Kane Allen Brown (born October 21, 1993) is an American country music singer and songwriter. First garnering a mass following on social media, he released his debut extended play (EP) Closer in June 2015, and followed it up with the single, "Used to Love You Sober" in October of that year. After Brown signed with RCA Nashville in early 2016, the song was included on his second EP and major label debut, Chapter 1 in March 2016. He released his eponymous debut studio album later that year in December. The album spawned the single "What Ifs" (featuring Lauren Alaina), and in October 2017, Brown became the first artist to have simultaneous number ones on all five main Billboard country charts. Brown released his second album, Experiment, in November 2018, which became his first number one album on the Billboard 200.
Sometimes homeless, Brown's family moved around northwest Georgia when he was younger from Rossville to Fort Oglethorpe to LaFayette before finally settling in Red Bank, Tennessee. As a result, he attended many schools, among them Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School in Fort Oglethorpe, where he sang in the choir with Lauren Alaina, the runner-up on Season 10 of American Idol. He also attended Red Bank, Ridgeland, and Soddy Daisy High School. After graduation, he lived with his grandmother, who had also helped raise him.
Brown grew up listening to country music but became interested in R&B music in middle school. However, after almost winning a school talent show in 11th grade with a rendition of Chris Young's "Gettin' You Home", he began to perform country music. He auditioned for both American Idol and The X Factor USA after the success of his school friend Lauren Alaina on American Idol. He was chosen for The X Factor USA after an audition in 2013 but left the show when its producers wanted to include him in a boy band. After that, he decided to post his cover versions of popular songs online.
Brown was initially signed to Zone 4 with Jay Frank as his first manager. Martha Earls became his manager in 2016.
He signed with Sony Music Nashville on January 27, 2016, and records under the RCA Nashville label. His first Extended play under the label, titled Chapter 1, released on March 18, 2016. It includes the singles "Used to Love You Sober" and "Last Minute Late Night" and debuted at number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at number three on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 30,000 units (23,000 in traditional albums) in its first week.
On June 17, 2016, "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" was released as a promotional single ahead of his debut full-length album. "Thunder in the Rain" was released as the debut radio single from the album on August 3, 2016, and Brown headlined his own Ain't No Stopping Us Now Tour produced by Monster Energy and Outbreak Presents starting on November 3, 2016. The self-titled album featuring those songs was released on December 2, 2016, and debuted at number 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200. "What Ifs", recorded with his friend Lauren Alaina, was released as the second single from the album and has been certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA. It became a number one hit on the Country Airplay charts for the week of October 28, 2017, the first for Brown and the second for Alaina. It also spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
An expanded deluxe edition of Brown's debut album was released October 6, 2017, featuring four new tracks, including a duet with Chris Young and "Heaven", released as the album's third single on November 13, 2017. Upon the release of the deluxe edition, the album went to number five on the Billboard 200 and returned to number one on the Top Country Albums chart. With the single "What Ifs", which reached number one on multiple charts, and the new song "Heaven" released with the deluxe edition, Brown became the first artist to have simultaneous number ones on all five main country charts: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Digital Song Sales, and Country Streaming Songs.
Over the course of 2018–19, Brown released several collaborations with artists such as Becky G, Camila Cabello, and Digital Farm Animals, including a remix of "Saturday Nights" with R&B singer Khalid which was released as a single. He also appeared on Brooks & Dunn's album Reboot in a new rendition of their past hit "Believe". In August 2019, Brown collaborated with Marshmello for "One Thing Right", his first release to Mainstream Pop Radio.
In October 2019, Brown's drummer, Kenny Dixon, died in a car accident.
In June 2020, Brown released the song "Worldwide Beautiful", which aims to highlight peace and equality and benefits the Boys & Girls Club of America. In July 2020, Brown released his second single to pop radio, "Be Like That" with Khalid and Swae Lee, another single off his Extended play.
On August 14, 2020, Brown released his third Extended play, Mixtape, Vol. 1, which includes "Cool Again", "Worldwide Beautiful", and "Be Like That", as well as four other tracks.
In September 2020, Brown announced a drive-in concert, held at more than 200 theaters across the U.S. on September 26, 2020. That same week Brown appeared on stage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in a PORTL "hologram" machine to sing "Be Like That" live from Nashville with Swae Lee and Khalid who were in the studio in Los Angeles, California.
In October 2020, "Worship You" was sent to country radio as his second official single to that format off the Extended play.
On November 26, 2020, Brown performed in a pre-recorded halftime show in the Thanksgiving Thursday Night Football game between the Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. On February 11, 2021, Brown launched his own label, 1021 Entertainment, in association with Sony Nashville.
Also in 2021, Brown became the first black person to win Video of the Year at the ACM Awards, which he won for "Worldwide Beautiful". He was included in 2021's Time 100, Times annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
On March 3, 2022, Brown released the song "Leave You Alone", which he initially previewed on social media in late 2021.
