Jimmie Allen

Arriving in the wake of Sam Hunt’s and Thomas Rhett’s pioneering modern R&B and country fusion, Jimmie Allen adheres to a similar glossy sound that emphasizes melody and grooves in equal measure. This slick, assured style helped lift his 2018 debut album, Mercury Lane, up to number 11 on the country chart, taking the singles “Best Shot” and “Make Me Want To” to number one on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, as well. This success cemented Allen’s status as the most commercially successful Black artist in country music since Darius Rucker, a position he consolidated with his 2021 EP Bettie James, which featured the Noah Cyrus duet “This Is Us” in its original incarnation and the Brad Paisley duet — and Country Airplay number one — “Freedom Was a Highway” in its expanded “Gold Edition.” In its wake, Allen received belated New Artist nods from the CMA Awards and Grammys in 2021 — he won the former — setting up the release of his proper second album, Tulip Drive, in the summer of 2022.
A native of Milton, Delaware, Jimmie Allen was born on June 18, 1985. Allen began singing as part of speech therapy while in middle school, and music soon became an obsession. Once he was an adult, he headed to Nashville in 2007, intent on working his way into the country music industry. After a rough start — he spent several months living in his car — he began working as a songwriter, landing a few publishing deals; one of his songs even appeared in a Super Bowl commercial. Allen harbored dreams of performing. He’d sing and work as a standup comic, auditioning for America’s Got Talent, where he didn’t make the cut. He did make it onto American Idol in 2010, the year that Scotty McCreery took home the crown; he made it to Hollywood but didn’t go much further.
Allen kept plugging away in Nashville while working a variety of jobs, occasionally getting closer to the spotlight (he got a bit part in a Taylor Swift commercial for soda in 2013), eventually catching a break when he met producer/songwriter Ash Bowers in 2016. A year later, Allen signed with BBR’s Stoney Creek Records subsidiary in August 2017 and released “Blue Jean Baby,” which was the first single from his self-titled debut EP. Released late in 2017, the set was produced by Ash Bowers and Eric Torres. Named after the street where he grew up, Mercury Lane, Allen’s first long-player, arrived in October 2018. It debuted at 11 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart upon its release. Shortly afterward, “Best Shot” worked its way to number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart; it was followed there in 2019 by ’Make Me Want To.”
Allen worked at cultivating an audience beyond country music: in 2019, he teamed up with Abby Anderson for a cover of the Lady Gaga hit “Shallow,” and in 2020, he released “This Is Us,” a duet with pop singer Noah Cyrus. The latter track appeared on his follow-up EP, Bettie James, in July of that year; the record was named after his late grandmother (Bettie) and father (James).
“Freedom Was a Highway,” a duet with Brad Paisley, rocketed to the top of the Billboard Country Airplay charts in 2021, kicking off an eventful year for Jimmie Allen. “Freedom Was a Highway” anchored the “Gold Edition” reissue of Bettie James, which came out in June of that year. Around its release, he founded the music festival the Bettie James Fest in his hometown of Milton, Delaware. By the end of the year, Allen also published the children’s book My Voice Is a Trumpet in 2021 and appeared on the 30th season of Dancing with the Stars. During this time, he became the first Black solo act to win New Male Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, which was only one of his belated nods for New Artist: he also won New Artist of the Year at the Country Music Awards and was nominated for Best New Artist at the 64th Grammy Awards, along with being named the Outstanding New Artist at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards.
Jimmie Allen returned with his second proper studio album, Tulip Drive, in 2022. Named after the street where his grandmother lived — an echo of the genesis of the Mercury Lane title named after his own childhood street — Tulip Drive was a lengthy pop-oriented album featuring cameos by Jennifer Lopez, T-Pain, CeeLo Green, Katie Ohh, and Allen’s son Aadyn. Allen supported Tulip Drive by being Carrie Underwood’s supporting act on her Denim & Rhinestones Tour. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine