When Luke Bryan invited fans to crash his party, they did so in epic numbers. Get the inside story behind the CMA's "Album of the 2010's" below, and watch it here.
BORN IN LEESBURG, GEORGIA TO A FAMILY OF PEANUT FARMERS, COUNTRY SINGER LUKE BRYAN MOVED TO NASHVILLE AT NINETEEN AND BEGAN WORKING AS A WORKSHOP WRITER. HE FIRST GAINED ATTENTION IN 2004 FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO TRAVIS TRITT’S ALBUM, “MY HONKY TONK HISTORY”. HIS POP COUNTRY SENSIBILITIES EVENTUALLY GAINED THE ATTENTION OF RECORD LABEL CAPITOL NASHVILLE, WHO SIGNED HIM TO A RECORDING CONTRACT.
BRYAN HAD GIVEN FANS THREE ALBUMS OF UNDENIABLE MODERN COUNTRY GOOD TIMES, FURTHER ESTABLISHING HIMSELF AS A MAINSTAY IN THE SCENE. HIS SINGLES, INCLUDING HIT SONG “COUNTRY GIRL (SHAKE IT FOR ME)” GAVE AUDIENCES A TASTE OF WHAT HE WAS CAPABLE OF, AND SET THE STAGE FOR HIM TO START WORK IN HIS FOURTH RECORD.
BRYAN ENLISTED THE HELP OF COUNTRY VETERAN JEFF STEVENS TO PRODUCE THE FOURTH ALBUM. FOR TASTE OF COUNTRY IN A JULY 2013 INTERVIEW, BRYAN SAID HE WANTED TO GIVE FANS MORE OF THE SAME. TRIED AND "TRUE LUKE BRYAN" WAS WHAT THE FANS HAVE GROWN TO LOVE, AND THE “BIG FUN UP-TEMPO'S... BALLADS, SINGALONGS AND LIGHT SONGS” WOULD ALL STILL BE PRESENT.
LUKE BRYAN’S COLLABORATORS ON THE ALBUM INCLUDED SINGERS COLE SWINDELL, CHRIS STAPLETON, AND DALLAS DAVIDSON, TO NAME A FEW. THE ALBUM’S FIRST SINGLE, “CRASH MY PARTY”, WAS RELEASED ON APRIL 7th, 20123, AND WAS DEBUTED AT THE ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, WHICH BRYAN HOSTED WITH BLAKE SHELTON. IT PEAKED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE U.S. COUNTRY AIRPLAY CHARTS BY BILLBOARD, AND CHARTED INTERNATIONALLY ON THE BILLBOARD CANADA COUNTRY CHARTS AT NUMBER ONE.
HOWEVER, THE SUCCESS OF BRYAN’S UPCOMING ALBUM WAS FELT WHEN NEXT SINGLE, “THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT”, CAME OUT ON AUGUST FIFTH. THE SONG PEAKED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE BILLBOARD HOT COUNTRY SONGS AND WITH THE RELEASE OF THE ALBUM A WEEK LATER, BRYAN BECAME THE FIRST MALE COUNTRY ARTIST TO HIT NUMBER ONE ON THE SONGS AND TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS CHARTS AT THE SAME TIME.
CRASH MY PARTY, BRYAN’S FOURTH ALBUM, WAS RELEASED ON AUGUST THIRTEEN, TWENTY-THIRTEEN. WHILE HIS RELIABLE POP COUNTRY DIDN’T AMAZE CRITICS, FAN RECEPTION TO THE ALBUM WAS UNPRECEDENTED. IT DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE BILLBOARD TOP TWO-HUNDRED AND BECAME THE THIRD BEST-SELLING ALBUM OF THE YEAR. IT SOLD ONE POINT FIVE MILLION UNITS, AND BY JULY OF 2014, REACHED TWO MILLION.
CRASH MY PARTY EARNED BRYAN THE “ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR” AWARD BY BOTH THE COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION AND THE ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC IN 2013. IN 2019, THE ALBUM ALSO EARNED BRYAN THE ALBUM OF THE DECADE BY THE ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC.
LUKE BRYAN HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST LAUDED COUNTRY ARTISTS OF THE MODERN DAY, AND WITH ALBUMS LIKE CRASH MY PARTY, IT’S NOT DIFFICULT TO SEE WHY. FOR ITS POP COUNTRY SENSIBILITIES, COLLABORATIVE RECORDING PROCESS, AND ENDLESS LOVE FOR PARTYING, CRASH MY PARTY BY LUKE BRYAN IS OUR GREATEST ALBUM EVER...THIS WEEK.