Capitol Records Nashville’s Bobby Young Announces Retirement
Capitol Records Nashville VP of Promotion, Bobby Young, has announced his retirement. His last day will be Dec. 16.
Young joined Capitol Records Nashville in 2011 as southeast regional before being elevated to VP in 2016. During his tenure, he and the Capitol team successfully landed 76 No. 1s, which spent 101 weeks in the top spot, as well as garnered 98 top 10 songs. Young helped bolster the careers of artists such as Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Jon Pardi, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, and many more.
The industry veteran also lead the Capitol promotion team to accolades including Country Aircheck’s Platinum Label of the Year and continued the streak of 13 years as Country Aircheck’s Label of the Year. The company has also been named Billboard’s Top Country Airplay Label since the trade’s inception of the honor in 2017, recently earning the sixth straight in 2022.
Capitol Records Nashville has also been named MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout Label of the Year 18 times—17 of which were consecutive.
Young’s career spans four decades and includes time at Republic Nashville, Big Machine Records, Jeff McClusky & Associates and Mercury Records Nashville, as well as his own indie promotion companies: Bobby Young Promotions; The Promotion Group; Young, Massey, and Hunter; and Young-Olsen and Associates.
Over the years, he has promoted some of country music’s most prominent talent, including Lynn Anderson, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Kenny Chesney, Billy Ray Cyrus, John Fogerty, Mickey Gilley, Sammy Kershaw, Toby Keith, Kris Kristofferson, Kathy Mattea, Tim McGraw, John Mellencamp, Ronnie Milsap, Brad Paisley, Johnny Paycheck, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Randy Travis, Shania Twain, Conway Twitty, Hank Williams Jr., Brooks & Dunn, The Judds, The Kentucky Headhunters, The Marshall Tucker Band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Statler Brothers, and more.
“I’ve been fortunate to have worked for and alongside so many of Nashville’s music industry legends,” Young recalls. “I’d like to thank legends Mike Dungan and Royce Risser for believing in me and for trusting me the last seven years to lead this kick ass promotion team. Working alongside Royce, David Friedman, Donna Hughes, Nick Kaper, Louie Newman, and Chris Schuler has been a perfect storm and the pinnacle of my career, and I’m so proud to have represented the biggest names in the format during my stint at Capitol.” He continues, “I’d like to thank everyone at UMG and especially the Capitol promotion team—Megan Youngblood, Mara Sidweber, Ashley Knight, Annie Sandor, Katie Bright, and Megan Kleinschmidt, all rockstars! I’d also like to extend my appreciation to my many friends over the years in country radio.”
“We are going to miss Bobby around here,” adds EVP Promotion Royce Risser. “I have had the honor of working with him since the UMG/EMI merger and during that time, learned his long and storied history in radio promotion. The artists and executives he has worked for and alongside are legendary and his impact on their careers is simply not calculable. He is absolutely loved by his coworkers and to me, that is the greatest testament to his character. We are excited for him and his family to enjoy some much deserved rest and relaxation. But we will truly miss his presence around UMG. Hopefully, he will come visit us or take us to lunch at Brown’s Diner.”
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