Brent Smith

Brent Smith

Brent Stephen Smith (born January 10, 1978) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of the main songwriters of the rock band Shinedown.

Early life

Brent Smith

Smith was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and is an only child.

Career

Brent Smith

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. Eventually, Dreve got signed to Atlantic Records, with Smith and his bandmates traveling to Los Angeles, California to record with well-known producer Desmond Child. Although these sessions did not ultimately amount to much from a musical output standpoint, Smith considered this experience transformative, in that his continual interactions with Child about songwriting and the music industry gave a him a solid foundation for his music career from that point forward. Shortly after returning home to Knoxville, Atlantic dropped the band but retained Smith. Atlantic signed Smith to a developmental contract, with Smith needing to either find another band or lose his record deal. He put together Shinedown shortly after, moving to Jacksonville, Florida to began working on the project in 2001.

Smith performing with Shinedown in 2012

The first member he recruited was bassist Brad Stewart through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton. 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. The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot. 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. The band's debut album, Leave a Whisper was released May 27, 2003. The album was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States, indicating sales of over one million. Shinedown has since released six more studio albums: Us and Them (2005), The Sound of Madness (2008), Amaryllis (2012), Threat to Survival (2015), Attention Attention (2018), and Planet Zero (2022). In 2014, Smith and Zach Myers started an acoustic side project called Smith & Myers.

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. On August 28, 2022, Brent was presented with a key to Knox County at a concert in his hometown Knoxville, Tennessee by former wrestler and current Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs.

Personal life

Brent Smith

Smith has a son, Lyric Santana Smith, with his ex-fiancée, Ashley Smith Marshall. For years, Smith struggled with both drug and alcohol addiction and weight management. Following an intervention from his then-girlfriend, Smith eventually lost weight through exercise and a healthier diet, including quitting drinking.

Smith says that his former girlfriend, Teresa, his son, and his fans inspired him to lose weight and become healthier.

Discography

Shinedown

• Leave a Whisper (2003) • Us and Them (2005) • The Sound of Madness (2008) • Amaryllis (2012) • Threat to Survival (2015) • Attention Attention (2018) • Planet Zero (2022) • Eight (2026)

Smith & Myers

• Acoustic Sessions (2014) • Volume I (2020) • Volume II (2020)

Other

• Blind Thought (Brent's first band) • Dreve (Brent's previous band) • Halestorm • "Here's to Us (Guest Version) (feat. Slash, Brent Smith, Wolfgang Van Halen, Myles Kennedy, James Michael, Tyler Connolly, David Draiman & Maria Brink)" (The Strange Case Of... (Reissue Version)) • "Shed Some Light (feat. Brent Smith)" (Part of the Halestorm special survey at RateTheMusic) • In This Moment • "Sexual Hallucination (feat. Brent Smith)" (Black Widow) • Apocalyptica • "Not Strong Enough (feat. Brent Smith)" (7th Symphony) • Saliva • "Don't Question My Heart (feat. Brent Smith)" (WWE The Music, Vol. 8) • "My Own Worst Enemy (feat. Brent Smith)" (Cinco Diablo) • Theory of a Deadman "So Happy" (Scars & Souvenirs) • One Less Reason • "Seasons (feat. Brent Smith)" (Faces & Four Letter Words) • "Be the Same" (Faces & Four Letter Words) • Daughtry "There and Back Again" (Daughtry) • Lynyrd Skynyrd "Simple Man (feat. Brent Smith) (live)" (Celebrating 50 Years - Live at the Ryman) • Brent Smith "Mustang Sally" (Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound)