Ben Briley
John Benjamin Briley is an American singer from Gallatin, Tennessee, who finished in 11th place on the thirteenth season of American Idol. When he was a child, he led an effort that caused Brothers and Sisters Day to be recognized as an official holiday in the state of Tennessee. This idea inspired Bill Clinton to designate the third week of November as National Family Week, and George W. Bush to designate June 2, 2001 as National Childs Day. During college, he joined a gospel group calledDrive, with which he released an album.
Briley was born in Gallatin, Tennessee to John R. Briley and Tribby Graves. Briley has a large extended family from his grandparents down, he has around onehundredandtwenty relatives. Music has been an important aspect of his family for several generations, especially on his mothers side his greatgrandmother, Kitty Cora Cline, was one of the first female members of the Grand Ole Opry her daughter, Gladys Cline Graves, wrote songs and poetry, but did not pursue a career, as she had eleven children and chose to focus on raising them instead and from 1975 to 1985, Brileys mother sang and played guitar on a morning T.V. show hosted by Ralph Emery. Several members of Brileys family on his fathers side have played guitar, banjo, bass, and fiddle. Brileys father and grandfather, Wesley Briley, were both ministers, and Wesley also owned a farm. Growing up, Briley would often work on the farm with his grandfather, whom he greatly admired. Briley married his wife Courtney in June 2013 and was
Source: Wikipedia