Jimmie Allen

Country singer Jimmie Allen’s come a long way since he was a starving artist, sleeping in his car just to get by. Born in Delaware in 1986, Allen headed to Nashville in 2007, struggling to make a living while chasing his musical dreams, auditioning for—and getting cut early from—shows like America’s Got Talent and American Idol. But his perseverance and songwriting—dynamic, punchy and evocative—nabbed him his first big break when he signed a publishing deal with Wide Open Music in 2016. His debut album, Mercury Lane, dropped in 2018, unleashing a couple of massive hits. “Best Shot”—a heartfelt, uplifting love song with a catchy acoustic riff and a chorus that promises devotion—made Allen the first Black artist to have a debut single hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. And “Make Me Want To” struck gold certification in the U.S. based on the strength of its nostalgic, dreamy tale of infatuation-at-first-sight. In 2020, Allen released Bettie James (named after his father and grandmother), which found him collaborating with some well-known country and pop stars, including Nelly (the pumping “Good Times Roll”) and Brad Paisley (the explosive, ‘80s-tinged “Freedom Was A Highway”).