Early life

Bentley was born on November 20, 1975 in Phoenix as the son of Leon Fife Bentley (August 16, 1923 - June 1, 2012) a bank vice-president, and Catherine Childs. His father was born in Glasgow, Missouri, to Richard Thomas and Mary Cecile Fife Bentley, and was a First Lieutenant in World War II. His middle name, Dierks (which he now uses as his first name publicly), is also his maternal great-grandmother's surname. He attended Culver Academies and graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1993. Afterward, he spent a year at the University of Vermont before transferring to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he graduated in 1997. He was initiated into the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity while he was at Vermont.

Music career

2003-2005: Dierks Bentley and Modern Day Drifter

Bentley worked at The Nashville Network (now Spike TV), researching old footage of country performances. In 2003, Capitol Nashville released Bentley's self-titled debut album. The album's first single, "What Was I Thinkin'," reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts later that year. The next two singles from that album, "My Last Name" and "How Am I Doin'," reached No. 17 and No. 4, respectively.The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Bentley's second Capitol album, Modern Day Drifter, was released in 2005. It spawned two number one singles, "Settle for a Slowdown" and "Come a Little Closer," and the top 5 hit, "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do." The album was also certified platinum.

In 2005, Bentley won the CMA Award for the Horizon Award (now Best New Artist) and was invited to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. The induction took place on October 1, 2005. Bentley stands as the third youngest member after Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner.

2006-2008: Long Trip Alone and Greatest Hits/Every Mile a Memory 2003-2008

On June 10, 2006, Bentley released his third album, Long Trip Alone. The album produced two No. 1 hits, "Every Mile a Memory" in 2006 and "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)" in 2007. The title track reached No. 10 on the country charts. The fourth single from the album, "Trying to Stop Your Leaving," peaked at No. 5.

In 2007, Bentley released a live DVD titled Live and Loud at the Fillmore, which was filmed in Denver, Colorado.

In a March 2008 interview, Bentley said he would let his fans be the executive producers of his first greatest hits album, Greatest Hits/Every Mile a Memory 2003-2008. The album was released on May 6, 2008. An album cut, "Sweet & Wild," reached No. 51 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The song was an uncredited duet with fellow country singer Sarah Buxton.

2009-2010: Feel That Fire and Up on the Ridge

Bentley's fourth studio album, Feel That Fire, was released in February 2009. Its title track, co-written by Brett Beavers and The Warren Brothers, reached top 40 in October 2008 and became his sixth number one in February 2009. The second single from the album, "Sideways," was released on March 2, 2009 and went on to become his seventh number one in the summer of 2009. The album's third and final single, "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes," was released on September 13, and peaked at No. 2.

Bentley released his sixth studio album, Up on the Ridge, on June 8, 2010. The title track was released to iTunes on April 20, 2010. The song peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and became Bentley's first single to miss the top 10 since "My Last Name." The album's second single, "Draw Me a Map," was released to radio on August 23, 2010 and peaked at No. 33.

2012-2013: Home and Country & Cold Cans EP

Bentley's seventh album, Home, was released on February 7, 2012, led by the single, "Am I the Only One" which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Singles. The second single off the album is "Home", which also reached No. 1 on March 24, 2012. A third single, "5-1-5-0", was released shortly after "Home" fell from number one on the country chart. Dierks has been quoted by American Songwriter explaining “I wrote too many songs. I wrote 70. I wrote a lot. There’s 64 that are never going to see the light of day. That’s 64 days that I can’t get back.”

On August 21, 2012, Bentley released the Country & Cold Cans EP on iTunes. It includes five songs, including a radio edit of the track "Tip It On Back" from his album Home. Bentley paid for the studio time to record the EP himself. On October 23, Bentley and Miranda Lambert announced the co-headlined 33-show Locked and Reloaded Tour, that began on January 17, 2013.

2014-2015: Riser and other projects

Bentley's eighth album, Riser, was released on February 25, 2014. The album's first single, "Bourbon in Kentucky", was released to country radio on June 10, 2013. It peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, becoming Bentley's lowest charting single to date. The album's second single, "I Hold On", was released on August 26, 2013. It became his first number one on the Country Airplay chart in April 2014 and also his eleventh overall to do so. The third single, "Drunk on a Plane", followed that same month. It reached number one on Country Airplay in August 2014 and was also a strong commercial hit, reaching number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's fourth single, "Say You Do", was released on October 6, 2014. It reached at number one on Country Airplay in May 2015. The title track became the album's fifth single in June 2015.

