Events

Dierks Bentley

Dierks Bentley rocketed to the top of the country charts with his driving 2003 debut single “What Was I Thinkin’,” opening up a career where he’s remained in the Top Ten year after year while simultaneously taking musical chances. Occasionally, he dips into his roots — his 2010 album Up on the Ridge was largely devoted to bluegrass — but his music is distinguished by how he blurs the borders separating country, rock, and pop. Sometimes, Bentley’s hits convey this sense of wanderlust — this is especially true of 2005’s “Lot a Leavin’ Left to Do” and 2007’s number one “Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)” — yet he also has a knack for ballads and beachy good times, the latter crystalized by “Drunk on a Plane,” a 2014 number one that crossed over into the pop Top 30. Bentley occasionally emphasizes his sense of humor, as when he and his band masqueraded as the ’90s country parody group Hot Country Knights, but he tends to stick to the openhearted emotion that has fueled his work all the way through 2023’s Gravel & Gold and 2025’s more diverse Broken Branches. – AllMusic.com