Brett Kissel Canadian Singer Born 1990 in Flat Lake

Early life

Brett Kissel was born on 27 May 1990 in northeastern Alberta, Canada. He is the younger of two sons, and he grew up on a family cattle ranch in the Flat Lake region of the province.

Career

Kissel started recording while still a child. He made his first album, Keepin' It Country, at the age of twelve, and three more albums followed: By Request in 2004, Tried and True – A Canadian Tribute in 2006 and My Roots Run Deep in 2008. In 2006 he was nominated for the Chevy Trucks Rising Star Award at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards, which made him the youngest nominee in the history of that ceremony.

On 10 May 2013 he signed a record deal with Warner Music Canada. His first single for the label, "Started with a Song", was released on 17 June 2013 and became the most-added song at Canadian country radio in its first week, passing a mark that Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" had set. It entered the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 at number 87. The album of the same name followed on 1 October 2013, with "3-2-1" released as a single in February 2014. In March 2014 he won the Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and performed on that year's Juno broadcast. At the Canadian Country Music Awards in September 2014 he led all country artists with eight nominations.

His second Warner album, Pick Me Up, came out in 2015 and included the single "Airwaves", which reached number one on the Canadian country chart. In September 2017 he won Male Artist of the Year, Interactive Artist of the Year, Country Music Program or Special of the Year and Video of the Year (for "I Didn't Fall in Love with Your Hair") at the Canadian Country Music Awards. We Were That Song was released on 8 December 2017, and he toured Canada in 2018 to support it.

He released "Drink About Me" in September 2019 as the first American country radio single from Now or Never, which appeared on 1 January 2020. The song became his second number one in Canada, although it did not enter the American Billboard country chart. The third single from the album, "A Few Good Stories", gave him a third number one, and in September 2020 he took four CCMA awards, including Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. He then signed his first American record deal, with Verge Records. "Drink About Me" received a Juno nomination for Single of the Year in 2021.

What Is Life? was released on 9 April 2021, preceded by "Make a Life, Not a Living", which set a record as the most-added song at Canadian country radio in a single week and became his fourth Canadian number one. That November he won the Fans' Choice award at the CCMAs.

In 2023 he released The Compass Project, a set of four albums issued across the year: South (January), East (April), West (November) and the live North (December). The South album included "Ain't the Same", recorded with the American vocal group 98 Degrees, and earned a Juno nomination for Country Album of the Year in 2024. His later releases include "Two of Us", a duet with Cooper Alan, and the album Let Your Horses Run, released on 28 February 2025. He toured Canada with an acoustic show, The Side You've Never Seen Tour, from autumn 2024 into 2025, and in April 2026 he supported Lee Brice on the Sunriser Tour across Canada.

Recognition

Beyond the Juno and CCMA awards, Kissel was honoured on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2016. In April 2023 he received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his contributions to Alberta.

Personal life

Kissel married Cecilia Friesen in July 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta. They lived for several years in Nashville, Tennessee, and have four children. He lives on his family's farm in northern Alberta.