Look up zone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Zone may refer to:

Places[link]

American schools

• Andy

France

• Any of several divisions (Free, Northern, Occupied, and Southern) during the German occupation of France during World War II

Germany

• The Zone (die Zone in German), a derogatory term for the German Democratic Republic

Greece

• Zone (Thrace) (Ζώνη), an ancient Greek city in western Thrace

India

• Zones are administrative divisions of India composed of multiple states, which serve primarily an advisory role

Italy

• Zone, Lombardy, a comune in the Province of Brescia

Korea

• The Korean Demilitarized Zone

Ukraine

• Zone of alienation, the exclusion zone around the site of the Chernobyl disaster

Geography[link]

• Frigid zone, a geographical zone on earth
• Hardiness zone, a geographically-defined zone in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing
• Temperate zone, a geographical zone on earth
• Torrid zone, a geographical zone on earth
• Zone pricing, a geographical area in which charges are constant
• Zones (permaculture), a method of planning civil/agricultural placement
• Zoning, in urban planning, a system of land-use regulation

Entertainment[link]

• The Zone (ITV), a British TV programming strand on ITV1
• Zone (band), an all-female J-pop group
• Zone (guitar), a Fender bass guitar model
• Zone (album), an album by Southern Sons
• "Zone", a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire
• Zone Records, a record label
• Zone.com, alternate name for the MSN Games online video game site
• The Zone (YTV), a programming block on the Canadian television channel YTV
• The Zone (album), an album by Enter Shikari
• The Zone (film), a Swedish short film from the 1970s
• The Zone (TV series), a 2007 interactive game show
• Zones (novel), a 1997 novel by Damien Broderick & Rory Barnes
• In the Zone, Britney Spears' 4th album
  • In the Zone (DVD), released in connection with the album
• In the Zone, a play by Eugene O'Neill
• "In the Zone" (The Outer Limits), TV episode
• In the Zone, the third part of Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow
• Zones, level names in early Sonic the Hedgehog games
• The Zone, the fictional area central to the story of the Andrei Tarkovsky movie Stalker

Mathematics[link]

• Spherical zone, the surface area of a spherical segment
• Brillouin zone, the primitive cell of a lattice in reciprocal space.

Sport[link]

• The Zone (Michigan), the University of Michigan women's volleyball cheering section
• Zone defense, in basketball
• Zoning (Australian rules football), a method of allocating players to clubs
• The Zone, a brand of gymnastic leotard

Technology[link]

• DNS zone, a portion of the namespace in the Domain Name System
• Solaris Zones, a feature of the Solaris operating system, also known as Solaris Containers
• Fibre Channel zoning, a method for facilitating low interference and high security in computer data storage systems
• A thermal zone, or just zone, in heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC)
• Zone, a short name for DVD region code
• One of several terms used for a region in region-based memory management

Other uses[link]

• Zone (vestment), a belt worn by priests and bishops of the Eastern Orthodox Church
• Zone diet, a diet that involves precise proportions by weight of protein, fat and carbohydrate
• Zone System, a photographic technique for determining optimal film exposure and development
• Zone Coopérative de l'Université Laval, a university cooperative in the province of Quebec, Canada
• Erogenous zone, an area on the body which is sexually stimulating
• The zone, or flow, a mental state attained by a person fully immersed in some activity
• Chronozone, a sequence of rocks deposited within a particular time interval
• Time zone

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

The Weeknd
Background information
Birth name	Abel Tesfaye
Born	(1990-02-16) February 16, 1990 (age 22) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Contemporary R&B, post-dubstep, downtempo
Years active	2010–present
Associated acts	Drake, Doc McKinney, Illangelo,
Website	www.the-weeknd.com

Abel Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is an R&B^[1] Canadian recording artist and record producer from Toronto. He began recording songs under The Weeknd and uploading them to YouTube in late 2010,^[2] though the identity of the individual behind the project was initially unknown.^[3][4] In March 2011, The Weeknd released a nine-song free album, House of Balloons which was critically acclaimed.^[5] The title track is based on a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' hit single "Happy House.^[6] The first album is a part of a trilogy which includes Thursday released in August of the same year and Echoes of Silence issued in December.^[7] In June, House of Balloons was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees of 2011 Polaris Music Prize but eventually lost to Arcade Fire's The Suburbs.^[8] On December 21, 2011 at 11:07 p.m. EST Tesfaye released his highly anticipated third mixtape Echoes of Silence. The Weeknd's site crashed shortly after due to the large number of downloads. The Weeknd quickly provided a Hulkshare link to keep the album available while the official site was down.

