Zac Brown Band
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Ranking
The Zac Brown Band are a nine-member Atlanta-based country-rock powerhouse led by Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar) alongside Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar and more, vocals), Coy Bowles (guitar, keyboards), Chris Fryar (drums), Clay Cook (guitar, keyboards, mandolin, steel guitar, vocals), Matt Mangano (bass guitar), Daniel de los Reyes (percussion), and Caroline Jones (guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals), who went from grinding 200 dates a year in Southern bars to winning three Grammys, placing 13 songs at number one on Country Airplay, completing a sold-out Sphere residency in Las Vegas, and launching their biggest headlining tour yet in 2026 behind their eighth studio album "Love and Fear."
Current Tour & Setlist
The Zac Brown Band's "Love and Fear Tour" launches July 17, 2026, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and runs 27 dates across the U.S. through November 21 in Rosemont, Illinois, with major stops including Fenway Park in Boston on August 2, Forest Hills Stadium in New York, two nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on October 19 and 20, and arenas in Philadelphia, Kansas City, St. Louis, Tampa, Knoxville, Detroit, and Minneapolis. Rotating support acts across select dates include Grace Potter, Brothers Osborne, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Fitz and the Tantrums, and fans can expect the full nine-piece band to deliver a setlist mixing "Chicken Fried," "Toes," "Knee Deep," "Colder Weather," "Highway 20 Ride," and new material from their eighth studio album "Love and Fear."
Early Life
Zac Brown, the Georgia-born founder and lead vocalist of the Zac Brown Band, was raised on Lake Lanier in Cumming, Georgia, as the eleventh of twelve children, and was given his mother's guitar at age eight before falling in love with bluegrass on weekend visits with his father, developing an omnivorous musical appetite spanning country, rock, folk, and pop that became the blueprint for the band he would eventually build. The band's current nine-member lineup came together over nearly a decade of personnel additions: Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals) was the first to join Brown in 2004, followed by John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele, upright bass, vocals), who had met Brown at an open mic in 1998 and brought multi-instrumental depth that remains a cornerstone of the band's sound, and Coy Bowles (guitar, keyboards), Clay Cook (guitar, keyboards, mandolin, steel guitar, vocals), Chris Fryar (drums), Matt Mangano (bass guitar), Daniel de los Reyes (percussion), and Caroline Jones (guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals).
Career Highlights
Brown formed the Zac Brown Band in 2002 following the September 11 attacks, which convinced him life was too short to pursue anything but music, built his own label originally called Home Grown and later renamed Southern Ground, opened a restaurant with his father at Lake Oconee in 2004, sold it to buy a tour bus, and hit the road full time with the growing band grinding through 200 dates per year across Southern rock clubs, folk festivals, and jam band venues. The band signed with Live Nation Artists Records in 2008 and released their major-label debut "The Foundation," whose first single "Chicken Fried" reached number one on Country Airplay along with three other singles from the same record, "Toes," "Highway 20 Ride," and "Free," giving them four number-one country hits from a single debut album, a feat matched by few acts in country history. Over a career spanning more than two decades, the band has released eight studio albums, placed 13 singles at number one on the Country Airplay chart, won three Grammy Awards including Best New Artist and Best Country Album, sold out arenas and stadiums worldwide, recorded an EP with Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, collaborated with Alan Jackson and the late Jimmy Buffett, and completed a celebrated residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas in late 2025 ahead of their biggest tour yet.
Family & Personal Life
Brown was previously married to Shelly Brown for 12 years before the couple divorced in 2018, and they have four daughters and a son together; he married model and actress Kelly Yazdi in August 2023. Several other band members have pursued notable side projects alongside the band: multi-instrumentalist John Driskell Hopkins has released bluegrass recordings with Balsam Range, Coy Bowles published the children's book Amy Giggles: Laugh Out Loud, and Daniel de los Reyes owns DrumJungle, a percussion events company. Brown himself has expanded into entrepreneurship through Southern Ground Nashville, a Music Row recording studio, Camp Southern Ground, a 501c3 nonprofit camp in Fayetteville, Georgia that serves children including those with autism, ADHD, and military families, and Southern Grind Knives, a tactical knife company based in Peachtree City, Georgia.
Awards
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