Todd O'Neill

Todd O'Neill was born in 1982 in Hammond, Louisiana. He grew up listening to country music and Cajun music, and first performed in a band called Big Cat Daddy as a teenager.^[2] In 2009, he released his first album, Real Life, on the Aria label.^[2] After releasing more independent material, he entered the Nash Next 2016 Challenge, a talent show in which Jay DeMarcus (of Rascal Flatts) and Kix Brooks (of Brooks & Dunn) were judges. After winning the competition, he was signed to Big Machine Records' Nash imprint and released his debut single "Love Again". Brett Young, also a Big Machine Records artist, co-wrote the song and originally intended to record it himself until O'Neill met Young at a concert and asked permission to record it.^[3] Released to country radio in 2017, "Love Again" peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.^[1] O'Neill also toured with Brothers Osborne and Runaway June to promote the single.^[4] Despite this song's chart success, O'Neill was dropped when Big Machine closed the Nash imprint.