Since hitting the scene, The Weeknd has received praise from a number of musical publications, including those of Pitchfork,^[1] MTV,^[9] BET, Rolling Stone, XXL and The Source, who have all dubbed him the "Songbird of his Generation", as well as the "best musical talent since Michael Jackson" (John Norris, MTV).

[edit] House of Balloons

In late 2010, Abel Tesfaye uploaded three songs: "What You Need," "Loft Music," and "The Morning" to YouTube.^[10] A nine-track free album titled House of Balloons was digitally released on 21 March 2011 through the artist's official website.^[11] The title track is based on the sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' 1980 hit single "Happy House" with Tesfaye covering the chorus.^[5] Tesfaye’s eclectic music also blends other samples ranging from Beach House to Aaliyah.^[12] Hip-hop artist Drake has been partly credited for generating public awareness for The Weeknd, after he quoted a line from the track "Wicked Games" via Twitter and linked to the singer's music on his website.^[11][13]

House of Balloons was met with universal critical acclaim. Pitchfork's Joe Colly wrote that "all the thematic and sonic pieces fit together - these weird, morning-after tales of lust, hurt, and over-indulgence ... are matched by this incredibly lush, downcast music. It's hard to think of a record since probably The xx's debut ... that so fully embodies such a specific nocturnal quality."^[1] Frontier Psychiatrist's L.V. Lopez claimed the album was "brilliant, disturbing, and not safe for work," calling the song "Loft Music" a song that is "so unsafe it should come with a child-proof cap, so dirty that you’ll feel guilty the next time you see your wife."^[14] Tom Ewing of The Guardian said that although the singing and songwriting on House of Balloons "aren't especially strong by R&B standards," the Weeknd is receiving "so much attention" as a result of its "command of mood."^[15] Sean Fennessey of The Village Voice called the album "impressive" and added, "It's patient, often gorgeous, and consistently louche ... with the sort of blown-out underbelly and echo-laden crooning that has already made Drake's less-than-a-year-old Thank Me Later such an influential guidepost."^[16] Maegan McGregor of Exclaim! also praised the album: "Packed full of sex, drugs and some downright killer production, this easily stands as one of the year's best debuts so far, hipster, Top 40 or otherwise."^[17] Sputnik Music's Tyler Fisher said that "despite being a free album, House of Balloons feels like a true album, a true labor of love."^[18]

In July, The Weeknd then went on tour and gave his first performance at the Mod Club on College Street in Toronto. The hour-and-a-half long performance created a lot of buzz about the young R&B singer.^[19] Tesfaye’s next performance took place at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. He collaborated with rapper Drake and appeared as one of the special guests to Drake’s 2nd Annual OVO Fest on July 31, 2011 ^[20] That same month, the song "High for This" was featured in the promo for the final season of the HBO show Entourage.^[21]

During the summer, the press noted that Tesfaye refused to give interviews and choose to only communicate via Twitter.^[22]

When House of Balloons was named #1 album of 2011 by Complex magazine, it beat both Drake's Take Care and Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West for the number 1 spot.^[12]

[edit] Thursday

Thursday (mixtape) is the second mixtape released by The Weeknd . The mixtape was released shortly after House of Balloons on August 18, 2011. Thursday was released on XO's label along with his other two mixtapes. Although the mixtape was released for free on his website as a digital download, the feedback it received was enormously positive.^[23] Thursday was produced in Toronto, Ontario with the help of Doc McKinney and Illangelo.^[24]

[edit] Echoes of Silence

The Weeknd's third mixtape, entitled Echoes of Silence, was released in December 21, 2011.^[23][25] Echoes of Silence has been described as his most lyrically powerful and emotional mixtape to date.^[24]

In April 2012, The Weeknd debuted his US tour by performing at the Coachella Festival.^[26] Tesfaye and his band visited the Union’s coasts, with a dozen of gigs in various major cities^[26] which culminated in New York where the two sold out shows were positively reviewed by Rolling Stone.^[27] Then, they will be also performing in European major festivals, including the Primavera Sound Festivals in Spain and Portugal,^[28] Wireless Festival in London,^[29] plus concerts in Paris and Brussels.

