When most of us get drunk on a plane, we often end up restrained by the flight crew for trying to open the doors at 35,000 feet looking for the beer pong room. Best leave it to an expert like Dierks Bentley, a man capable of turning a jilted, heartbroken honeymoon-for-one into an airborne keg party according to his biggest hit ‘Drunk On A Plane’. It’s a song that certainly turns his live shows into wild-ass free-for-alls and has helped Bentley, over the course of fourteen years and eight albums, become one of the biggest names in contemporary country music. Here’s everything you need to know about this famed mile-high clubber…
What’s Dierks Bentley’s history?
If the average country star learns their craft by being dragged through pig pokes from an early age, getting repeatedly dumped at local dances and drinking themselves blind in Nashville bars for a couple of years, Dierks Bentley doesn’t exactly fit the classic pattern. The son of a bank vice-president, he landed in Nashville aged 19 to attend Vanderbilt University (via the University Of Vermont) and was instantly at odds with the town’s traditional ways of working.
“I moved here in 1994 looking for the source of country music,” he told The Guardian, “I wanted to be a star but I didn’t walk into town saying: ‘Hey, look at me’. A lot of people were dressing like Garth [Brooks], but no one was writing their own music. I knew there was a songwriting community, but I didn’t realize that there were some people who, when they put a record out, didn’t write one song on the album. That blew my mind. I remember thinking: ‘That’s shit, that’s crap’.”
That said, Bentley did his fair share of drinking in Nashville bars while making his name at local bluegrass hotspot the Station Inn. “That’s where I really learned to sing,” he said. “That’s where I learned the real appreciation of country music – not just to listen to it, but also to actually hear it.”
While working at The Nashville Network researching footage of old country shows, Bentley signed to Capital Nashville and released his self-titled debut album in 2003, an instant country hit that featured the Number One Hot Country Songs chart hit ‘What Was I Thinkin’’ – about falling for a girl with a protective, shotgun-toting dad - and quickly went platinum. His second album, 2005’s ‘Modern Day Drifter’, did likewise, spawning two country Number Ones in ‘Settle For A Slowdown’ and ‘Come A Little Closer’ and even made the Billboard Top Ten. By 2008, just three albums and five years in, Bentley was ready to release a greatest hits album ‘Every Mile A Memory’, virtually a boyband’s rate of hitmaking.
Who did Dierks Bentley tour with?
As his star prospered, Dierks toured with long-standing country icons like Kenny Chesney and George Strait, but struggled to reach the same sort of major headliner status despite his many hits. The trick, he discovered around 2010, was to make albums for himself, not arena audiences.
“I passed through the bars and the clubs and took it about as far as it can go,” he told The Guardian. “Musically, I found myself trying to write songs and make records that reflected who I was at the time, but I was always thinking about touring and how to get to the next level. That certainly was not a winning formula. That’s why I kept hitting my head against the ceiling trying to headline. But it wasn’t really happening. Then I did that bluegrass record [2010’s ‘Up on the Ridge’] and it got me back to where I wanted to be musically. From that point forward, I have only made albums for albums’ sake and have not worried at how they translate on the road.”
Refocused, Bentley went on to further success with 2012’s ‘Home’ and its singles ‘Am I The Only One’, ‘Home’ and ‘5-1-5-0’ before 2014’s ‘Riser’ gave him his big crossover hit in the shape of the upbeat ‘Drunk On A Plane’, complete with a video featuring an all-out plane party and Bentley saving the day by taking the controls when the pilot passes out from too much whiskey. Which obviously calls for more tiny bottles of Jack. “I almost didn’t put it on the record,” he said, “but thank God I did: it’s the most fun song I play every night.”
How did Dierks Bentley come up with concept album 'Black'?
Bentley’s latest album ‘Black’ took a more serious tone, following a central character through a series of relationship issues as the album progresses. “I had this concept album in mind about two years ago about an affair,” he said, “but I shelved it. I was watching the show The Affair, which is about leaving one relationship for another. And when I went to sequence this record, the story fell into place for me.”
Though the record is named after his wife Cassidy’s maiden name (his crush since eight grade), Bentley has explained that it’s not an autobiographical album. "It's a relationship album that covers the ups and downs of the journey and ends with some self-realization and evolvement,” he told Taste Of Country. “The song 'Black' helps set all of that in motion at the top of the album by guiding you into the darkness and the shadows of the night. The same guy who sings 'Somewhere On a Beach' winds up growing and having enough perspective to sing something introspective like 'Different for Girls'. By the last song, he's taking a look back on love and life."
What’s Dierks Bentley’s net worth?
Celebrity net Worth puts the figure of $24 million on Bentley. Enough to buy his very own party plane.
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