Zimmerman was born in Louisville, Illinois. He began playing the guitar at the age of nine, devoting much of his childhood to riding dirt bikes and playing baseball.[4] His mother first introduced him to various hair metal bands as well as Kid Rock, Avenged Sevenfold, and Nickelback when he was a teenager.[5] In 2012, his mother took him to his first concert, which was performed by Tesla. It was the only other concert he had attended before he became a singer.[5] In comparison, his father would take long trips with Zimmerman playing country music on the radio.
Prior to making music, he worked in the meat-packing industry in 2016. Shortly after graduating, he relocated to West Virginia to work on a union gas pipeline.[6][7] He graduated from North Clay High School on May 12, 2018.[8][9] Due to a lack of time spent with his family, he quit pipelining to pursue a truck lift venture with his stepbrother's welding business Top Notch Metal Worx. He started promoting the business through his TikTok account to acquire customers.[10]
Career
Early career (2020–2021)
While awaiting the completion of a customer's build at his stepbrother's establishment, Bailey recorded himself singing "Stay" by Black Stone Cherry for Snapchat. His motivation was to impress girls. Songwriter Gavin Lucas, whose father had been Bailey's school bus driver in elementary school, came across Bailey's story and was taken aback by his singing ability. Lucas informed Bailey that the video had been widely shared, and he expressed interest in hearing some of Bailey's own songs.[11] Several weeks later, while at his uncle's body shop, Lucas approached Bailey with a request to collaborate on a song. In response, Bailey penned the first verse of "Never Comin' Home." Subsequently, they captured a video of Bailey performing the song with Lucas accompanying on guitar.[12]
In December 2020, Zimmerman started sharing original music on his TikTok account, notably featuring "Never Comin' Home." Within a mere five hours, a snippet of the song had garnered over a million views. Motivated by this rapid success, he secured a studio in Nashville to professionally record the track, investing $3,000. He made the decision to resign from his job shortly after. With finances tight, he turned to his mother, requesting $1,500. He conveyed to her the escalating traction of his song and his aspirations to pursue a career as a Country singer.[13]
On February 3, 2021, he released his debut single "Never Comin' Home", which later entered the top 20 on Spotify's Viral Chart in the United States.[14] The co-manager at 10th Street Entertainment Scott Frazier came across Zimmerman on TikTok and subsequently introduced him to Core Entertainment principals Kevin Zaruk and Simon Tikhman.[15] He later signed to Core Entertainment in August 2021.[16] The same month, he performed his first show at "Rock The South 2021" with a backing band he only met three days prior to the performance.[17]
Mainstream success (2022–present)
His breakout single "Fall in Love" was released on February 11, 2022, and reached number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October.[18] This was followed by additional singles "Rock and a Hard Place" and "Where It Ends" in June and August 2022, respectively.[19] Due to the success of these songs, Zimmerman was signed to Warner Music Nashville and Elektra Records,[20] with "Fall in Love" later charting at Country radio format.[19][21]
Zimmerman released his debut major-label project Leave the Light On on October 14, 2022. It debuted in the top ten of the Billboard 200 and Canadian Albums charts.[22] As a result of high demand, Zimmerman extended his headlining tour of the United States into the fall of 2022, with Josh Ross opening his early 2023 dates.[23] He made his Grand Ole Opry debut on November 4, 2022.[24]Morgan Wallen announced that Zimmerman would be one of the opening acts for his One Night at a Time World Tour in 2023.[25]
On March 17, 2023, Zimmerman announced his debut album Religiously. The Album., and it was released on May 12, 2023.[26] He will support the album with the "Religiously: The Tour" across the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland in 2024, with Josh Ross again joining him as an opening act.[27] “Rock And A Hard Place” broke the record for the longest climb to the top 10 for a song by a soloist in Billboard Hot 100 history.[28]
On February 23, 2024, Zimmerman released "Holy Smokes" as the lead single for his second album which was previously teased through TikTok.[29] It debuted at No. 54. Zimmerman would be featured on the soundtrack for 2024 film Twisters with his song "Hell or High Water."[30] On June 17, 2024, Zimmerman created anticipation for his new track "New To Country" by teasing it on social media platforms, following its use as pre-concert hype music.[31]
Zimmerman is a Christian.[33] His parents divorced at the age of ten.[5] He has an older brother Dalton, and younger brother Nicholas.[34]
On February 11, 2023, Bailey performed at BetMGM’s West Super Bowl Fest held at the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona. However, during his performance of "Rock And A Hard Place," technical difficulties resulted in Bailey losing audio feedback, leading to an unintentional off-key performance. This incident garnered significant attention, with a TikTok video capturing the moment amassing over eleven million views.[35] Consequently, Bailey faced accusations of being unable to sing. Responding to the ensuing backlash on February 15, Zimmerman, acknowledged the incident and issued a public apology.[36]