Bentley along with Eric Paslay are featured on Charles Kelley's debut solo single, "The Driver" which was released on September 28, 2015. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

2016-present: Black

Bentley released his ninth album, Black, on May 27, 2016. The album's first single, "Somewhere on a Beach", was released on January 25, 2016.

Bentley co-hosted the 51st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 3, 2016, where he was also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year and Video of the Year.

Bentley has begun releasing a series of four short films for songs from Black, with episode one being the second single, "I'll Be the Moon" featuring Maren Morris. The following episode serves as the video for "What the Hell Did I Say". The album's second single, "Different for Girls" featuring Elle King, will be released to country radio on June 6, 2016.

Personal life

Bentley married Cassidy Black on December 17, 2005, in Mexico. They live in Nashville, with their dogs Jake (who has appeared in a few of Dierks' videos) and George. The couple welcomed their first child, Evelyn Day Bentley (nicknamed "Evie"), on October 4, 2008. Evie makes a vocal appearance on the song "Thinking of You." Their second daughter, Jordan Catherine Bentley, was born December 25, 2010. Their son Knox was born on October 9, 2013.

On June 2, 2012, Bentley announced his father had died the previous day.

Bentley holds a private pilot license and owns a Cirrus SR22.

Tours

Headlining

• 2006: High Times and Hangovers Tour
• 2007: Locked and Loaded Tour
• 2007: Free and Easy Summer Tour
• 2008: Throttle Wide Open Tour
• 2010: Up On The Ridge Tour
• 2011: Jägermeister Tour
• 2011: Country and Cold Cans
• 2012: Country and Cold Cans
• 2014: Riser Tour
• 2015: Sounds of Summer Tour
• 2016: Somewhere on a Beach Tour

Co-headlining

• 2013: Locked and Re-Loaded Tour - w/Miranda Lambert

Supporting

• 2004: Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love Tour - Kenny Chesney
• 2006: The Road and The Radio Tour - Kenny Chesney
• 2009: Paisley Party Tour - Brad Paisley
• 2009: American Saturday Night Tour - Brad Paisley

Discography

Main article: Dierks Bentley discography

Albums

• Don't Leave Me in Love (2001)
• Dierks Bentley (2003)
• Modern Day Drifter (2005)
• Long Trip Alone (2006)
• Greatest Hits/Every Mile a Memory 2003-2008 (2008)
• Feel That Fire (2009)
• Up on the Ridge (2010)
• Home (2012)
• Riser (2014)
• Black (2016)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient	Award	Result
2007	"Every Mile a Memory"	Best Male Country Vocal Performance	Nominated
		Best Country Song	Nominated
2008	"Long Trip Alone"	Best Male Country Vocal Performance	Nominated
		Best Country Song	Nominated
	Long Trip Alone	Best Country Album	Nominated
2010	"Beautiful World"	Best Country Collaboration with Vocals	Nominated
2011	Up on the Ridge	Best Country Album	Nominated
	"Bad Angel"	Best Country Collaboration with Vocals	Nominated
	"Pride (In the Name of Love)"		Nominated
2013	"Home"	Best Country Solo Performance	Nominated
2015	Riser	Best Country Album	Nominated
2016	"The Driver"	Best Country Duo/Group Performance	Nominated

Country Music Association Awards

Year	Organization	Award	Result
2005	Dierks Bentley	Horizon Award	Won
2010	Dierks Bentley	Male Vocalist	Nominated
	Up on the Ridge	Album of the Year	Nominated
	"Bad Angel"	Musical Event	Nominated
2012	"Home"	Song of the Year	Nominated
		Single of the Year	Nominated
	Home	Album of the Year	Nominated
2014	Dierks Bentley	Male Vocalist of the Year	Nominated
	Riser	Album of the Year	Nominated
	"I Hold On"	Song of the Year	Nominated
	"Drunk on a Plane"	Single of the Year	Nominated
		Video of the Year	Won
2015	Dierks Bentley	Male Vocalist of the Year	Nominated

Other awards

Year	Organization	Award	Result
2004	CMT Music Awards	Breakthrough Video of the Year; "What Was I Thinkin'"	Won
	ACM Awards	Top New Artist	Won
2009	CMT Music Awards	CMT Performance of the Year — "Country Boy"	Won
2012	American Country Awards	Album of the Year — "Home"	Nominated

Film and television

• Narrated and appeared in The Rise of Kahne (2009), a biography of NASCAR driver, Kasey Kahne. Bentley is featured in the DVD during an event benefiting the Kasey Kahne Foundation.
• Sang the theme song for Season 8 Episode 9 of Showtime's television series Weeds.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]