Jessie James Decker

Jessica Rose James Decker (born April 12, 1988) is an American country pop singer. At age 15, after auditioning for and being rejected by most of the country labels in Nashville, Tennessee, Decker began working with Carla Wallace of Big Yellow Dog Music. One of her songs attracted the attention of Mercury Records, which offered her a recording contract. She released her debut album, Jessie James, in 2009. A few years later in 2013, she starred with her husband Eric Decker, a wide receiver in the National Football League, in the E! reality show Eric & Jessie: Game On. She is no relation to the famous American outlaw Jesse James.

On April 18, 2014, Decker released an EP through iTunes entitled Comin' Home. On Epic in 2017, she released a five-track EP, Gold, followed by a collaboration on Austin John Winkler's 2016 song titled "Howlin'" from his debut EP Love Sick Radio and released a surprise live EP on June 9, 2017, titled Blackbird Sessions. On October 13, 2017, she released her second full-length album and first for Epic Records, Southern Girl City Lights. On This Holiday, her first full-length Christmas album, was released on October 26, 2018.

On October 22, 2021, she released the EP The Woman I've Become. The project spawned a headlining tour, which wrapped in August 2022 after hitting major cities across the nation. On September 30, 2022 "Grow Young With You" was the first official track from the Big Yellow Dog/Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville recording artist since the release of her The Woman I've Become EP the previous year.

Early life Decker was born Jessica Rose James on April 12, 1988, in Vicenza, in the Italian region of Veneto on an American military base to her mother, Karen Johnson and father Robert James. Her stepfather, Steve Parker, who Karen married in the early 2000s, served in the U.S. Air Force. As a result, she lived in Iowa, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia. She graduated from Warner Robins High School in Warner Robins, Georgia, in 2007. Decker has two younger siblings, Sydney Rae Bass (born 1991) and John James (born 1994), two stepsiblings, Ashley and Alex Parker (from Steve's first marriage) and two siblings-in-law, Anthony Bass and Alison James (née Green).

Decker began singing when she was two. She won her first talent contest in Baker, Louisiana, at age nine, singing "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart". By then, she had already been writing songs on a plastic guitar and had performed at SeaWorld and in Warner Robins, Georgia in 2000. At age fifteen, she made weekly trips to Nashville to hone her songwriting skills.

Career Music At seventeen, Decker was introduced to Carla Wallace of independent label Big Yellow Dog Music, who helped her with her songwriting and singing. One of her songs, "Gypsy Girl", was written with two writers from Yellow Dog and made it into the hands of record executive David Massey, who brought her to the attention of L.A. Reid. She auditioned for Reid by singing her song "My Cowboy", produced by John Rich. Decker soon signed a contract with Mercury Records.

Even though she originally thought that she would be producing a country record, Decker was later told to record a pop album by record executives. She described the recording process as "intense" due to the genre crossing. She described herself in an interview as "a country girl at heart," having grown up listening to this music. The album received mixed receptions from critics. Allmusic received the album positively, but found that despite being marketed as such and featuring some country-influenced production, the music on the album was a far cry from country music. Slant thought that the album only superficially pulled together influences from pop, country and hip-hop while failing to pander to any of those audiences. The album's first single, "Wanted", produced by Allan, had been released in April and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Decker later performed in the Middle East with singer Kid Rock and comedian Carlos Mencia for US troops stationed overseas. The album was to have the same country-pop sound as her debut, with Decker being given more leeway by Mercury in incorporating country sounds. Decker began recording in April 2011. "When You Say My Name" was produced by Wright and released on January 31, 2012. "Military Man" was released on May 22, 2012. She was removed from the Show Dog Universal roster in 2013. Decker released an extended play, Comin' Home, on April 18, 2014, which hit number one on iTunes top albums chart and debuted in the top 5 on Billboards top country albums chart. She finished the Lights Down Low tour. On her new label Epic she released a five-track EP, Gold, on February 17, 2017, and released a surprise live EP on June 9, 2017, titled Blackbird Sessions. On October 13, 2017, she released her second full-length album and first for Epic Records, Southern Girl City Lights. On November 27, 2017, Decker appeared in 12 Days of Cracker Barrel campaign, ending on December 8. Each day got a new YouTube video in the style of the original "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song.

