Dierks Bentley

Frederick Dierks Bentley (/ˈdɜːrks/; born November 20, 1975) is an American country singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Don't Leave Me in Love in 2001. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's Modern Day Drifter, are certified Platinum in the United States, and his third album, 2006's Long Trip Alone, is certified Gold. It was followed in mid-2008 by a greatest hits package. His fourth album, Feel That Fire, was released in February 2009, and a bluegrass album, Up on the Ridge, was released on June 8, 2010. His sixth album, Home, followed in February 2012, as did a seventh one, Riser, in 2014. Bentley's eighth album, titled Black, was released in May 2016, and his ninth, The Mountain, was released in June 2018. His tenth studio album, Gravel & Gold, was released in February 2023.

Bentley's studio albums have accounted for 27 singles on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, of which 18 have reached No. 1: his debut single, "What Was I Thinkin'", "Come a Little Closer", "Settle for a Slowdown", "Every Mile a Memory", "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)", "Feel That Fire", "Sideways", "Am I the Only One", "Home", "5-1-5-0", "I Hold On", "Drunk on a Plane", "Say You Do", "Somewhere on a Beach", "Different for Girls", "Woman, Amen", "Living" and "Beers on Me". Eight more of his singles have reached the top 5, and he has an additional No. 1 as a part of "Forever Country", and one on the Canada Country chart as a featured artist on "New Old Trucks".

Bentley was born on November 20, 1975, in Phoenix, Arizona, as the son of Leon Fife Bentley (August 16, 1923 – June 1, 2012), a bank vice president, and Catherine Childs. His father was born in Glasgow, Missouri, to Richard Thomas Bentley Jr. and Mary Cecile (née Fife) Bentley, and was a First Lieutenant in World War II. His middle name, Dierks (which he now uses as his first name publicly), is also his maternal great-grandmother's surname. He attended Culver Summer Schools and Camps in Indiana and graduated from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey in 1993. Afterward, he spent a year at the University of Vermont (UVM) before transferring to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he graduated in 1997.

Dierks Bentley moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the late 1990s at the age of 18 with the ambition of pursuing a career in country music. In his earliest years in the city, he immersed himself in the local music scene by attending live performances and networking with musicians, while also working behind the scenes in the tape library at The Nashville Network, where he catalogued archival footage of historic country music performances. These experiences deepened his appreciation for the genre’s traditional roots and introduced him to the storytelling and instrumentation found in bluegrass. He frequented the Station Inn, a well-known bluegrass venue, and began performing in small clubs and bars along Lower Broadway and elsewhere in the city, including Springwater and Market Street Brewery. During this period, Bentley focused on songwriting, eventually meeting Mike Ward, with whom he began a steady writing collaboration. From 1999 to 2001, Bentley and Ward co-wrote several songs and entered BNA Studios in Franklin, Tennessee to record what would become Don't Leave Me in Love, Bentley’s first independently released album. Self-funded and distributed through his own label, Dangling Rope Records, the album marked the culmination of Bentley’s formative years in Nashville and served as the foundation that would lead to his later mainstream success.

Bentley worked at The Nashville Network (now Paramount Network), researching old footage of country performances. During this time, Bentley was banned from the Grand Ole Opry for trespassing on the grounds of the Opry House for research purposes, a ban that would be lifted when Bentley's first album was released. In 2003, Capitol Nashville released Bentley's self-titled debut album. The album's first single, "What Was I Thinkin'", reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts later that year. The next two singles from the album – "My Last Name" and "How Am I Doin'" – reached No. 17 and No. 4, respectively. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Bentley's second album, Modern Day Drifter, was released in 2005. It spawned two No. 1 singles in "Come a Little Closer" and "Settle for a Slowdown", as well as the No. 3 hit "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do". The album was also certified Platinum.

In 2005, Bentley won the CMA Award for the Horizon Award (now Best New Artist) and was invited to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. The induction took place on October 1, 2005. Bentley stands as the third-youngest member after Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner.

On June 10, 2006, Bentley released his third album, Long Trip Alone. The album produced two No. 1 hits in "Every Mile a Memory" in 2006 and "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)" in 2007. The title track reached No. 10 on the country charts, while the fourth single, "Trying to Stop Your Leaving", peaked at No. 5.