Josh Ross

Josh Ross (born May 27, 1996) is a Canadian country singer and songwriter. He is managed by The Core Entertainment and jointly signed to Universal Music Canada and Universal Music Group Nashville. Ross has charted with the singles "First Taste of Gone", "On a Different Night", "Trouble", "Ain't Doin' Jack", and "Single Again". In March 2024, he released the extended play Complicated.

Early life
Ross was born in Waterdown, Ontario, and later moved to nearby Burlington, Ontario for school. He spent most of his youth playing sports such as hockey, football, soccer, and motocross. He has extended family in Los Angeles and Maine, and visited the United States often as a child. Ross attended Western University on a football scholarship and was a defensive back. He had hoped to play in the Canadian Football League. A series of injuries coupled with two surgeries derailed his football career in university, and he elected to pursue a career in music as a result. Before his solo career, he initially formed a band in 2016 with Will Finch, a fellow former Western football player, named "Silver Lining". Ross listened to both country and rock music growing up, and cites Steve Earle as one of his biggest musical influences.

Early career
While working in construction management, Ross entered several music competitions including the Magna Hoedown in Aurora, Ontario, and the Boots and Hearts Emerging Artists Showcase. He began making trips to Nashville, Tennessee in 2018, with the support of fellow Canadian country artist Aaron Goodvin, before making a permanent move there in 2019. Ross released his first radio single "If You Were a Song" as an independent artist that year. He released the five-song extended play Do What You Love in 2020.

2022–2023: Universal Music Group, Grey Cup halftime show
In February 2022, Ross released the single "First Taste of Gone", which he co-wrote with Mason Thornley. He then became one of the final eight finalists for SiriusXM's "Top of the Country" contest. Ross subsequently signed a joint recording and management deal with The Core Entertainment and Universal Music Canada in April 2022. With Universal taking over promotion of "First Taste of Gone", the song moved into the top five of the Canada Country chart, and entered the Canadian Hot 100. Ross released the song "On a Different Night" in July 2022,  which would become a radio single later that September. He received a nomination for "Rising Star" at the 2022 Canadian Country Music Awards. Ross performed at the halftime show for the 109th Grey Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan, alongside Tyler Hubbard and Jordan Davis.

In January 2023, Ross released the single "Trouble". He opened for Bailey Zimmerman at the end of his headlining tour in the United States in the same month. In March 2023, Universal Music Group Nashville signed Ross in partnership with Universal Music Canada and The Core. Ross subsequently released the song "Red Flags" later that month. He joined Lee Brice's "Beer Drinking Opportunity Tour" with Tenille Arts in Canada in the spring of 2023, and signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music shortly thereafter. He was named "Rising Star" at the 2023 Country Music Association of Ontario Awards. In the summer of 2023, Ross was an opening act for Nickelback on their North American "Get Rollin' Tour" along with Brantley Gilbert. In July 2023, he released the song "Ain't Doin' Jack". That same month, he made his debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. At the 2023 Canadian Country Music Awards in September 2023, Ross was nominated in six total categories, and won the award for "Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year". He released the song "Ain't the One" at the end of the month.

2024-present: Complicated, The Trouble Tour, and the Single Again Tour
In 2024, Ross released the songs "Single Again" and "Truck Girl". Ross also embarked on his debut headlining tour "The Trouble Tour" in Canada in early 2024, and he joined Bailey Zimmerman again for his headlining "Religiously: The Tour" in the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland. He released his extended play Complicated on March 29, 2024. He followed that up with the released of the promotional single "New Me" in May 2024. From August to November 2024, Ross will embark on his debut American headlining tour, the "Single Again Tour".

Tours

 * The Trouble Tour (2024)
 * Single Again Tour (2024)