Discography[link]

Mixtapes[link]

Guest Appearances and Production[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official blog

Kid Cudi
Kid Cudi performing in Denver, Colorado in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi
Born	(1984-01-30) January 30, 1984 (age 28) Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Genres	Alternative hip hop, neo-psychedelia, pop rock
Occupations	Rapper, singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, drums
Years active	2003–present
Labels	GOOD, Universal Republic,[1] Wicked Awesome
Associated acts	WZRD, Dot da Genius, Kanye West, Chip tha Ripper, Ratatat
Website	www.KidCudi.com

Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi^[2] (born January 30, 1984),^[3] better known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( /ˈkɪd ˈkʌdi/ KID KUD-ee), sometimes stylized KiD CuDi, is an American alternative hip hop recording artist, singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor. He first gained major attention after the release of his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi. In 2009, his single "Day 'n' Nite" reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. "Day 'n' Nite" was included on Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, which was later certified Gold. In 2010 he released his second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, preceded by the release of two singles "Erase Me" and "Mr. Rager". In October 2010, Cudi announced that he would be forming a rock band with Dot da Genius called 'Wizard', later renamed WZRD. Their self-titled debut album was released on February 28, 2012.^[4] Kid Cudi has sold over 4.6 million digital singles and has worked with Kanye West, Common, David Guetta and other artists signed to the GOOD Music label.^[5]

In 2009 Cudi, along with record producers Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds and Emile Haynie launched their record label, Dream On, in partnership with Kanye West's GOOD Music and Universal Motown. On February 26, 2011 Cudi took to his Twitter account to announce that the label had been dissolved due to differences. In April 2011, while performing at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom Kid Cudi announced he was launching his own label: "Wicked Awesome Records".

Biography[link]

1984-2008: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Kid Cudi was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Shaker Heights and Solon. He is the youngest of four children, with two brothers, Domingo and Dean, and a sister, Maisha.^[6] His father, a house painter, substitute teacher and World War II Air Force veteran was Mexican-Native American, while his mother, a middle-school choir teacher at Roxboro Middle School, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is African-American.^[7][8] When he was eleven years old, Mescudi's father died of cancer; his passing would have a significant effect on Mescudi's personality and subsequently his music.^[8] Mescudi attended Shaker Heights High School for two years, then transferred to Solon High School, and later earned his GED. Eventually, Mescudi studied film at the University of Toledo then dropped out after a year.^[6]

It was towards the end of high school that Mescudi first began rapping, inspired by alternative hip hop groups such as The Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest.^[8] He moved to Brooklyn in New York City to pursue a music career.^[2] In July 2008, Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, in collaboration with New York street-wear brand 10.Deep as a free download.^[9] The mixtape quickly caught the attention of Kanye West, which in turn spawned his signing to GOOD Music later that year.

Kid Cudi was featured on Kanye West's 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak, singing with West on the track "Welcome to Heartbreak", and helping with songwriting on "Heartless" and "Paranoid". "Welcome to Heartbreak" peaked at #87 on the Pop 100,^[10] and music videos for both songs have been released. Cudi was then tipped as an artist to watch for in media such as Rolling Stone, Vibe, The Source, XXL and BBC News's Sound of 2009 poll of up-and-coming acts.^[11] MTV News also reported on Cudi on a series of reports MCs To Watch In 2009.^[12]

Kid Cudi performing at Central Park Summerstage in New York City, in 2008.

His first television appearance was at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, alongside Travis Barker and DJ AM. On February 17, 2009, he appeared on Snoop Dogg's MTV talk show Dogg After Dark performing "Day 'n' Nite" at the end of the show. Two days later on February 19, 2009, Cudi appeared on BET's 106 & Park with Kanye West to debut the video of "Day 'n' Nite". On March 16, 2009 Kid Cudi performed on mtvU's Spring Break special, and the next day he performed three songs on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly. He has also appeared as a musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Kid Cudi also made a cameo appearance next to Solange in the video for the song "T.O.N.Y." in February 2009, and later in The Black Eyed Peas' video for "I Gotta Feeling", with David Guetta. He has also been on two magazine covers, Complex (August/September 2009) and URB (August 2009). Bape awarded Cudi his own t-shirt in September 2009, in reward for his music and past employment there when living in New York City.

