Kane Brown

Kane Allen Brown (born October 21, 1993) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He initially built a prominent following through social media before releasing his debut extended play, Closer, in June 2015. After signing with RCA Nashville in early 2016, he achieved major commercial success and made history in October 2017 by becoming the first artist to hold simultaneous number-one spots on all five main Billboard country charts. He has since released multiple studio albums, including Experiment (2018), which topped the Billboard 200 chart.

Brown was raised in rural northwest Georgia and the Chattanooga, Tennessee, area. He is biracial, born to a white mother, Tabatha Brown, and an African-American father who is also part Cherokee. His father has been incarcerated since 1996, and Brown was raised by his single mother and grandmother. His family experienced periods of homelessness and moved frequently between several Georgia towns before settling in Red Bank, Tennessee. Brown attended several high schools, including Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School, where he sang in the choir with singer Lauren Alaina.

Although he listened to country music during his childhood, Brown became interested in R&B during middle school. He returned to country music after nearly winning an 11th-grade talent show with a performance of Chris Young's "Gettin' You Home." In 2013, he auditioned for The X Factor USA but left the show when producers sought to put him in a boy band. He then began sharing self-recorded song covers on Facebook. His cover of George Strait's "Check Yes or No" went viral in September 2015, attracting over seven million views and rapidly expanding his online audience.

After funding his initial EP Closer through Kickstarter in 2015, Brown released his breakthrough single "Used to Love You Sober" in October of that year. He signed with Sony Music Nashville's RCA Nashville imprint in January 2016 and released his major-label EP debut, Chapter 1, in March 2016. His self-titled debut studio album followed in December 2016, featuring the 8× Platinum-certified hit "What Ifs" with Lauren Alaina and the single "Heaven." In November 2018, Brown released his second album, Experiment, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

Between 2018 and 2020, Brown broadened his audience through pop and crossover collaborations with artists such as Khalid, Camila Cabello, Becky G, and Marshmello. He released his third EP, Mixtape, Vol. 1, in August 2020, followed by the launch of his own label imprint, 1021 Entertainment, in February 2021. Brown's third studio album, Different Man, arrived in September 2022 and included "Thank God," a chart-topping duet with his wife, Katelyn Brown. In October 2024, he announced his fourth album, The High Road, which was released in January 2025 and yielded the successful Marshmello collaboration "Miles on It."

In 2021, Brown became the first Black person to win Video of the Year at the ACM Awards for his single "Worldwide Beautiful," and he was included in the Time 100 list of most influential people. He also expanded into acting, joining the cast of The Token Groomsman as Neil. Brown married singer Katelyn Jae on October 12, 2018. The couple has three children: two daughters born in 2019 and 2021, and a son born in June 2024.