Zach Top grew up in a family bluegrass band, nearly became a mechanical engineer, and instead built a neotraditional sound that country radio had not heard in decades.
From a family bluegrass band to a Nashville publishing deal
Zachary Dirk Top was born September 26, 1997, and grew up on a ranch in Sunnyside, Washington. He started performing around age 7 in a family bluegrass band with his siblings called Top String.
In 2015 he moved to Boulder, Colorado, to study mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, but dropped out after a year and worked to save money for a move to Nashville. He spent his early 20s playing in bluegrass groups and began releasing solo bluegrass singles in 2019. He relocated to Nashville in 2021 and signed a publishing deal with Major Bob Music.
A neotraditional sound breaks through country radio
Top released a self-titled debut EP in May 2022 through RBR Entertainment, then signed in September 2023 as the flagship artist of the newly formed independent label Leo33. His January 2024 single "Sounds Like the Radio" was the most-added song at country radio the week it dropped, at 55 stations, and later reached the top 20 on Country Airplay.
His April 2024 debut album, "Cold Beer & Country Music," leaned hard into George Strait, Keith Whitley, Randy Travis and Marty Robbins as touchstones, produced by Carson Chamberlain, Whitley's former bandleader. The Tennessean called it full of "star-making tunes," and Rolling Stone said he "holds his own with the country greats." Its biggest single, "I Never Lie," is now 4x Platinum.
A Grammy in year two of mainstream country
Top won the ACM Award for New Male Artist of the Year and the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year in 2025. His second album, "Ain't in It for My Health" (August 2025), debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Top Country Albums, with more than 30 million streams in its first week.
In 2026, "Ain't in It for My Health" won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Traditional Country Album, and "I Never Lie" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song. He also released "Me & Billy," a collaborative EP of reworked songs with Billy Strings.
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