[edit] 2009–2010: Man on the Moon series

Kid Cudi performing on August 6, 2009.

Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day was released on Universal Motown Records on September 15, 2009^[13] and sold 104,419 copies in the first week and charted at #4.^[14] The album's lead single "Day 'n' Nite", Kid Cudi's greatest commercial success thus far, charted well both in the U.S. and in Europe. The second single was "Make Her Say" (originally titled "I Poke Her Face"), which features a sample from Lady Gaga's hit single "Poker Face" and performances by Kanye West and Common.^[15][16]

On February 25, 2009, Cudi self-leaked a "teaser trailer" ^[17] for the upcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen film using his song "Sky Might Fall" in the background, later he posted that he made the trailer himself and was in talks to possibly make it official.^[18]

With Emile Haynie, Cudi produced an exclusive single called "Switchin Lanes" for the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, part of its "South Central Premium Upgrade" downloadable content (DLC) which came out March 19, 2009 for the PlayStation 3 and March 27, 2009 for the Xbox 360.^[19]

He revealed information about his future plans via his blog, saying that a possible collaboration with Chip tha Ripper could be followed with a collaboration project with electrorock duo Ratatat.^[20] During the summer of 2009, Cudi joined rapper Asher Roth for the Great Hangover concert tour.^[21] Kid Cudi was featured on the highly anticipated Jay-Z album The Blueprint 3 (2009), on the song "Already Home".^[22] In a late 2009 interview, Cudi announced that the follow-up to his debut album will be a collaboration album called Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution. He stated he has already recorded songs with Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Clipse, Cage and Pharrell and would also like to work with Drake, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Robin Thicke, The Killers and The Postal Service on the album. Also it was rumored that Man on the Moon: The End of Day will be followed up by a sequel titled Man on the Moon: The Ghost in the Machine and that the Man on the Moon will be a trilogy, but was not been confirmed.^[23] Kid Cudi was nominated for three 2010 Grammy Awards for his singles, "Day 'n' Nite" and "Make Her Say".^[24] Kid Cudi was featured on Snoop Dogg's re-release of Malice n Wonderland, More Malice (2010), on the song "That Tree",^[25] as well as teaming up with Johnny Polygon to remix Polygon's "The Riot Song" which appears on his mixtape, Rebel Without Applause(2010)^[26] On April 20, 2010, Kid Cudi announced that the name of his second album has been changed from Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution to Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.^[27][28] On June 11, 2010, Kid Cudi was arrested in the Chelsea neighborhood of the Manhattan borough New York City and charged with felony criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance.^[29] Despite his arrest, he was released and made it to Manchester, Tennessee in time to play at Bonnaroo.

The lead single for Cudi's second studio album titled "Erase Me" featuring Kanye West and produced by Jim Jonsin, debuted on a Cleveland radio station June 30, 2010 and was officially released to Rhythm/Crossover radio on August 17, 2010.^{[30][31][32][33]} The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 169,000 copies.^[34] In its second week it crossed the 200,000 sales mark.^[35] 2010 also featured Kid Cudi on a number of songs for Kanye West's weekly free music giveaway G.O.O.D. Fridays appearing on "Good Friday", "Christian Dior Denim Flow" and "The Joy", which later became a bonus track on Jay-Z and Kanye West collaborative effort Watch the Throne (2011).

2011-present: New direction and WZRD[link]

In October 2010, Cudi announced that he would be forming a rock band with Dot da Genius tentatively called 'Wizard'.^[36] However, in early 2011, he announced that he would be releasing a mixtape prior to the rock album.^[37] On February 26, 2011 Cudi took to his Twitter account to announce that Dream On, the record label he launched back in 2009 with partners Patrick “Plain Pat” Reynolds and producer Emile Haynie, has been dissolved.^[38] However in an interview with Complex Magazine he explained they were still on good terms: "I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to take control of things myself. Those are still my guys, Pat and Emile, and I'm still going to work with them in the future. When we start working on Man on the Moon III I’ll be calling them up to see if they want to be a part of it. I know Emile is definitely down. We had an issue, but we’re men and we were able to figure it out and move forward. There’s no hard feelings."^[39]

In March 2011, Cudi announced that a music video for "Marijuana" will be released in the spring,^[40] followed by a music video for "Mr. Rager" in the summer of 2011.^[40] As well as a short film inspired by his song "Maniac" with Cage, directed by Shia LaBeouf^[41] will be released in October 2011.^{[dated info][40]}

