Brett Eldredge Artistfacts

March 23, 1986
Brett Eldredge grew up listening to records from Ray Charles, Ronnie Dunn, Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra. From very early on, music was a part of his life. "There's a video of me singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" in the living room with a Chicago Cubs helmet on; we're huge Cubs fans," he told The Boot. "In it, you can see that I could actually carry a tune at the young age of four."

"My family started to have me sing the National Anthem at family parties. I'd get real nervous, and then someone would give me a candy bar or $5, and I'd sing," he added. "My body would shake. They'd call it the man voice, because I had this older voice coming out of a kid's body."
Eldredge only became proficient with the guitar once he moved to Nashville after college. "It took me a while to finally get a hold of the guitar, but once I did I was hooked," he said. "I think being a student of singers works to my advantage, because it taught me how to phrase things. I had melodies all over the place in my head."
Eldredge's debut album, Bring You Back, was released in 2013 on Atlantic Nashville. The record spawned three #1 country singles, including the Hot 100 Top 40 hit "Don't Ya."
He was named the CMA Awards New Artist of the Year in 2014.
On Eldredge's tour bus there's a drawer full of wigs. He makes his visitors wear one.
Brett Elderidge is a cousin of Terry Eldredge, who was once of the mainstays of Dolly Parton's band and since 2004 has been a member of seminal bluegrass outfit the Grascals.
Brett Eldredge has suffered from panic attacks since he was a child. He told ABC's Dan Harris on his 10 Percent Happier podcast, how for a long time he didn't understand what was happening. "In college, I remember times where I would go to a party and I would be breaking into sweats and, like, just drenched, and I'd just [think], 'Is something wrong with me?'" he recalled.

Eldredge learned to deal with the crippling attacks by spending time on meditation. In the summer of 2016, he adopted a dog named Edgar Boogie, a Weimaraner/Vizsla mix who helped with his healing journey.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Your SongElton John

Bernie Taupin was 17 when he wrote the lyrics to Elton John's "Your Song." Looking back, he says it's "one of the most naïve and childish lyrics in the entire repertoire of music."

The Right ProfileThe Clash

After a devastating car accident, the actor Montgomery Clift had to be filmed from "The Right Profile" to look good - that provided the name of The Clash song.

Stephens Stills played timbales on the Bee Gees hit, "You Should Be Dancing." He was in the next door studio laying down a Crosby, Stills and Nash album and could hear Saturday Night Fever being recorded. Stills recognized its potential to be a monster hit and he wanted to contribute.

Back In The U.S.S.R.The Beatles

"Back In The U.S.S.R." by The Beatles was play on "California Girls" by The Beach Boys, with "Moscow girls" and "Ukraine girls" instead of the all-American girls.

The G.O.A.T.LL Cool J

With his song "The G.O.A.T.," as in Greatest Of All Time, LL Cool J popularized that saying in hip-hop. He credits the boxer Muhammad Ali, who called himself "The Greatest," as inspiration.