Eric Church
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Many artists get started when they’re younger, but Eric Church had a regular gig performing at a local bar in his hometown by the time he was a senior in high school. Despite that, he first went on to study at Appalachian State University before deciding that Nashville was where he ultimately needed to be.
After moving to Music City post-graduation, Church began writing for other artists before catching the eye of Capitol Nashville. His debut album, Sinners Like Me, was released in 2006 and began a steady output with Carolina (2009), Chief (2011), and The Outsiders (2014) and Mr. Misunderstood (2015) following in quick succession. In 2021, he released his seventh studio LP, Heart & Soul, which was a triple album set.
His third album Chief earned Church the ACM Award and CMA Award for Album of the Year in 2011. He also won the ACM Award for Top New Solo Vocalist.
Around that time, Church founded the charitable organization Chief Cares, which helps underprivileged families in Tennessee and Church’s home state of North Carolina.
Famously, Church’s penchant for big, lively performances got him kicked off Rascal Flatts’ tour in 2006. He regularly went over his allotted time and was warned repeatedly to stop. Eventually, Rascall Flatts traded Church for newcomer Taylor Swift. At the time, Church joked that Swift should send him her first gold record for the increased exposure she got. She eventually did, writing him, “Thanks for playing too long and too loud on the Flatts tour. I sincerely appreciate it. Taylor.”
- Full name: Kenneth Eric Church
- Born: May 3, 1977
- Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina
- Fun facts: Church is rarely caught without his trademark aviator sunglasses.
- Genre: Country
Eric Church, Chris Stapleton, Gabby Barrett Lead CMA Awards 2021 Nominations
The 55th Annual CMA Awards take place live from Nashville on Nov. 10.
COUNTRY CLASSICS•Eric Church - Chief
Chief took you away from the world for three, four, five minutes and then dropped you back where you began - only now somehow changed, in touch with a feeling that you didn’t know you already had, in exactly the way that The Boss' own records do.
ESSENTIALS•The Best Eric Church Songs
Channelling Church favourites ‘Smoke A Little Smoke’ and ‘I’m Getting Stoned’, it’s “high” time we took a definitive – and occasionally subjective – look back at the very best of The Chief’s songs.
INTERVIEW•In Conversation: Riley Green
On the eve of the release of his new seven-song EP Behind the Bar, Green sat down on his tour bus to talk about the process of music-making and what he sees as a win when it comes to his signature brand of country music.
ESSENTIALS•Holler's Tracks of the Year
It's been quite a year, but thankfully the music never stopped.
STAFF PICKS•Eric Church - Heart & Soul
Heart & Soul is a tour de force of heartland rock and driving country soul that more than holds up under the weight of its own ambition and influences, as Church gloves up for three more rounds of fighting the good fight for country music.
