Brett Young Recalls Special ‘Cherry on Top’ Moment With Luke Bryan

Brett Young recently had a full-circle moment, when he was handed his previously-announced ACM Awards trophy, for New Male Artist of the Year. But it wasn’t the fact that he received the trophy, as much as it was that Luke Bryan handed it to him.

“I always talk about checking boxes, and that whole bucket list thing’s a real thing,” explains Young. “But selling tickets and selling records is what you aspire to do and so when you get recognized by your peers it’s kind of like the cherry on top, you know. And so it’s really cool, Luke’s the first one that took me on tour last year, so to have him come be the one that handed it off was really special.”

Young was nominated for New Male Vocalist along with Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Devin Dawson and Russell Dickerson, and say she would have been happy if any of the other nominees had won in his place.

“It probably sounds cliché to say, and I know people say that all the time, but I think it already felt like a win when they named the category,” insists Young. “Just to be mentioned amongst some of the people that I’m a really big fan of already. So to get the win was really special and it was fun. I didn’t even have to give a speech or anything. I’ll take my first win and get to eliminate the speech and all that stress, so it was a pretty fun experience.”

Young, will hit the road this weekend to serve as the opening act on Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes Tour, along with playing several of his own shows over the summer, and planning his fall wedding.

“I think he’s just on fire,” Young says of Rhett. “To get to open for him for 40 dates this year is incredible. And the way that his tour schedule is working and the fact that he’s going out with Kenny [Chesney] a lot in the summer freed me up to play a bunch of the festivals before we meet up again, so my touring schedule is really exciting, I’m getting to play a lot of the festivals I want to play and then I’m getting to play for Thomas’s amazing crowds.

“I feel like being in the studio, and already more than halfway through the next record,” he continues. “It’s kind of a whirlwind … plus planning a wedding, I literally couldn’t be happier or busier.”

A list of all of Young’s upcoming shows can be found on his website.