Jon Nite
Jon Nite is a CMA and ACM award-winning singer/songwriter who has written 14 top ten hits for American music's top artists. Jon's songs have been recorded by Tim McGraw, Chris Young, Dierks Bentley, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, David Nail, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Phillip Phillips, Chase Rice, Jake Owen, Michael Ray, Adam Craig, Darius Rucker, Gloriana, and many more. Teaming with EMI/Sony ATV, Jon has found a radio home with hits like “What Ever She’s Got” by David Nail, “Smoke” by A Thousand Horses, “We Were Us” by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert, “Beachin” by Jake Owen, “Strip It Down”by Luke Bryan, “Break On Me” by Keith Urban, "Noise" by Kenny Chesney, “Think A Little Less” by Michael Ray, “If I Told You” by Darius Rucker and Boy, by Lee Brice.
Cole Swindell's single "Break Up in the End" recently broke #1 on the Country Aircheck chart, earning a 2019 Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Song.
Biography
Early life
Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Nite first started songwriting after he saw an ad on TV for a songwriting competition which his friends "dared" him to enter.“I sent it in. They liked it. All the critiques were relatively encouraging, like maybe you should move to Nashville,” he explained in a 2016 interview with Songwriter Universe. “Some kind songwriter back in the ’90s was listening to my horrible first song and giving me a pep talk. I just got hooked. I started writing as much as possible.”
Following the judges advice, he moved to Nashville from Amarillo when he was 18 years old with his wife and baby, surviving on food stamps and living in a trailer. He explained “I could be poor in Amarillo, Texas or I could be poor in Nashville and at least be close to something that potentially I could have a dream at”. Nite studied at Belmont University's music school from which he eventually graduated.
Early career
As Nite began collaborating with different writers, he eventually ran into Sony/ATV songwriter Ross Copperman, and they wrote their first song together, called “Glass”, which was cut by country duo Thompson Square and featured on their 2011 self-titled debut album. It also became Nite's first hit as a songwriter, peaking at No. 15 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.It was alongside Copperman that Jon Nite forged his career and created his next few hits, including co-penning with him Dierks Bentley's 2012 top five Country Airplay hit “Tip It On Back”. Nite has since scored a number of other hits writing with Copperman, including Luke Bryan’s Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay No. 1 “Strip It Down”, A Thousand Horses’ Country Airplay chart-topper “Smoke”, Keith Urban's Airplay No. 1 “Break On Me”, Darius Rucker’s Airplay chart-topper “If I Told You and Kenny Chesney’s Top 10 hit “Noise”.
Another regular songwriting partner has been Jimmy Robbins and the hits they have written together include Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert’s “We Were Us” and Jake Owen’s “Beachin’”, which both reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. His other collaborations with Robbins include David Nail’s Country Airplay chart-topping “Whatever She’s Got” as well as Chase Rice's “Gonna Wanna Tonight” and Michael Ray's “Think A Little Less”, which both were No. 2 peaking Country Airplay hits. Alongside Josh Osborne, they further wrote together Tim McGraw's top five Airplay hit “Top Of The World”.
Present career
Among the other artists Nite has had songs recorded by are Frankie Ballard, Lee Brice, The Three, Brett Eldredge, Love and Theft, Maddie and Tae, Chase Rice, Dallas Smith, Cole Swindell, Leah Turner and Waterloo Revival.His awards include a CMA Triple Play honor, which he received for writing three No. 1 hits in a calendar year.
Nite additionally earned a 2019 Grammy nomination for Best Country Song following his work on Cole Swindell's chart-topping ballad "Break Up In The End".
#1 Hits
- Strip It Down – Recorded by Luke Bryan
- Break On Me – Recorded by Keith Urban
- We Were Us – Recorded by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert
- Beachin’ – Recorded by Jake Owen
- Whatever She's Got – Recorded by David Nail
- Smoke – Recorded by A Thousand Horses
- If I Told You – Recorded by Darius Rucker
- Think A Little Less – Recorded by Michael Ray
- Wasting Gas – Recorded by Dallas Smith
- Break Up In The End – Recorded by Cole Swindell
- I Hope - Recorded by Gabby Barrett
Songwriting discography
Year | Artist | Album | Song | Co-written with |
2011 | Thompson Square | Thompson Square | "Glass" | Ross Copperman |
2012 | JT Hodges | JT Hodges | "Goodbyes Made You Mine" | Ross Copperman, JT Hodges |
2012 | Dierks Bentley | Home | "Tip It On Back" | Ross Copperman, Tully Kennedy |
2013 | Keith Urban feat. Miranda Lambert | Fuse | "We Were Us" | Jimmy Robbins, Nicole Clawson |
2013 | Jake Owen | Days of Gold | "Beachin'" | Jaren Johnston, Jimmy Robbins |
2013 | Lauren Alaina | "Barefoot and Buckwild" | Chris DeStefano, Lauren Alaina | |
2014 | Leah Turner | Leah Turner | "Pull Me Back" | Jimmy Robbins, Leah Turner |
2014 | Dallas Smith | Lifted | "Wastin' Gas" | Adam Craig, Matt Dragstrem |
2014 | Gloriana | Three | "Trouble" | Ross Copperman, Rachael Reinert, Mike Gossin |
2014 | Chase Rice | Ignite the Night | "Gonna Wanna Tonight" | Jimmy Robbins, Shane McAnally |
2014 | David Nail | I'm a Fire | "Whatever She's Got" | Jimmy Robbins |
2015 | Tim McGraw | Damn Country Music | "Top of the World" | Jimmy Robbins, Josh Osborne |
2015 | Luke Bryan | Kill the Lights | "Strip It Down" | Ross Copperman, Luke Bryan |
2015 | A Thousand Horses | Southernality | "Smoke" | Ross Copperman, Michael Hobby |
2015 | Waterloo Revival | "Bad for You" | Ross Copperman, Cody Cooper, George Birge | |
2015 | The Cadillac Three | Peace, Love & Dixie | "Party Like You" | Jaren Johnston, Jimmy Robbins |
2016 | Kenny Chesney | Some Town Somewhere | "Noise" | Ross Copperman, Kenny Chesney, Shane McAnally |
2016 | Keith Urban | Ripcord | "Break on Me" | Ross Copperman |
2016 | Chase Rice | "Whisper" | Chris DeStefano, Chase Rice | |
2016 | Michael Ray | Michael Ray | "Think a Little Less" | Thomas Rhett, Barry Dean, Jimmy Robbins |
2016 | Darius Rucker | - | "If I Told You" | Ross Copperman, Shane McAnally |
2016 | Love and Theft | - | "Candyland" | Stephen Barker Liles, Jimmy Robbins |
2017 | Lee Brice | Boy | Nicolle Galyon | |
2017 | Dustin Lynch | Current Mood | "I'd Be Jealous Too" | Dustin Lynch, Ross Copperman |
2018 | Tyler Rich | Tyler Rich EP | "11:11" | Andrew Dorff, Lindsay Rimes |
2018 | Maddie & Tae | "Friends Don't" | Justin Each, Maddie Marlowe | |
2018 | Cole Swindell | All of It | "Break Up in the End" | Chase McGill, Jessie Jo Dillon |
*