Sugarland Bio

Sugarland originally started as a trio of three successful country artists when Jennifer Nettles was invited to sing with Kristian Bush on guitar and songwriter Kristen Hall. Kristian is the lead guitarist and provides background vocals and even plays the mandolin. He had achieved some notoriety as one half of the music duo in Billy Pilgrim. Singing in local venues, Jennifer had achieved some success in the Jennifer Nettles Band, and Hall had also enjoyed some acclaim as a songwriter.

Sugarland was formed when Nettles and Bush got together with Kristen Hall and wrote down a list of goals. They decided they were really going to go for it and become country music superstars. They began crafting lyrics and songs and learning to play together and eventually started playing local venues.

The audience immediately reacted to Sugarland and they received a very welcome reaction from day one. By just their fourth gig they were packing in thousands of fans, and a record label wasn’t far behind. Mercury Nashville Records signed Sugarland in 2004 and the band immediately made good with the release of their first single “Baby Girl.” The single was of their first album “Twice the Speed of Life,” which would go multi-platinum, selling 2 million albums. One of the albums best singles, and one of my favorites, “Baby Girl” set the record for longest appearance on the Billboard Hot Country songs.

Other singles include “Something More,” “Jut Might (Make Me Believe)” and “Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good).” Jon Bon Jovi gave Sugarland a boost when he performed a duet with Jennifer of their single “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” on Country Music Television. Sugarland earned a Grammy nomination for Best new Artists and several CMT Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video of the Year and Collaborative Video of the year. Around this time, Hall decided to leave the band to concentrate on writing.

In 2006 all the country music fans got another treat when Sugarland released their second album “Enjoy the Ride” which became another multi-platinum hit. Both electric singles “Want To” and “Settlin’” reached Number One, and other hits like “Everyday in America” and “Stay” are loved by fans. The album helped the duo win the the Country Music Association’s Duo of the Year Award in 2007.

“Love on the Inside” is Sugarland’s long-awaited third album. The duo returned home to Atlanta to record the album, laying tracks at the legendary Southern Tracks Studio. The album’s first single, the fun and lighthearted “All I Want to Do” was an instant classic and just one more Sugarland hit to reach Number One.

Sugarland recently embarked on the Love on the Inside tour, hitting venues across the U.S. If you have the opportunity to see Jenn and Kristian live, you definitely don’t want to pass it up.