Brent Smith

Brent Stephen Smith (born January 10, 1978), sometimes credited as Brently Stephen Smith, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the lead vocalist of the band Shinedown.[7][8][9][10]

This article is about the singer. For the football player, see Brent Smith (American football).
Brent Stephen Smith
Smith performing with Shinedown in 2018
Born (1978-01-10) January 10, 1978
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active2001–present
Children1
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • drums
Labels
Associated actsShinedown
Websiteshinedown.com

Early life

Smith was born in Knoxville, Tennessee[7] and is an only child.[11]

Personal life

Brent has a son, Lyric Santana Smith, with his ex-fiancé, Ashley Smith Marshall. For years, Smith struggled with both drug and alcohol addiction and weight management.[12] Following an intervention from his then-girlfriend, Smith eventually lost weight through exercise and a healthier diet, including quitting drinking.[12] Smith says that his former girlfriend, Teresa, his son, and his fans inspired him to lose weight and become healthier.[12][13]

Musical career

Prior to fronting the rock band Shinedown, Smith had a high school band named Blind Thought and later was the lead singer in a band called Dreve, which Atlantic Records had signed. Atlantic Records forced Brent to either find another band or lose his record deal. He put together Shinedown shortly after. He then went to Los Angeles, California to record with well-known producer Desmond Child. Shortly after returning home to Knoxville, Tennessee, Atlantic dropped the band but retained Smith. He was soon given a developmental contract by Atlantic Records. Smith moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began working on the project in 2001.[14]

Smith performing with Shinedown in 2012

The first member he recruited was bassist Brad Stewart, through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton.[14] Smith and Stewart began recording demos together in a small local studio, whose owner recommended they meet with her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who Smith brought in as the third member.[14] The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot.[14] The four worked together on creating demos, and submitted their work-in-progress material to Atlantic, who approved of the material and green-lighted a full-length album.[14][15][16] The band's debut album, Leave a Whisper was released May 27, 2003.[17] The album was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States, indicating sales of over one million.[18] Shinedown has since released five more studio albums: Us and Them (2005), The Sound of Madness (2008), Amaryllis (2012), Threat to Survival (2015), and Attention Attention (2018). In 2014, Smith and Zach Myers started an acoustic side project called Smith & Myers.[19]

Smith performing with Shinedown in 2016.

In early 2016, the band started recording their sixth album, as they revealed in an interview with Wes Styles of the 97.7 WQLZ radio station. The album, Attention Attention, was released on May 4, 2018. The first single off the album, titled "Devil", was released on March 7, 2018.[20]

Discography

Shinedown
Main article: Shinedown discography

Smith & Myers
  • Volume I (2020)
  • Volume II (2020)

Other

References
  1. "Shinedown, Seether + Breaking Benjamin Lead 'NOW That's What I Call Rock!' Compilation". Loudwire.
  2. "Interview- Brent Smith Of Shinedown". Crypticrock.com. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  3. "Shinedown Leave a Whisper". AllMusic.
  4. "Shinedown bringing acoustic tour to Tampa's Straz Center | Tampa Bay Times and tbt*". Tampabay.com. September 14, 2010. Archived from the original on 2013-12-15. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  5. "Attention Attention review by Shinedown". June 1, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  6. http://www.atlanticrecords.com/posts/songwriting-and-second-chances-brent-smith-shinedown-20376
  7. "Brent Smith Discography". Discogs.com.
  8. "Shinedown". AllMusic.
  9. "Shinedown's Brent Smith, Steven Tyler and Kid Rock featured on Muscle Shoals tribute album". ABC Radio. 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  10. "Q&A with Shinedown's Brent Smith". Baltimoresun.
  11. "Shinedown Singer Reflects on Being Only Child and 'Second Chance'". Noisecreep.com.
  12. Fell, James (January 12, 2013). "Brent Smith of Shinedown cleans up and slims down". LA Times. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  13. Karki, Ashmita (September 11, 2016). "Brent Smith reveals how his girlfriend Teresa and his son Lyric Santana Smith changed his life". Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  14. "Interview with Shinedown". Metal-Rules.com. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  15. name=bijog>bijog (April 12, 2016). "Brent Smith". bijog. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  16. Hester, James (November 23, 2016). Rock Scars. iUniverse. ISBN 9781440127731 – via Google Books.
  17. "Leave a Whisper - Shinedown - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  18. "Shinedown front man finds a new way of life during making of 'Amaryllis'". Thedailytimes.com.
  19. "Smith & Myers". AllMusic.
  20. "Shinedown to release next Album in April 2018". July 12, 2017.
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