Chris Young is so excited about his new musical chapter. The Tennessee native just released I Didn’t Come Here To Leave, his tenth studio album, and his first on Black River Entertainment. For a man who has been part of country music for almost 20 years, since winning Nashville Star in 2006, Young’s excitement for his current season is palpable.
“I don’t know if it was necessarily a career change, but a change in the middle of my career, probably.,” Young tells ABC. “I’d been at RCA for a really long time, and I had a whole bunch of meetings set up. My first meeting was with Black River. I had a three-hour-long meeting with them, which I just don’t do. I fell in love with everybody that was there, and thought they really believed in what I had ready to go as far as songs. I stood up at the end of the meeting, and was like, ‘This is where I want to be.’ I canceled all my other meetings, and it was off to the races.”
Young planned on taking the first part of 2025 off, a break that didn’t happen. Instead, he created what became I Didn’t Come Here To Leave, one he can’t wait to perform live. The debut single, “‘Til the Last One Dies,” is already in the Top 30. Young also just released an original holiday song, “Christmas Ain’t Christmas,” plus his take on the classic “Silver Bells.” The releases come ahead of his It Must Be Christmas – An Acoustic Evening with Chris Young Tour, which kicks off on November 20.
“It’s great to be able to put this album out, this single out, and then have Christmas music out now, and roll right into this weekend is the beginning of the acoustic Christmas tour,” Young says. “And that rolls until the end of the year. Maybe next year I get time off.”
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Chris Young Talks About the Christmas Season And 2026
Young loves everything about the holiday season, especially the music, which is why he decided to write his own holiday song.
“I think writing something that stands the test of time is always difficult,” Young acknowledges. “I don’t think that just applies to Christmas songs. I think that applies to anything we’re trying to do. But I enjoy it. I love Christmas time. It’s my favorite holiday. Close second and third are probably Halloween and Thanksgiving. It’s all in one little three-month span. But Christmas is definitely my favorite. I look forward to writing Christmas songs.”
The 40-year-old also hints that he may have an entire project of holiday music out in 2026.
“We were looking at even doing an entire Christmas album, and I was like, ‘Let’s wait,'” Young reveals. “‘Let’s hold that until next year. We can do so much stuff at one time. Let’s do one thing at a time.”
As for 2026, Young is already planning on working on more music, while he also continues to perform songs from I Didn’t Come Here to Leave.
“People knowing the new songs more,” Young says, when asked what he is looking forward to in the future. “I’ve lived with them for multiple years at this point. So just knowing that they’re out there, people have a chance to listen to them. Get to have their favorite, and sort of see what that looks like on streams, what people are posting on socials, and go, ‘Okay, well this is the song that people want next, after this one.’ I think that’s always a fun thing for me.”
Photo Credit: Michah McNair