In April 2011, while performing at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom Kid Cudi announced name of the record label he is launching. The new label, which he will be releasing his third studio album on is called “Wicked Awesome Records”. He also renamed his band on the same occasion to '2 Be Continuum' renaming it from the original 'Wizard'. Kid Cudi explained his reasoning saying: "I needed something more original, something different, but it’s still wizardry at its finest."^[42] On August 12, 2011, Kid Cudi released the music video for "No One Believes Me", directed by Fright Night director Craig Gillespie. Although the song was recorded as a collaborative song with Dot da Genius, the single was released under Kid Cudi's name.^[43] On August 21, Cudi announced that he is no longer releasing the mixtape A Man Named Scott so that he can focus on his rock project and his third solo album Man on the Moon III.^[44] Kid Cudi released a video for Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager's title track "Mr. Rager" on September 8, 2011. The video has received all-positive reviews from critics and fans alike.^[45]

Despite saying he will not do many more features for other artists in Complex magazine's October/November 2011 cover story,^[46] he appeared on Bryan Greenberg's second studio album We Don't Have Forever (2011), Travis Barker's Give the Drummer Some (2011), The Knux's Eraser (2011), and Wale's Ambition (2011) respectively.

On October 30, Cudi released the Maniac, a short horror film co-starring Cage and directed by Shia LaBeouf, through his blog.^[47]

On November 13, 2011, a previously unreleased mixtape of material Cudi had recorded from 2002-2003 titled Rap Hard was released. On November 18, 2011 renamed his band, for the second time to 'WZRD'.^[48] He also announced that the upcoming rock project will be released on his 28th birthday, January 30, 2012.

In late 2011, Cudi was mentioned in a viral video by Ben Breedlove about his near death experiences.^[49] After Breedlove's death on December 26, 2011, Cudi commented on his thoughts about inspiring the young kid. "I am so sad about Ben Breedlove," Kid Cudi wrote on his Tumblr blog. "I watched the video he left for the world to see, and him seeing me in detail, in his vision really warmed my heart. I broke down, I am to tears because I hate how life is so unfair. This has really touched my heart in a way I cant describe, this is why I do what I do. Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much. Life is really f---- up sometimes, but I know Ben is at Peace, and I hope he gets a chance to sit and talk with my Dad. We love you Ben. Forever. Thank you for loving me. To Ben’s family, you raised a real hero, he’s definitely mine. You have my love."

In January 2012 Cudi appeared on two songs off Chip tha Ripper's mixtape Tell Ya Friends, "Ride 4 You" which also featured Far East Movement and "GloryUs" which credited the duo as they are collectively known, The Almighty GloryUs, which led to speculation that a project from the two was underway. On January 31, Cudi announced through his Twitter feed that he had completed Man on the Moon III and that his next album was the collaborative effort with Chip tha Ripper.^[50] In 2012 Cudi was featured on the soundtrack to the film The Hunger Games, crafting an original song for the film titled "The Ruler and the Killer". Cudi wrote on Twitter, "I could not have done it with out my producing partners on the project for the film, The legendary and Godly T Bone Burnett and Greg Wells!", referring to "The Ruler and the Killer"^[51]

While working on WZRD, Cudi claims he had writer's block for almost 5 months because of his new sobriety. Something that never has happened to him for such an extended period of time. According to Kid Cudi, bands that inspired the album include Electric Light Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and Pink Floyd. The album includes a song titled "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a cover of the same titled song by Nirvana who in turn was inspired by blues guitar legend Lead Belly's rendition of the traditional folk song.^[52]

Acting career[link]

Kid Cudi starred in the new HBO comedy series How to Make It in America until its cancellation after 2 seasons. He is credited under his real name.^[53]

Personal life[link]

On March 26, 2010, his daughter, Vada Wamwene Mescudi, was born.^[54][55]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Man on the Moon: The End of Day (2009)
• Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010)
• Man on the Moon III (2012)^[56]

Collaborative albums

• WZRD (2012) (with Dot da Genius as WZRD)^[37]
• Cruel Summer (2012) (with GOOD Music)^[57]
• The Almighty GloryUS (TBA) (with Chip tha Ripper)

Mixtapes

• A Kid Named Cudi (2008)

Awards and nominations[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

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Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley performing on August 19, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Brad Douglas Paisley
Born	(1972-10-28) October 28, 1972 (age 39)
Origin	Glen Dale, West Virginia, United States
Genres	Country, Country Rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, mandolin
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Arista Nashville
Associated acts	Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Chely Wright, Scotty McCreery
Website	BradPaisley.com

Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references.

