Brad Paisley

Paisley has sold over 11 million albums and won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 14 Country Music Association Awards, and two American Music Awards. He has earned country music\'s crowning achievement, becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Paisley also wrote songs for Pixar\'s Cars franchise ("Behind the Clouds", "Find Yourself", "Collision of Worlds" (along with Robbie Williams), "Nobody\'s Fool", etc.).\n', ' Paisley was born on October 28, 1972, in Glen Dale, West Virginia. He is the only child of Douglas Edward "Doug" Paisley, who worked for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, and Sandra Jean "Sandy" (née Jarvis) Paisley, a teacher. He was raised in Glen Dale, West Virginia. He has stated that his love of country music stems from his maternal grandfather, Warren Jarvis, who gave him his first guitar, a Sears Danelectro Silvertone, and taught him how to play at eight years old. At ten, he performed for the first time in public by singing in his church. He later recalled that, "Pretty soon, I was performing at every Christmas party and Mother\'s Day event. The neat thing about a small town is that when you want to be an artist, by golly, they\'ll make you one." At age 13, he wrote his first song, "Born on Christmas Day", which later appeared on his album Brad Paisley Christmas. He had been taking lessons with local guitarist Clarence "Hank" Goddard. By 13, Goddard and Paisley formed a band called "Brad Paisley and the C-Notes", with the addition of two of Paisley\'s adult friends.\n', ' While in junior high, his principal heard him perform "Born On Christmas Day" and invited him to play at the local Rotary Club meeting. In attendance was Tom Miller, the program director of a radio station in Wheeling, West Virginia. Miller asked him if he would like to be a guest on Jamboree USA. After his first performance, he was asked to become a member of the show\'s weekly lineup. For the next eight years, he opened for country singers such as The Judds, Ricky Skaggs and George Jones. He would become the youngest person inducted into the Jamboree USA Hall of Fame. He also performed at the Jamboree in the Hills.\n', '