.5 million albums and scored 13.8 billion streams. He's earned four platinum albums, two 4X-platinum albums, seven RIAA-certified albums, 22 platinum singles and 12 multiplatinum singles. At the close of 2019, Bryan became the first-ever recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade Award for his 2013 "Crash My Party" album and was also named the Most Heard Artist of the Decade by Country Aircheck. Bryan was most recently named Billboard's Top Country Artist of the 2010s. Based on their charts, he ranks at the top by placing 11 No. 1's on the weekly Hot Country Songs chart and nine No. 1's on the Top Country Albums chart during the last decade. Bryan debuted "Born Here Live Here Die Here" at No. 1, making it his sixth consecutive No. 1 debut on Billboard's Top Country Albums Chart.

The Leesburg, Georgia, native and "American Idol" judge has been named Entertainer of the Year twice by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and has been honored as a CMT Artist of the Year six consecutive times. He's won over 40 major music awards and has performed for nearly 12 million fans in the last decade while headlining seven major tours, including 36 stadium concerts, 11 Farm Tours, six years of Spring Break shows and six sold-out Crash My Playa events. Bryan is the son of a Georgia peanut farmer and fertilizer salesman who grew up singing at the First Baptist Church and majored in business administration at Georgia Southern University. The work ethic he learned from his daddy and the small-town values he grew up with still inform every aspect of his life today and helped shape "Born Here Live Here Die Here," which features chart-topping hits "Knockin' Boots," "What She Wants Tonight" and "One Margarita."

Despite Bryan's success, he has remained that same small-town guy at heart. Someone who respects his parents and adores his wife, he is always looking to be the kind of man his two young sons can look up to and count on. Bryan's fans may say they feel like he's their best friend—even if they've never met the man—because he's one of them. Whether it's in search of the biggest buck in the woods or the tastiest margarita on the beach, he's been there, done that; and there's a song or two that echoes the moment. It's that ability to capture life—to shed a tear or celebrate big—that continues to make Bryan the voice of the common man, and in an unsettling time, few things feel more reassuring than being understood.