Paisley was the 2008 CMA and ACM Male Vocalist of the Year winner. Starting with the release of his 1999 album Who Needs Pictures, Paisley has recorded seven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashville label, with all of his albums certified gold or higher by the RIAA.^[1] In addition, he has charted 25 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, 16 of which have reached #1 with a record 10 consecutive singles reaching the top spot on the chart.^[2] On November 10, 2010, Paisley won the Entertainer of the Year award at the 44th annual CMA Awards.^[3]

Biography[link]

Paisley was born on October 28, 1972 in Glen Dale, West Virginia to Douglas Edward "Doug" Paisley, who worked for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, and Sandra Jean "Sandy" (née Jarvis) Paisley, a teacher.^[4] He was raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia. He has stated that his love of country music stems from his maternal grandfather, Warren Jarvis, who gave Paisley his first guitar, a Sears Danelectro Silvertone^[5] at 8-years-old and taught him how to play. At age 10, he performed for the first time in public by singing in his church. He later recalled that, "Pretty soon, I was performing at every Christmas party and Mother's Day event. The neat thing about a small town is that when you want to be an artist, by golly, they'll make you one".^[5] At age 12, Paisley wrote his first song, entitled, "Born on Christmas Day".^[5] He had been taking lessons with local guitarist Clarence "Hank" Goddard.^[5] By age 13, Goddard and Paisley formed a band called "Brad Paisley and the C-Notes", with the addition of two of Paisley's adult friends.^[5]

While in junior high, his principal heard him perform "Born On Christmas Day" and invited him to play at the local Rotary Club meeting. In attendance was Tom Miller, the program director of a radio station in Wheeling, West Virginia. Miller asked him if he would like to be a guest on Jamboree USA. After his first performance, he was asked to become a member of the show's weekly lineup. For the next eight years, he opened for country singers such as The Judds, Ricky Skaggs and George Jones. He would become the youngest person inducted into the Jamboree USA Hall of Fame. He also performed at the Jamboree in the Hills.^[6]

Paisley graduated from John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, West Virginia in 1991,^[7] studied for 2 years at West Liberty University (WV) and later was awarded a full-paid ASCAP scholarship to Belmont University, in Nashville, Tennessee (from 1993 to 1995). He interned at ASCAP, Atlantic Records, and the Fitzgerald-Hartley management firm. While in college, he met Frank Rogers, a fellow student who went on to serve as his producer. Paisley also met Kelley Lovelace, who became his songwriting partner. He also met Chris DuBois in college, and he too would write songs for him.^[6]

After graduating from Belmont with a Bachelor's degree in music business, within a week Paisley signed a songwriting contract with EMI Music Publishing;^[6] and, he wrote David Kersh's "Top 5" hit, "Another You", as well as David Ball's 1999 single, "Watching My Baby Not Come Back." The latter song was also co-written by Ball.^[8]

[edit] 1999–2001: Who Needs Pictures

His debut as a singer was with the label Arista Nashville, with the song "Who Needs Pictures" (released February 22, 1999). In May of that same year, he made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.^[1] Seven months later he had his first #1 hit with "He Didn't Have to Be," which detailed the story of Paisley's frequent co-writer Kelley Lovelace and Lovelace's stepson, McCain Merren.^[9] We Danced also was a hit for Paisley off the debut album, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. By February 2001, the album was certified platinum.^[10]

In 2000, Paisley's mainstream notoriety received a huge boost when he was exposed to his first national non-country music oriented audience on the TLC special, "Route 66: Main Street America." Producer, Todd Baker, tapped the young musician to appear on this show when he was a relative unknown outside the world of country music. It featured Paisley and band doing rare live and acoustic versions of Route 66. The international and home video versions of this program end with a full, un-cut acoustic rendition of the piece, which was performed live on Rainbow Bridge in Riverton, KS.^[11] The show accurately predicted that Paisley would become a legendary musician, and also featured blues artist, Buddy Guy.^[12]

