According to his biography by AllMusic, the legendary Lee Brice began singing at age 7 and writing his own songs by age 10.

The site also reports that not only did Brice win three consecutive talent contests at his school, but Clemson University awarded him a scholarship to play football at the South Carolina campus. However, after an arm injury, he devoted himself completely to music. Now, the artist boasts seven Country Music Award nominations.

The award-winning country music star will perform at the Honeywell Center on Friday, Oct 1.

Songwriting Success

Brice has lent his hand and songwriting ability to a number of renowned country artists over the past several years. The illustrious Garth Brooks topped charts in 2007 with “More Than a Memory,” a song that Brice wrote.

In fact, the song was so successful that it became the first track to debut at No. 1 in the entire history of the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs, and it was Brooks’ first No. 1 hit since 1998’s “To Make You Feel My Love.”

Brice also wrote songs for artists like Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, and Kenny Chesney.

“A breakout single is a very different song from a hit single,” Brice told The Boot in 2009. “McGraw and Chesney can put out anything they want to put out. If it’s a great song, it’ll probably be a hit for them. If a new artist like me does it, it might not work, even though it’s a great song.”

Still Recording

In 2012, Taste of Country reported that Brice had a lot of creative control for his album Hard 2 Love.

“I was able to really go in with a lot of leeway from the label to make the record I wanted to make,” he told reporter Alanna Conaway in the month leading up to the release of his album.

According to MusicRow, while announcing the release of his 2014 album, I Don’t Dance, Brice told reporters, “[I] realized I had learned so much about putting together a record that I was anxious to take that knowledge and start the next one. This is definitely a step further, if not a couple of steps further.”

It was around three years later that Brice dropped the single “Boy” from his self-titled album released in November 2017. The Country Daily reported that the song was penned as a tribute to Brice’s two sons, Takoda and Ryker. The track’s release shortly preceded the birth of Brice’s daughter, Trulee Nanette.

The year 2019 brought Brice an emotion-laden duet with singer-songwriter Carly Pearce, who told Apple Music that she sent Brice a song and he “flipped out over it. And I will tell you, he took it to a place that I didn’t even know it could go vocally.”

This platinum-certified track, “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” won the Single of the Year at the American Country Music Awards in April 2021.

“Carly has such emotion in her voice, especially on a song like this that’s really powerful,” Brice told The Country Daily. “I’m honored she asked me to record this duet.”

MusicRow reports that Country Music Awards CEO Sarah Trahern presented the two with a plaque after the Recording Industry Association of America confirmed the achievement.

The year prior, Brice and Pearce were slated to perform the single at the 54th celebration of the ACM Awards, but Brice tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to tape the performance for the show.

Billboard reported that Lady A’s Charles Kelley recorded the song with Pearce before the awards, but soon after had to quarantine because someone in the band tested positive for the virus as well.

COVID-19 also affected the development of his album, Hey World, according to Brice’s official webpage.

Because the artists could not meet in person, the last half of the album was developed in pieces by “sending the tracks to the musicians to layer their parts into the recording one instrument at a time.”

Popular in Streaming

Brice’s wife, Sara, contributed to the 2018 video for the musician’s song, “Rumor,” in which she and her husband share a romantic night out.

He told People magazine that the couple has to work hard on “us time,” saying that he feels it’s important to show Sara that she is “loved and appreciated” as much as he can.

The online radio service Pandora inducted Brice into their “Billionaires’ Club” in 2018 for surpassing 2 billion plays, with current reports at more than 3.2 billion plays on the site.

His track, “Rumor,” has amassed more than 200 million streams on Spotify. His website reports that Brice has eclipsed 2.2 billion career on-demand streams overall.

Coming to Wabash

Brice will perform at 7:30 p.m. at Honeywell’s Ford Theater in Wabash. Balcony tickets start at $49 with main floor tickets starting at $69. Show night dining will also be available at Eugenia’s Restaurant in the Honeywell Center for $21.19.

More information on ticket sales and dining options can be found at the venue website at honeywellarts.org.