On April 3, 2022, Decker performed "America the Beautiful", in front of a nearly 80,000 crowd at WWE's WrestleMania 38, at AT&T Stadium, in Dallas, Texas. On November 23, 2023, during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade she celebrated the holidays with a performance of “Tangled in Tinsel” live for the first time.

Reality television In 2013, Decker starred with her husband Eric Decker, a wide receiver in the National Football League, in the E! reality show Eric & Jessie: Game On. It ended its run in April 2014, but returned in September 2017. It ran for 20 episodes in three seasons.

On September 8, 2022, Decker was announced as a contestant on season 31 of Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with Alan Bersten. She finished in 10th place.

Kittenish Decker launched a clothing line called Kittenish online. Kittenish opened its first physical location in Nashville, Tennessee. A second branch is located near Destin, Florida.

Musical style and influences Decker co-wrote the majority of the songs on her debut album. The album is of a country-pop fusion genre, revealing her taste for not only country music, but pop and soul music as well. Initially, she faced opposition for her soul music-inspired vocal runs when trying to get signed in Nashville. She has said that she initially wanted a career similar to those of Gentry and Twain, who were signed to pop labels but found crossover success in both country and pop music. They have four children.

Discography Studio albums Title Details Peak positions Sales US US Country US Holiday NZ Heat Jessie James Release date: August 11, 2009 Label: Mercury Formats: CD, digital download 23 — — —US: 120,000 Southern Girl City Lights Release date: October 13, 2017 Label: Epic Formats: CD, digital download 18 1 — 9US: 31,200 On This Holiday Release date: October 26, 2018 Label: Epic "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Extended plays Title Details Peak chart positions Sales US NZ Heat Comin' Home Release date: April 18, 2014 Label: 19 Formats: Digital download 28 5 — 4 —US: 50,000 This Christmas Release date: December 4, 2015 Label: Big Yellow Dog Formats: Digital download 178 16 42 7 —US: 5,600 Gold Release date: February 17, 2017 Label: Epic Formats: Digital download 33 5 — — 7US: 17,800 Blackbird Sessions Release date: June 9, 2017 Label: Epic Formats: Digital download 175 33 — — —US: 4,000 The Woman I've Become Release date: October 22, 2021 Label: Warner Nashville Formats: Digital download — — — — — Decker the Halls Release date: November 2, 2023 Label: Warner Nashville Formats: Digital download — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications(sales threshold) Album US USPop US Dance US Country Songs US Country Airplay US Country Digital CAN 2009 "Wanted" 40 23 18 — — 82 "Boys in the Summer" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but charted at number 16 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles extension chart. — — — — — — "Military Man" — — — 49 — — 2013 "I Do" — — — 39 — 30 — 2015 "Clint Eastwood" — — — — — 37 — "Lights Down Low" — — — 38 — 15 — Gold 2017 "Southern Girl City Lights" — — — — — — — Southern Girl City Lights 2018 "Flip My Hair" — — — — — 23 — "Boots" — — — — — — — 2019 "Roots and Wings" — — — — — 24 — "Old Town Road" — — — — — — — 2021 "Should Have Known Better" — — — — 59 6 — The Woman I've Become 2022 "Grow Young With You" — — — — — — — 2023 "I'm Gonna Love You" — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Notes:

Holiday singles

Music videos Year Video Director 2009 "Wanted" Travis Kopach "I Look So Good (Without You)" Chris Baldwin "My Cowboy" Colin Tilley 2010 "Boys in the Summer" Roman White "Dear John" Roman Dent 2011"When You Say My Name"Kristin Barlowe 2015 "Clint Eastwood" Marcel Chagnon 2016 "Lights Down Low" P. R. Brown 2017 "Flip My Hair" Dallas Wilson 2018 "Baby! It's Christmas" Tyler Conrad 2020 "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" Sean Hagwell 2021 "Should Have Known Better" Kevin + King "Not In Love With You" Kevin + King "The Woman I've Become" Jessie James Decker 2022 "I Still Love You" (with Billy Currington) Stone Shannon 2023 “Islands In The Stream” Unknown “I’m Gonna Love You” Unknown “(Can't Do Life) Without You” Unknown

Other appearances