Zac Brown Band

Zac Brown Band formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2002, built around singer, songwriter, and guitarist Zac Brown, who had been a solo artist for several years before deciding to form a group to realize his musical vision better. The initial lineup consisted of Brown on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, backed by drummer Marcus Petruska and bass guitarist Jacob Lawson. In the years that followed, the group took shape around Brown as he started his own label, Home Grown (later renamed Southern Ground), opened a music club and restaurant with his father in the Lake Oconee area of Georgia, and eventually bought a tour bus to begin touring full-time, playing rock and country clubs as well as folk and jam band festivals, while releasing their first independent album, Home Grown, that same year, and adding violinist and tenor vocalist Jimmy De Martini to the lineup. The band's early sound drew from bluegrass, Southern rock, and country traditions, reflecting Brown's roots as a musician who began playing guitar at age 7 and was heavily influenced by bluegrass, classic rock, and country. The band's breakthrough arrived with signing to a major label and the release of their debut studio album. In 2008, the band signed to Live Nation Artist Records, but the label closed, prompting Atlantic Records to take over distribution of their single "Chicken Fried," and their big break came that year when the album The Foundation was released. The album's first single, "Chicken Fried," became a surprise smash hit, propelling The Foundation to number two on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and the band followed the song with two more hits, "Whatever It Is" and "Toes." The classic lineup solidified around this era, as the band was joined by drummer Chris Fryar and multi-instrumentalist Douglas "Clay" Cook, who sings and plays guitar and mandolin, with Cook having previously collaborated with musician John Mayer. This success was crowned when Brown and his fellow musicians took home the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The band's career arc continued with a steady stream of chart-topping records and honors throughout the 2010s. Brown and his bandmates again mined their extensive stockpile of unfinished and unrecorded material when assembling their next album, 2012's Uncaged, which won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2013. They also earned their second Grammy win in 2011, for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "As She's Walking Away" featuring Alan Jackson. Their next studio album, Jekyll + Hyde, followed in 2015, peaking at number one on the Billboard Top Country Album chart and going platinum. The band became known for genre-blending live shows and high-profile collaborations, having worked with prominent names including Alan Jackson, Jimmy Buffett, Kid Rock, Jason Mraz, Dave Grohl, Chris Cornell, Brandi Carlile, Sara Bareilles, the late Avicii, and Shawn Mendes. They also distinguished themselves as one of the few country acts to headline major rock festivals like Bonnaroo and Stagecoach. More recent albums have continued the band's evolution while cementing their status as veterans of the genre. Their sixth and seventh studio albums, Welcome Home (2017) and The Owl (2019), did not produce the same sales as their previous albums, but both still peaked at number one on the Billboard Top Country Album chart. In June 2021, the band released the single "Same Boat," which became their first number one single in five years, followed by the release of the album The Comeback that October. Alongside the music, Zac Brown has built a broader entrepreneurial and philanthropic legacy, having co-founded the electronic dance music group Sir Rosevelt and released a solo pop album, while also founding the non-profit Camp Southern Ground to support children and veterans. Across more than two decades, the band has become known as an eight-member group composed of frontman and lead vocalist Zac Brown, guitarist and keyboardist Coy Bowles, fiddler and vocalist Jimmy De Martini, drummer Chris Fryar, percussionist Daniel de los Reyes, bassist Matt Mangano, and their multi-instrumentalists , remaining an active touring act whose blend of country, rock, and Southern roots music has earned them a lasting reputation as one of the genre's most durable crossover successes.