July 17: Country singer Luke Bryan -"I Don’t Want This Night to End," “Drunk on You,” Country Girl” - is 37-years-old today.

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Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan was born and raised in Leesburg, Georgia. At age fourteen, his parents bought him his first guitar, and after learning to play it, he joined various local bands and began to play in local clubs.

After graduating Lee County High School, Bryan planned to move to Nashville, Tennessee, but cancelled the move after the death of his brother, Chris, on the same day he planned to leave. Luke instead, enrolled at Georgia Southern University.

He finally did move to Nashville in September 2001 and quickly landed a deal as a songwriter. Among his first cuts was the title track of Travis Tritt's 2004 album My Honky Tonk History. An A&R representative at Capitol Records saw Bryan perform at a club, and signed him to a recording contract. In the meantime, Bryan co-wrote Billy Currington's single "Good Directions,”which went to number 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts in mid-2007.

Bryan co-wrote his debut single, "All My Friends Say,”with producer Jeff Stevens. This song reached a peak of number 5 on Hot Country Songs in mid-2007. In August 2007, Capitol released Bryan's debut album, I'll Stay Me. Bryan wrote or co-wrote all but one of its 11 songs. The album's second single, "We Rode in Trucks,”peaked at number 33 and  "Country Man" reached number 10.

In March 2009, he released an exclusive EP to iTunes titled Spring Break With All My Friends that featured two new songs, "Sorority Girls" and "Take My Drunk Ass Home," plus an acoustic version of "All My Friends Say."

After this EP, he released his fourth single, "Do I.”Bryan wrote the song with Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum, whose lead singer Hillary Scott also sings backing vocals on it. It reached number 2 in December, having been held from the Number One spot by Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now.”

"Do I" was included on Bryan's second album, Doin' My Thing, which was released in October 2009. Also Bryan wrote the album's next two singles, "Rain Is a Good Thing" and "Someone Else Calling You Baby."

Bryan released his seventh single, "Country Girl (Shake It for Me),”in March 2011. It served as the lead-off single to his third studio album, Tailgates & Tanlines, which was released in August 2011. The album debuted at number 1 on the Top Country Albums and number 2 on the Billboard 200.

Bryan co-wrote the album's second single, "I Don't Want This Night to End,”with Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip, who are collectively known as the Peach Pickers. In early 2012, this song became Bryan's third number 1.

"Drunk On You" is the album's third single, which debuted at number 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. On March 6, 2012, Bryan released his fourth Spring Break EP entitled Spring Break 4 ... Suntan City.

Luke sang the Star-Spangled Banner at the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, played in Kansasd City.  Despite singing the anthem flawlessly, his performance was marred by controversy because he wrote a few key words to the anthem on his hand and was criticized for glancing down to check the lyrics.

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For more about Luke, visit his Website at -

http://www.LukeBryan.com


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