Jake Owen ranks among the steadfast names in bro-country, the upbeat party-oriented sound that held sway over mainstream country radio airwaves across much of the 2010s. He surfaced ahead of that wave, scoring early traction in the second half of the 2000s through direct contemporary country tracks such as “Yee Haw” and “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You.” Momentum arrived in 2011 with Barefoot Blue Jean Night, where Owen heightened melody, lightened his sonic palette, and increased rhythmic drive, yielding four straight Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers: “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” “Alone with You,” “The One That Got Away,” and “Anywhere with You.” Chart dominance persisted beyond the bro-country peak, bringing three further Billboard Country Airplay number ones late in the decade via “I Was Jack (You Were Diane),” “Homemade,” and “Made for You.” Success extended into the following decade with the 2021 release “Best Thing Since Backroads,” the 2022 single “Up There Down Here,” and the 2023 album Loose Cannon.
Born in Vero Beach, Florida, Owen and his fraternal twin Jarrod spent their childhood under the Florida sun participating in baseball and football before Jake gravitated toward golf and Jarrod toward tennis. They pursued those sports at Florida State University until a water-skiing mishap required reconstructive surgery for Jake. Removed from the golf team and battling depression, he borrowed a neighbor’s guitar and taught himself by absorbing boyhood influences including Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Vern Gosdin, and Keith Whitley.
Still raw yet driven, and armed with a smooth baritone, Owen soon performed country covers at campus bars in exchange for beer and modest pay. Growing restless with other people’s material, he started writing originals that drew favorable reactions, prompting him to abandon his remaining nine credit hours toward an English and political science degree and relocate to Nashville. He spent days composing in his Bellevue apartment until a casual lunch introduced him to producer Jimmy Ritchey (Clay Walker, Mark Chesnutt), who became a collaborator. Over the next year they co-wrote several songs, among them “Ghost” (also co-written by Chuck Jones), a track Kenny Chesney nearly recorded that later appeared on Owen’s own record.
Ritchey’s support secured a meeting at Sony/BMG Nashville and a deal for the focused 24-year-old, whose debut album was already largely complete. Startin’ with Me arrived in summer 2006 on RCA, led by the single “Yee Haw.” While that track ascended the charts, Owen toured as an opener for Kenny Chesney. In 2007 the title-track ballad became the album’s second single, climbing to number six and logging more than 35 weeks on the Billboard country chart. “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” followed in summer 2008, previewing the February 2009 release of Easy Does It, which generated a number-two hit in that same song while “Eight Second Ride” reached number 11 in early 2010.
Barefoot Blue Jean Night, his third album, surfaced in summer 2011 and became his strongest seller yet, delivering number-one country singles in both the title track and “Alone with You.” As summer 2012 concluded, he issued the four-song Endless Summer EP. Owen returned in December 2013 with his fourth studio album, Days of Gold, produced by Joey Moi; its title-track single stalled at number 19, yet the follow-up “Beachin’” topped the Billboard country chart and earned platinum certification, while “What We Ain’t Got” closed the cycle at number 19.
New material surfaced in summer 2015 with “Real Life,” which peaked at 17 on Billboard. That track stayed off his fifth album, but “American Country Love Song,” released early in 2016, anchored American Love, which arrived that July. Two additional singles, “If He Ain’t Gonna Love You” and “Good Company,” both landed in the lower half of the Country Airplay Top 40 before the album cycle ended. November 2017 brought Greatest Hits, which gathered his first five albums alongside two new recordings.
March 2018 saw the arrival of “I Was Jack (You Were Diane),” an interpolation of John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane,” marking Owen’s first single for Big Loud and reaching number one on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. “Down to the Honky Tonk,” the next single from Greetings From…Jake, peaked at number seven upon the album’s April 2019 release. “Homemade” and “Made for You” completed that cycle in 2020 by both attaining number one. Late that year Owen released the seasonal duet “Christmas Spirits” with Parmalee.
In 2021 he appeared on the Walker Hayes single “Country Stuff” before issuing “Best Thing Since Backroads.” Following the non-album single “Up There Down Here,” he launched the next album cycle with “On the Boat Again,” the lead track from Loose Cannon. Produced by Joey Moi, the record highlighted Nashville’s roster of professional songwriters, including Brent Cobb, Luke Laird, Ashley Gorley, and Devin Dawson.
