Jackie Lee

Jackie Lee, a country performer and songwriter shaped by classic country, classic rock, and modern pop, launched his musical path early and had already logged years in Nashville before landing his debut commercial breakthrough at 22. Born October 2, 1992, he grew up in Maryville, an East Tennessee community near Knoxville. Church singing first stirred his interest, and after he performed with his family’s group, producer Carson Chamberlain invited the six-year-old into the studio for a session. Traditional country filled his father’s playlists while his mother favored 1980s pop, so Lee absorbed sounds stretching from Faron Young to Bob Seger to Justin Timberlake. In high school he starred in baseball, basketball, and football yet also mastered drums, piano, and guitar. Although he helped Alcoa High School’s powerhouse football team reach the state championships in back-to-back seasons, he stepped away at 16 once practices clashed with his music lessons, then devoted himself to songwriting after Chamberlain assigned him one new song each week. Following graduation he relocated to Nashville and, at 19, signed with Republic Nashville, but the arrangement concluded without any releases. He later discovered the demo for “She Does” and grew intrigued until he learned Kenny Chesney intended to record it; when Chesney passed, Lee secured a deal with the independent label Broken Bow. The team chose “She Does” as his first single, and the track appeared on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after its autumn 2014 release. Follow-up “Headphones” also found traction at country radio, and “Leave the Light On” arrived in July 2016. Grieving his mother’s death led him toward the soaring, cathartic “Getting Over You,” which framed romantic loss as a stand-in for his own sorrow and reached listeners in October 2016. Paul DiGiovanni, formerly of Boys Like Girls—one of Lee’s favorite teenage bands—co-wrote the song.