Corporate Entertainment - Bryan White booking information

Few people who sing country music earn real stardom. Only a handful attain the rank of honest-to-goodness phenomenon. But a few years back, a shy Oklahoma singer with great pipes and teen-idol good looks did just that.

Bryan White, who had paid his dues as a teenaged drummer in his parents` bands, emerged from obscurity in the mid-`90s with a string of six No. 1 singles, including:

"Someone Else's Star"

"Rebecca Lynn"

Just 20 years old at the time, he quickly earned fans from across the demographic spectrum (one critic called his first two albums "surprisingly mature, both in subject matter and in vocal approach"), but it was among young people that he became an instant star in a way few country singers ever have.

Teens flocked to his performances. They often listened from parking lots when they were unable to gain access to his shows at 21-and-over clubs, so Bryan threw open his soundchecks and set up alcohol-free afternoon shows. The media noted the true hysteria that consistently greeted such performances, and he was soon the subject of major profiles in fan magazines like "Teen," "Tiger Beat," and "16." The latter launched a new magazine called "Teen Country" whose first issue was devoted exclusively to him.

Much of the mid-`90s influx of young fans and youth-oriented media to country music can, in fact, be credited Bryan. He was named one of the Top 20 coolest bachelors on E! Entertainment Television, appeared on "The Tonight Show," "CBS This Morning," "The Bold & The Beautiful," "The Late Show With David Letterman," and "Regis & Kathie Lee," among others, and was named on of People magazine`s "50 Most Beautiful People In The World."

Follow-up hits like "So Much For Pretending," "I'm Not Supposed To Love You Anymore," and "That's Another Song" helped Bryan`s first two albums achieve platinum status. Along the way, the press and the industry alike noticed the genuine singing talent behind the good looks and stage excitement, and Bryan earned a host of awards. He received the CMA`s Horizon award, was named CMT`s Rising Star and Male Video Artist of the Year, TNN/Music City News`s Star of Tomorrow, and the Academy of Country Music`s Top New Male Vocalist, as well as SRO Touring Artist of the Year.

Bryan also quickly proved that he was a young man of real depth and substance. Following the terrorist bombing of the federal building in his hometown of Oklahoma City, he set out to raise funds and awareness. In the way he had reached out to his young fans, Bryan reached out to a wider world in bigger ways, using his own rapidly rising fortunes to benefit the lives of others. He helped the Federal Employee Education & Assistance fund reach its $11-million dollar goal through several benefit concerts, radio specials and celebrity auctions. He turned his first Nashville concert into a benefit that raised more than $75,000 for scholarships for children injured or orphaned in the blast. He later helped in funding the on-site memorial in Oklahoma City, receiving a special Humanitarian Award from FEEA for his efforts. Bryan has since worked to aid a host of causes ranging from children`s issues to AIDS, and was named recipient of the 1997 Entertainment Radio Networks` Humanitarian Award.

Professionally, Bryan continued to stretch himself on a number of fronts. He played drums on his mentor Steve Wariner`s Grammy-nominated instrumental album "No More Mr. Nice Guy," undertook a wildly popular tour with LeAnn Rimes, and co-wrote the Sawyer Brown Top-5 hit "I Don`t Believe In Goodbye," Diamond Rio`s Top-3 "Imagine That," and album cuts for acts ranging from Joe Diffie to Lila McCann. His duet with Shania Twain, "From This Moment On," from her COME ON OVER album, went to No. 1 and received a Grammy nomination.

Hits like "Love Is The Right Place" and "One Small Miracle" followed, establishing Bryan as one of the `90s big success stories--something that came as a surprise as much to Bryan as to anyone. He had never set out to become a star. In fact, it wasn`t until well into his stint as a club musician that he even got in front of a microphone.

Bryan was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, to musical parents, and he was playing drums by the age of five. His divorced parents each had bands, and Bryan began joining them on stage before he reached his teens. He was influenced by Don Williams, Ronnie Milsap, Stevie Wonder, Mac McAnally, Steven Curtis Chapman and Vince Gill, and particularly by the multi-talented Steve Wariner, but his mother had to goad him into coming out from behind his drums to sing. Audiences convinced him she had the right idea. At 17, he switched to guitar and began writing songs.

When he graduated from high school, he swallowed hard and moved to Nashville to try his luck in the bigtime. "It was pretty scary to make the move at the time," he says, "but when you`re that young, I think you feel invincible to a certain extent--those hopes are so strong that nothing can discourage you." Talent and determination did the rest. In less than three months he had landed a staff songwriting job and artist management deal with Glen Campbell`s companies. A year later, he had been signed to Asylum Records. He opened shows for Tracy Lawrence, Diamond Rio and Pam Tillis with just an acoustic guitar, an experience that helped him develop a confident, mature stage style.

"It was tough," he said. "There was no one to hide behind and no one to catch me if something went wrong. I learned a lot and I think the experience made me a much better player and singer." That experience led to tours with the likes of Vince Gill and Patty Loveless and helped him establish himself as a first-rate stage presence.

The stardom that accompanied it is something he looks on with real gratitude. "To be able to gain notoriety by something that`s always been second nature to me--that`s always amazed me," he says. "It`s incredible that I`ve gotten to work with almost all of the people who`ve influenced me." The milestones were many. He recorded a duet with Amy Grant for the Atlantic Records project, THE CIVIL WAR: THE NASHVILLE SESSIONS; performed on NBC-TV`s "StarSkates Goes Country," which featured live musical performances and Olympic and World figure-skating champions; recorded "When You Wish Upon A Star" for Disney's THE BEST OF COUNTRY SINGS THE BEST OF DISNEY; performed "You`re Still Beautiful To Me" and "Someone Else`s Star" on the 1999 Junior Miss Pageant; sang "A Light At The End Of The Tunnel" on the straight-to-video, animated film project Tom Sawyer on MCA; and was cast as the singing voice for the lead male character in Warner Bros.' first fully animated major motion picture, Quest For Camelot.

With a string of such accomplishments behind him, Bryan is ready for new challenges. He took time off to write with some of Nashville`s best tunesmiths, as he prepares himself to move in a new musical direction. Bryan thrills crowds with his live performances. Now in his early thirties, he looking to bring a new maturity to the music he is making.

A man with a deep and active religious faith, Bryan is determined to use his talent to good ends.

"I want to keep making positive music that not only inspires me but everyone else out there to have hope in what they want to strive for," he says. "I want it to be a real light to them and a good influence, to encourage them all I can." At an age when many country singers have not yet released their first albums, Bryan White is bringing the lessons of a stellar past to bear on a future destined to be rich with promise.

Bryan White is available to perform at your next corporate or special event - contact us today to get started!