Later in 2000, Paisley won the Country Music Association's (CMA) Horizon Award and the Academy of Country Music's best new male vocalist trophy. He received his first Grammy Award nomination a year later for Best New Artist. On February 17, 2001, Paisley was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry^[1] He was 28 when he accepted the invitation, and was the youngest member ever to join. PBS did a 75th anniversary concert special, which saw Paisley pair up with Chely Wright and sing a song called Hard to Be a Husband, Hard to Be a Wife, and would be included on the album Backstage at the Opry, It would get a CMA nomination for Vocal Event of the Year.^[13]

[edit] 2001–2003: Part II

In 2002, he won the CMA Music Video of the Year for "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)." Several celebrities made notable guest appearances in the video, including Little Jimmy Dickens, Kimberly Williams, Dan Patrick, and Jerry Springer. His three other singles off the Part II album, "I Wish You'd Stay", "Wrapped Around", and "Two People Fell in Love", all charted in the top 10. The album stayed in the charts for more than 70 weeks and was certified platinum in August 2002. To support his album, he toured the country as the opening act for Lonestar.^[14]

[edit] 2003–2005: Mud on the Tires

Paisley released his third album, Mud on the Tires (2003), following Who Needs Pictures and Part II. The album features the hit song "Celebrity", the video of which parodies reality shows such as Fear Factor, American Idol, The Bachelorette and According to Jim, and included such celebrities as Jason Alexander, James Belushi, Little Jimmy Dickens, Trista Rehn and William Shatner. (Paisley later contributed to Shatner's album Has Been.) The album's title track, "Mud on the Tires", reached Billboard #1 in 2004.^[15]

In addition, the ninth track from Mud on the Tires, "Whiskey Lullaby", a duet with Alison Krauss reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for Whiskey Lullaby also won several awards and was rated #2 on the 100 Greatest Music Videos by CMT in 2008. The album would be certified double platinum.^[14]

[edit] 2005–2007: Time Well Wasted

In 2005, after touring with Reba McEntire and Terri Clark on the "Two Hats and a Redhead Tour," he released Time Well Wasted, containing 15 tracks. This album includes "Alcohol," two duets — "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Dolly Parton and "Out in the Parking Lot" with Alan Jackson — and a bonus track, "Cornography." On November 6, 2006, the album "Time Well Wasted" won the Country Music Association CMA Award for Best Album. "Time Well Wasted" also won album of the year at the 2006 ACM Awards.

Paisley also contributed two original songs to the Disney film Cars. These can be found on the film's soundtrack. This was in recognition of his contribution to the "Route 66: Main Street America" television special.

At the 2006 Grammy Awards, Paisley received four nominations: Best Country Album (for Time Well Wasted), Best Country Song (for "Alcohol"), Best Country Instrumental (for "Time Warp") and Best Country Vocal, Male (for "Alcohol").

[edit] 2007–2008: 5th Gear

Paisley's fifth studio album, 5th Gear, was released in the United States on June 19, 2007. The first four singles from the album, "Ticks", "Online", "Letter to Me", and "I'm Still a Guy", all reached number one on the country music single charts, making seven straight number one hits for Paisley."^[16] "Online" featured the Brentwood High School marching band playing toward the end of the song, a cameo by Jason Alexander, and again featured a cameo by William Shatner. Throttleneck would also reach number one, which would get Paisley his first Grammy.^[17]

The fifth single from 5th Gear actually came from a reissued version of the album – a new recording of "Waitin' on a Woman", a track cut from Time Well Wasted. The reissued version received unsolicited airplay in late 2006, and features less prominent string guitar and violin parts and a more "muted" musical tone. For the chart week of September 20, 2008, the song became Paisley's twelfth number-one single and his eighth straight number-one hit, making him the artist with the most consecutive Number One country hits since the inception of Nielsen SoundScan in 1990.^[18]

In July 2006, producer Todd Baker tapped Brad for a television appearance as an animated character in The Wonder Pets, Daddy Armadillo. The yet-to-be-broadcast episode features Brad's wife, Kimberly Williams, as Mama Armadillo.

Paisley toured April 26, 2007 through February 24, 2008 in support of 5th Gear on the Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour. The tour visited 94 cities over a 10 month period and played for over 1,000,000 fans. The tour was so successful that it was extended past its original end date to February 2008. Some of the opening acts who appeared during the tour were Taylor Swift, Kellie Pickler, Jack Ingram, Rodney Atkins and Chuck Wicks.

