Eric Paslay
American singer-songwriter
Eric Thomas Paslay (born January 29, 1983) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released one album for EMI Nashville, which contains the hit singles "Friday Night", "Song About a Girl", and "She Don't Love You". In addition to these, Paslay has written several hit singles for other artists, and has collaborated with Amy Grant, Dierks Bentley, Charles Kelley, among others.
01Early life
Eric Thomas Paslay was born in Abilene, Texas, and started playing guitar at the age of 15. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in the fall of 2005 with his Bachelor of Science degree.
02Career
In mid-2011, Paslay signed to EMI Records Nashville. After his first two singles "Never Really Wanted" and "If the Fish Don't Bite" failed to make top 40, his third, "Friday Night", was a Top 5 hit on Country Airplay in early 2014. The song was originally recorded by Lady Antebellum, and Paslay's version appears on his self-titled debut album, released in early 2014. The album went on to produce two more singles in "Song About a Girl" and "She Don't Love You".
He also co-wrote Jake Owen's "Barefoot Blue Jean Night", the Will Hoge/Eli Young Band song "Even If It Breaks Your Heart", and Love and Theft's "Angel Eyes" all of which were number 1 singles on the country charts. He has written album cuts for Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts' 2014 single "Rewind" and Keith Urban's 2021 single "Wild Hearts".
In 2013, Paslay appeared on Amy Grant's album How Mercy Looks from Here, sharing lead vocals with Grant and Sheryl Crow on a song he wrote called "Deep As It Is Wide". In publicity for the album, Grant stated that she is most excited about Paslay as an up-and-coming artist.
Paslay is featured alongside Dierks Bentley on Charles Kelley's debut solo single "The Driver" which was released on September 28, 2015. "The Driver" received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. This is Paslay's first Grammy nomination as a recording artist.
In October 2015, Paslay released "High Class" as the lead single to his upcoming second studio album. The album's second single, "Angels in This Town", released to country radio on July 18, 2016.
Paslay released a five-song digital extended play, The Work Tapes, in July 2017. Paslay parted ways with EMI Records Nashville in September 2018.
03Personal life
On April 26, 2015, Paslay married Natalie Harker. On December 8, 2018, they had their first daughter, Piper Lily Paslay.
Paslay has type 1 diabetes.
04Discography
| Eric Paslay discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 2 |
| EPs | 1 |
| Singles | 10 (8 Solo & 2 As A Featured Artist) |
| Music videos | 5 |
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country |
US | |||
| Eric Paslay |
|
4 | 31 |
|
| Nice Guy |
|
, | , | |
| ", " denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Work Tapes |
|
Singles
| Single | Year | Peak positions | Certifications | Sales | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Songs |
US Country Airplay |
US |
CAN Country |
CAN | |||||
| "Never Really Wanted" | 2011 | 48 | , | , | , | Eric Paslay | |||
| "If the Fish Don't Bite" | 2012 | 58 | , | , | , | Non-album single | |||
| "Friday Night" | 2013 | 6 | 2 | 47 | 8 | 53 |
|
|
Eric Paslay |
| "Song About a Girl" | 2014 | 18 | 12 | 85 | 25 | , |
| ||
| "She Don't Love You" | 15 | 14 | 77 | 28 | , |
| |||
| "High Class" | 2015 | 32 | 32 | , | , | , |
|
Dressed in Black (unreleased) | |
| "Angels in This Town" | 2016 | , | , | , | , | , | |||
| "Young Forever" | 2018 | , | 41 | , | , | , | Non-album single | ||
| ", " denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
As a featured artist
| Single | Year | Peak positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Songs |
US Country Airplay | |||
| "The Driver" (Charles Kelley featuring Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay) |
2015 | 37 | 44 | The Driver |
| "My House" (The Scott Brothers featuring Eric Paslay) |
2017 | , | , | Non-album single |
| ", " denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Music videos
| Video | Year | Director |
|---|---|---|
| "Friday Night" | 2013 | Mason Dixon |
| "Song About a Girl" | 2014 | Wes Edwards |
| "She Don't Love You" | 2015 | |
| "The Driver" (Charles Kelley featuring Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay) |
TK McKamy | |
| "High Class" | 2016 | Wes Edwards |
05Awards and nominations
| Year | Awards | Award | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Duo/Group Performance, "The Driver" (Charles Kelley featuring Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay) |
Nominated |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Eric Paslay”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Eric paslay.jpg by Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0
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