Photo of Josh Kear

Josh Kear

Biography

Joshua Peter Kear is a multi-Grammy Award winning songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2007, Kear co-wrote Carrie Underwood's hit "Before He Cheats" with Chris Tompkins. The song dominated the US Hot Country Songs chart for five weeks and earned a Grammy Award for Best Country Song. The song is one of the longest-charting hits in Billboard history, and was the third longest-running hit of the 2000s decade. In 2011, Kear co-wrote "Need You Now" with Lady Antebellum. The track held the top position on the country chart for five weeks and remained at number one on the adult contemporary chart for 14 weeks. The song received two Grammy Awards in 2011, achieving recognition as both Country Song of the Year and Overall Song of the Year. "Need You Now" was also awarded the ASCAP Global Impact Award. In 2013, Kear received his third Grammy Award for Country Song of the Year with "Blown Away" which he co-wrote with Chris Tompkins. He made history as the first songwriter to secure the Country Song of The Year Grammy on three occasions. In the same year, he received the title of ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year at the 51st annual ASCAP Country Music Awards. Kear has been credited for numerous chart-topping songs in the country music genre. Among his notable works, Lee Brice's "Drinking Class" was the most played country song on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in 2015. He also penned Luke Bryan's "Most People Are Good," which held the number one spot on the same chart for three consecutive weeks, as well as Dierks Bentley's "Woman, Amen" and Runaway June's "Buy My Own Drinks." Additionally, Kear has written or co-written several other number one songs, such as Florida Georgia Line's "God, Your Mama and Me," Tim McGraw's "Highway Don't Care," Dierks Bentley's "Drunk on a Plane," Blake Shelton's "Neon Light," Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away," Frankie Ballard's "Helluva Life," and Luke Bryan's "Drunk On You." His recent singles include "Ghost Story" by Carrie Underw

Bio from Wikipedia

Discography

Records they worked on — most-collected first.

Credited work

326 releases · 82 albums · active 1998–2025

  • Performance · 425
  • Other credits · 27
  • Production · 5

Studios: Blackbird Studio · Ocean Way Nashville · Sound Stage Studios · The Warner Studios, Nashville

Frequent collaborators

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