Paisley was nominated for three 2008 Grammy Awards related to 5th Gear: Best Country Album (for 5th Gear), Best Country Collaboration (for "Oh Love" with Carrie Underwood), and Best Country Instrumental (for "Throttleneck"). On February 10, 2008, he won his first Grammy award for Best Country Instrumental for "Throttleneck".

In March 2008, Brad Paisley announced his next tour, "The Paisley Party," a 42-date tour sponsored by Hershey's. The tour kicked off on June 11, 2008, in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Chuck Wicks, Julianne Hough and Jewel as the opening acts.^[16]

[edit] 2008–2009: Play

A sixth, largely instrumental album, titled Play, was released on November 4, 2008.^[19] Brad Paisley and Keith Urban released to country radio their first duet together on September 8, 2008, "Start a Band." It was the first and only single from Play, and it went on to become Paisley's thirteenth number one hit and his ninth in a row. The album also features collaborations with James Burton, Little Jimmy Dickens, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, B.B. King, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Buck Owens, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner. Paisley and Urban both received Entertainer of the Year nominations from the CMA on September 10, 2008. On November 12, 2008 Brad Paisley won Male Vocalist of the Year and Music Video of the Year for "Waitin' on a Woman" during the CMA's.

[edit] 2009–2010: American Saturday Night

Brad Paisley performing at the White House.

Brad Paisley announced on January 26, 2009 his new tour named "American Saturday Night." Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne will be opening in the majority of the shows. Brad Paisley's newest album, American Saturday Night was released on June 30, 2009. The album's lead off single, "Then" was released in March 2009 and performed for the first time on American Idol on March 18. It went on to become Paisley's 14th number one single and his tenth in a row.

On May 6, 2009, Paisley gave an exclusive performance^[20] to a small group of members from his fan club in Studio A of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN as he and his band taped an episode of CMT Invitation Only. The show gives fans a chance to see their favorite artists in a more intimate setting up close and personal. There was a Q & A session and interaction between Paisley and his fans. The show aired on Monday, August 3 at 9:00 p.m. on CMT.

On July 21, 2009, Paisley performed at the White House in celebration of country music. "Country Music at the White House " was streamed live on the White House web-site as well as a special on Great American Country.

On November 11, 2009, Paisley co-hosted the CMA Awards for the second straight year. He also performed "Welcome to the Future", and won both Male Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for Start a Band with Keith Urban.

On March 1, 2010, Paisley was the first musical performance with "American Saturday Night" for the second tenure of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

On Friday March 5, 2010, Paisley slipped and fell performing his last song of the set, "Alcohol," at a concert at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina, on the final date of the American Saturday Night Tour. Fearing a broken rib, he was held overnight at an area hospital, but was released when a CT scan was negative.^[21]

On July 31, 2010 Brad performed alongside Carrie Underwood at the inaugural Greenbrier Classic PGA Tour Event in Lewisburg, W.Va. An estimated 60,000 people attended the outdoor event to watch Carrie and Brad perform in the pouring rain.

On August 4, 2010, it was announced on his official website that Paisley would release his first official greatest hits package, entitled Hits Alive. Released on November 2, 2010, Hits Alive is a double-disc collection, with one disc containing studio versions of Paisley's hit singles, while the companion disc features previously unreleased live versions of his songs.^[22]

Brad Paisley cohosted the 44th Annual CMA Awards on November 10, 2010, where he was also awarded the CMA's top award, Entertainer of the Year.^[23] During his acceptance speech, Paisley emotionally honored his grandfather, who inspired him to play the guitar.

In 2012, MSN.com listed American Saturday Night as one of the 21 Essential 21st-Century Albums.^[24]

[edit] 2011-present: This Is Country Music

In December 2010, Paisley released "This Is Country Music" as the title track to his eighth studio album, released May 23, 2011. The album's second single, "Old Alabama" (with Alabama), released to country radio on March 14, 2011 and became Paisley's nineteenth number one hit. "Remind Me," with Carrie Underwood, was released May 23, 2011 to radio.

On March 22, 2011, Paisley's website announced a new beta game titled "Brad Paisley World." The game is modeled after other Facebook games such as Farmville or Mafia Wars and features original animation. The game provides a new way for fans to interact with each other and view exclusive material that would otherwise be unavailable.