Brown announced his third studio album, Different Man, on July 18, 2022. The album was released on September 9, 2022.
| Academy of Country Music Awards | 2017 | New Male Vocalist of the Year | Himself | ||
| 2018 | |||||
| Vocal Event of the Year | "What Ifs" | ||||
| 2019 | Single of the Year | "Heaven" | |||
| 2021 | Album of the Year | Mixtape, Vol. 1 | |||
| Video of the Year | ”Worldwide Beautiful” | ||||
| 2022 | Single of the Year | "Famous Friends" (with Chris Young) | parton-as-co-hosts-of-the-57th-academy-of-country-music-awards-live-on-march-7-exclusively-on-prime-video | ||
| Music Event of the Year | |||||
| Video of the Year | |||||
| American Music Awards | 2018 | Favorite Country Male Artist | Himself | ||
| Favorite Country Album | Kane Brown | ||||
| Favorite Country Song | "Heaven" | ||||
| 2019 | Favorite Country Male Artist | Himself | |||
| Favorite Country Album | Experiment | ||||
| 2020 | Favorite Country Male Artist | Himself | |||
| 2021 | Favorite Country Song | "Famous Friends" | |||
| Billboard Music Awards | 2018 | Top Country Artist | Himself | ||
| Top Country Album | Kane Brown | ||||
| Top Country Song | "What Ifs" | ||||
| 2019 | Top Country Artist | Himself | |||
| Top Country Male Artist | Himself | ||||
| Top Country Album | Kane Brown | ||||
| Top Country Song | "Heaven" | ||||
| 2020 | Top Country Artist | Himself | |||
| Top Country Male Artist | |||||
| Top Country Album | Experiment | ||||
| 2021 | Top Country Artist | Himself | |||
| Country Music Association Awards | 2021 | Single of the Year | "Famous Friends" (with Chris Young) | ||
| Musical Event of the Year | |||||
| Video of the Year | |||||
| 2023 | Musical Event of the Year | "Thank God" (with Katelyn Brown) | |||
| CMT Music Awards | 2017 | Breakthrough Video of the Year | "Used to Love You Sober" | ||
| 2018 | Collaborative Video of the Year | "What Ifs" (feat. Lauren Alaina) | |||
| Video of the Year | "What Ifs" (feat. Lauren Alaina) | ||||
| 2019 | Video of the Year | "Good as You" | |||
| Male Video of the Year | "Lose It" | ||||
| 2020 | Collaborative Video of the Year | "Cool Again" (feat. Nelly) | |||
| "One Thing Right" (feat. Marshmello) | |||||
| 2021 | Video of the Year | "Worldwide Beautiful" | |||
| Male Video of the Year | "Worship You" | ||||
| Best Family Feature | |||||
| Collaborative Video of the Year | "Famous Friends" (feat. Chris Young) | ||||
| 2022 | Video of the Year | "One Mississippi" | |||
| Male Video of the Year | |||||
| CMT Performance of the Year | "Three Wooden Crosses" (From 2021 CMT Artist of the Year) | ||||
| "Ride wit Me" (From CMT Crossroads) | |||||
| 2023 | Video of the Year | "Thank God" (with Katelyn Brown) | |||
| Collaborative Video of the Year | |||||
| Male Video of the Year | "Like I Love Country Music" | ||||
| 2024 | Video of the Year | "Nothing Compares to You" (with Mickey Guyton) | |||
| Collaborative Video of the Year | |||||
| iHeartRadio Music Awards | 2019 | Country Song of the Year | "Heaven" | ||
| 2022 | Country Song of the Year | "Famous Friends" | |||
| 2023 | Country Artist of the Year | Himself | |||
| 2024 | Best Collaboration | "Thank God" (with Katelyn Brown) | |||
| Country Song of the Year | |||||
| People's Choice Awards | 2019 | The Male Country Artist of the Year | Himself | ||
| 2020 | |||||
| The Soundtrack Song of the Year | "On Me" | ||||
| 2022 | The Male Country Artist of the Year | Himself | |||
| 2023 | |||||
| 2024 | |||||
| People's Choice Country Awards | 2023 | The People’s Artist of the Year | Himself | ||
| The Male Artist of the Year | |||||
| The Album of the Year | Different Man | ||||
| The Collaboration Song of the Year | "Thank God" | ||||
| The Song of the Year | |||||
| The Music Video of the Year | |||||
| Taste of Country Fan Choice Awards | 2018 | Most Passionate Fanbase of 2018 | Himself | ||
| Most Jaw-Dropping Performance of 2018 | "What Ifs" (with Lauren Alaina) at the ACMs | ||||
| Best Country Album | Experiment | ||||
| Teen Choice Awards | 2019 | Choice Country Artist | Himself | ||
| Choice Country Song | “Good as You” | ||||
| + Television Appearances | |||
| 2019 | Ridiculousness | Himself/Guest | |
| 2019 | All That | Himself/Musical Guest | Episode 1103 |
| 2020 | The Voice | Himself/Battle Advisor | Season 19 of Blake Shelton |
| 2020–present | CMT Music Awards | Himself/Co-Host | 2020: With Sarah Hyland & Ashley McBryde 2021, 2023–present: With Kelsea Ballerini 2022: With Anthony Mackie & Kelsea Ballerini |
| 2021 | CMT Crossroads | Himself | |
| 2022 | Barmageddon | Himself/Guest | Episode: "Blake Shelton & Kane Brown" |
| 2023 | Fire Country | Robin | Episode: "Off the Rails" |
| 2025 | Himself | Episode: Pilot |
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