Dierks Bentley
#
39
Ranking
BIRTHDATE
BIRTHPLACE
Phoenix
,
AZ
,
USA
50
6
'
1
"
Dierks Bentley is a Phoenix-born country singer-songwriter who discovered country music at a New Jersey boarding school, dropped out of Vanderbilt University to chase it full time in Nashville, and built a 20-plus-year career of 10 studio albums, multiple number-one hits, and Grand Ole Opry membership by blending bluegrass roots and Americana instincts into some of mainstream country's most distinctive and durable records.
Current Tour & Setlist
Bentley's "Off The Map Tour" launches in June 2026 for an 11-date amphitheater run across the U.S., with confirmed stops in St. Augustine, Florida on July 18 and dates running through the summer, with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder serving as the marquee support act on the run alongside Kaitlin Butts, Cole Goodwin, Owen Riegling, and Mountain Grass Unit. Bentley has described the tour as a place where fans can "go off the map for a few hours and recharge the batteries," and fans can expect signature hits including "What Was I Thinkin'," "Drunk on a Plane," "Somewhere on a Beach," and "Burning Man," alongside bluegrass-leaning deep cuts. If you see him live, you need to stay for the encore with Hot Country Knights, his dress-up cover band alter ego.
Early Life
Born Frederick Dierks Bentley , he goes by his middle name Dierks, which is his maternal great-grandmother's surname passed down as a family tradition, and spent his first 14 years in Phoenix before his parents sent him to the prestigious Lawrenceville School boarding school in New Jersey due to what he has described as troubles in his early adolescence. It was at Lawrenceville that Bentley first discovered country music in any serious way, having grown up thinking it was purely Western music back in Arizona, and he credits that boarding school experience as the turning point that redirected him from rock guitar hero fantasies toward Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and the artists his father had played around the house.
Career Highlights
After one year at the University of Vermont, Bentley transferred to Vanderbilt University in Nashville but dropped out to pursue music full time, landing a job as a researcher at The Nashville Network where his access to the archives of classic country performances deepened his obsession with traditional sounds and helped him build industry connections. He self-funded and released an independent album called "Don't Leave Me in Love" in 2001 before signing with Capitol Nashville in 2002 and releasing his self-titled major label debut in 2003, with the breakout single "What Was I Thinkin'" reaching number one and launching his career. A Grand Ole Opry member since 2005, Bentley has since released 10 studio albums, scored multiple number-one singles including "Come a Little Closer," "Drunk on a Plane," and "Woman Amen," earned multiple ACM and CMA Awards, and earned a devoted following for weaving bluegrass and Americana threads through mainstream country throughout his career.
Family & Personal Life
Bentley and his wife Cassidy Black first met in the eighth grade in Phoenix, had an on-and-off relationship through high school, and eventually reconnected at one of his shows in Las Vegas before eloping in Mexico on December 14, 2005. Cassidy is also the co-owner of a Nashville hair salon called The Dry House. The couple have three children: daughters Evalyn Day (born October 4, 2008) and Jordan Catherine (born December 25, 2010), and son Knox (born October 9, 2013), and Bentley has said he considers being a dad his most important job, taking the whole family on the road with him as often as scheduling allows.
Awards
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