Brett Young never imagined he would someday be a country music hitmaker. The 44-year-old had dreams of being a professional baseball player, dreams he was well on his way to achieving when a career-ending injury derailed those plans.
At the time, Young found solace in music, although he now says it never occurred to him that he would someday make music his job.
“I always thought it was going to be baseball,” he says on Fox & Friends, while performing in Nashville. “The music thing is what kind of saved me from a little bit of depression when baseball didn’t work out. I didn’t have any idea it would turn out to be a career for me.”
Young may not have imagined it as a career, but he definitely showed a talent for music. The father of two recalls how he got his unlikely start, by singing worship songs.
“[A worship leader] had me help him lead worship one week, not telling me that if I did all right, he was out of town the following week, and it was all on me,” Young remembers. “We had the first week where I sat in the back and just kind of played a second guitar with him. He went, ‘That was great. I’m gonna be gone. I need you to do it next week.’ Next thing you know, there are 700 people that I’m singing in front of.”
“The way that one went, I don’t think I ever thought this would be the thing,” he adds with a laugh. “It was a lot of years and a lot of 10,000 hours in bars and restaurants before we got here.”
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Brett Young Finds Inspiration In Nashville
Young was born and raised in California, but now calls Tennessee home. Although Young no longer drinks, he acknowledges that there is a lot of inspiration to be found by looking at all of the celebrity-ownd bars in Music City.
“You can’t help but be inspired if you walk up and down this street,” Young reflects. “Even from when I got here 12 years ago to now, it seems like every bar has another floor with another live band. They all sound like they should be on the radio. And you can either be intimidated by that, or it can inspire you to work harder and better. I think every time I’m down here, I’m reminded just how much talent there is here in Nashville.”
Still, it’s likely Young will never have his own bar, unless it has other options besides alcoholic drinks. Young traded drinking for focusing on his health, a decision he says has benefited him, in every way.
“I just decided that [alcohol] was not serving me at all,” Young tells Muscle & Fitness. “In fact, it’s doing nothing but make life more difficult.”
Young just released his latest 2.0 album, a record he says is a step forward for him. But the 2.0 applies to far more for Young than just music.
“There’s been a lot of changes in my life in terms of health and wellness and fitness over the last 18, 19 months that kind of have turned into this new 2.0 version of myself,” Young concedes. “Having young children at home, and starting to get older, you start to realize—with so much more knowledge about what is good and bad for you these days. I did a deep dive into how to become the best version of myself possible. That meant longevity and being around for my kids as long as possible.”
Find 2.0 and all of Young’s music and upcoming shows at BrettYoungMusic.com.