Eric Church Details
It’s the classic Nashville success story: Wide-eyed aspiring musician plays Jimmy Buffett covers at local dive bars, occasionally getting into rowdy fights with patrons who weren’t won over by the chill Buffett vibes. OK,, maybe that’s just Eric Church, but there’s something about his story that’s classic country music. He worked his way up from the bottom of the food chain to the top, with plenty of stops in between.
Church made his first breakthrough thanks to his songwriting skills, getting plenty of attention specifically for co-writing Terri Clark’s “The World Needs a Drink.” A year after that song came out in 2005, Church began to release music of his own. With a strong reputation in the industry, Church’s debut album Sinners Like Me reached No. 7 on the U.S. Country chart and 29 on the Billboard 200, and singles “How ‘Bout You” and “Two Pink Lines” each charted in the country top 20. His next album, Carolina (2009), sold even better.
In 2011, Church burst into stardom. Chief went topped the charts and went Triple Platinum, and “Drink in My Hand” and “Springsteen” became his first two No. 1 country songs. Three years later, follow-up The Outsiders also went No. 1. Church released his most recent album, Mr. Misunderstood, in the fall of 2015. The album shows off the skillful songwriting that first brought him success while still supplying the jams that have made him one of country’s best-selling artists in recent years.