Chris Young: Why He Lost The Weight

Chris Young walked the red carpet in Nashville at the BMI Awards last night (11/7) and looked great in a black suit after losing sixty pounds in the last several months.

Chris talked to us about his decision to lose weight, "Honestly, it was just time. It was a health thing. My cholesterol  was really high. When you go into your doctor, and your doctor who never says anything to you ever is like, 'Well, you're a little unhealthy right now." I was like, 'Oh no, really?' For the first time in my life. So I was like, 'I'm gonna change some stuff up; it's time.' So I did that."

Young added, "It's just made everything easier and more fun. I enjoy being in the gym, so I just changed what I ate. I'm just not eating pizza at midnight; that's all is; it's not a big deal."

Chris then replied to our question about whether the change gave him more confidence on stage and in the spotlight. He told us, "I don't know, I guess so. I'm definitely happy; that's all that I can say. I'm just in a very happy, healthy space right now, and I am enjoying everything. Every single minute."

Young has been documenting his weight loss with his fan following on Instagram. A couple of weeks ago, he posted a photo of himself with no shirt. He captioned the post, "Just gonna leave this here. #results."

Chris told us that his favorite response from fans was one fan who thought he was hot and another who pointed out that he needed a tan "real bad." Other fans commented on the post, which has been liked over 20,000 times. One fan wrote, 'Work paid off looking real." Another fan said, "Glad you're feeling good about yourself." One more fan quipped, "Please keep a shirt on."

Young will be a presenter at tonight's (11/8) CMA Awards in Nashville. The show will air live on ABC TV starting at 8 pm ET.

Chris Young has been scoring consistent number-one songs in country music since he won the Nashville Star in 2006. To date, his song chart-topping success is at eleven.

Young recently praised fellow Tennessean and country star Jelly Roll. He said of his friend's success, "I'm just not even going to talk about me because, at this point, I just want to talk about him. And how welcoming and awesome and polite and nice that guy is. And you know, he's just having such a cool run right now."

He added, "I remember talking about this music he's putting out like, I think, well over a year ago. And it's just amazing to see him having the moment he's having. "

In the same interview, Chris cited a hero of his. He said, "A female artist that has definitely influenced me from the perspective of the stage show, vocalist, performance, and just how much she has accomplished in her career that I look up to is Reba McEntire. If you make a Mount Rushmore of country music, I have a whole lot of reasons why she should be on there."

He added, "And she's just a fantastic person and a fantastic artist. Another woman in the music industry that has really had a profound impact on me, especially from a songwriting perspective, is Liz Rose (frequent Taylor Swift collaborator). I got a chance to meet her really early on in my career, and obviously, she's had so many hits, so many hits. But just being in a room with her, being able to learn from her, I feel incredibly lucky to have that opportunity, and to have someone that's that adept at songwriting help me learn and help guide me as a songwriter and an artist."

As Chris celebrates his 38th birthday today (6/12) with his latest radio single, "Looking For You," entering the Top twenty on the country charts, we countdown what we believe are his finest songs.