Cody Johnson

Cody Johnson's straight-ahead country music reflects his hardscrabble background. Before he became an award-winning, platinum-selling country singer, he lived the life of one: As a teen, he competed in rodeos as a bull rider, then found work as a prison supervisor in early adulthood while working on his music, releasing his first album on his own indie imprint, CoJo, in 2006. A decade later, his sixth LP, Gotta Be Me, became a word-of-mouth sensation, reaching number two on Billboard's Country Albums chart and setting him up to make the leap to the major labels with 2019's chart-topping Ain't Nothin' to It, a record that stayed true to his Texas country roots. In 2021, he again reached the Top Ten of the country chart with the sprawling Human: The Double Album, as did both 2023's Leather and its deluxe 2024 counterpart.

Born in the small East Texas town of Sebastopol on May 21, 1987, Johnson was raised in a musical family. Learning guitar at the age of 12, he played in bands in high school, but he was drawn to bull riding. He competed professionally for a while, but when that dried up, he signed up for a job as a prison supervisor with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville.

Johnson decided to give country music a go in 2006, forming the Cody Johnson Band. With his father on board in the band, he cut a debut called Black and White Label, issuing it on his own CoJo label in 2006. Adding guitarist Matt Rogers, the group knocked out the concert album Live and Rocking in 2007; the record turned out to be his father's farewell. Adding bassist Danny Salinas, Johnson released Six Strings One Dream in September 2009, and the record began making headway among Texas country circles not long afterward. Rounding out his band with guitarist Jeff Smith and fiddler Jody Bartula, Johnson released A Different Day in 2011. The album elevated his presence in the Lone Star State, snagging him the Texas Regional Music Awards' New Male Vocalist of the Year and allowing him to quit his job as a prison supervisor.

Re-teaming with Trent Willmon, who produced A Different Day, Johnson released Cowboy Like Me in January 2014. It proved to be his breakthrough into the country mainstream, reaching seven on Billboard's Country Albums charts and 33 on their Top 200. Gotta Be Me did even better in 2016, reaching two on Billboard's Country Albums Charts and peaking at 11 on the Top 200. This was enough to secure Johnson a contract with Warner Music Nashville, which put out the single "On My Way to You" in 2018 -- it reached 24 on the Country Airplay chart -- and the gold-selling full-length Ain't Nothin' to It, which debuted at number one on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart in January 2019. Two years later, Johnson returned with the ambitious Human: The Double Album, an 18-track set across two "sides" that included covers of songs by Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, and Conway Twitty as well as the chart-topping hit "Til You Can't." He followed it in 2022 with the live album Cody Johnson & the Rockin' CJB Live.

August 2023 saw the release of the poignant love song "The Painter," the lead single from the double-LP Leather. "Work Boots" and "That's Texas" preceded the November release of the first part of Leather, which included cameos by Jelly Roll and Brooks & Dunn. It reached number five on the Top Country Albums chart and cracked the Top 20 of the Billboard 200. Two singles -- a duet with Carrie Underwood, "I'm Gonna Love You," and the heartfelt "How Do You Sleep at Night" -- arrived in September 2024. Both appeared on a deluxe, expanded version of Leather later that November. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine