Chase Rice

Chase Rice (born September 19, 1985 ) is an American country music singer, songwriter and reality television personality.

He first came to prominence in 2010 while he was a contestant on Survivor: Nicaragua, where he was the runner-up to Jud "Fabio" Birza.

In the same year Rice began focusing on a career in country music, and later co-wrote the diamond-certified single "Cruise", performed by Florida Georgia Line.

Rice has released six studio albums, and his third album, Ignite the Night, debuted atop the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

He has also scored two number-one singles on the Country Airplay chart with "Eyes on You" and "Drinkin' Beer. Talkin' God. Amen." (featuring Florida Georgia Line).

Prior to 2010, Rice was a former college football linebacker for the North Carolina Tar Heels and a former NASCAR pit crew member for Hendrick Motorsports.

Born in Florida, Rice was raised on a farm in Asheville, North Carolina.

He attended AC Reynolds High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a linebacker on the football team.

He did not pursue an NFL career due to injury.

After graduating from UNC, Rice was selected to join the Hendrick Motorsports pit crew as the rear tire carrier for Ryan Newman's Nationwide Series car.

He also worked on Jimmie Johnson's Sprint Cup Series car and won two championships with the Lowe's team.

Rice was selected as a cast member of the reality television show Survivor: Nicaragua.

He said that he was able to get his application into CBS through a college friend who had a connection with the network.

Rice was originally on the La Flor tribe, consisting of younger contestants.

During his time on the tribe, he was quickly attracted to fellow contestant Brenda Lowe, who became aware of his attraction and used it to her advantage, recruiting him and several others into an alliance.

After La Flor won three of the first four tribal immunity challenges, the tribes were blended and Rice ended up on the new version of the original "older contestants" tribe, Espada, while Lowe remained on the new version of the La Flor tribe.

Rice and Lowe both ultimately made it to the merged group, Libertad, where their alliance successfully caused the eliminations of Alina Wilson and Marty Piombo, before turning on Lowe and eliminating her as a threat.

Following Lowe's elimination, Rice continued with the alliance under new leader Matthew "Sash" Lenahan.

After two contestants (NaOnka Mixon and "Purple Kelly" Shinn) quit, the alliance continued eliminating targets Ben "Benry" Henry, Jane Bright, Dan Lembo, and Holly Hoffman, although Bright and Hoffman were members of the alliance.

The alliance tried to eliminate Jud "Fabio" Birza as a threat against the jury, but Birza managed to evade them by winning the last three immunity challenges.

Rice performed exceptionally well in the post-merge challenges, being on the winning team in two of the three team-oriented rewards, and winning the last two individual rewards.

Eventually, Rice made it to the final three with Lenahan and Birza, where he had a chance to win the $1 million as "Sole Survivor".

In pleading his case to the jury, Rice claimed that he was being open about how he played the game, but was criticized both for his rash decisions and occasional indecisiveness, as well as being perceived as a follower under both Lowe and Lenahan.

Although both Rice and Lenahan tried to accuse Birza of not knowing what was going on in the competition, the jury still ultimately chose Birza who received five of the nine votes; Rice received the votes of Hoffman, Bright, Lowe, and Wilson.

On the nationally televised reunion show, Rice played his single "Buzz Back".

Although he received national media attention on the show, he says that reality show stardom did not help propel his country music career; instead, he cited it as an important life event that was more valuable than money and that put his life in perspective.

His first studio album, Friday Nights & Sunday Mornings, was released on April 22, 2010.

This 13-track album includes the first song he ever wrote/recorded, "Larger Than Life", which is about the passing of his father.

This is the only full-length album Rice has released that is not available for digital purchase or streaming.

In March 2011, he released Country as Me, a six-track EP featuring his single "Buzz Back".

He has received air play as a "Highway Find" on satellite radio channel The Highway.

In April 2012, his second studio album Dirt Road Communion debuted at number 48 on the Billboard Country Albums chart.

This album included the original recordings of "Jack Daniels and Jesus" and "How She Rolls", the latter of which has been removed from streaming and digital platforms in its original form.

"Whoa" has also been removed from all digital and streaming platforms, but was never re-released leaving the current total tracks on the album at 14.

"Happy Hour (Worktape)" includes a hidden track, "Kiss My Ass", which begins at the 4:31 minute mark on the song.

In July 2012, he signed with Creative Artists Agency.

In the official issue of CBS Watch magazine, commemorating the 15th anniversary of Survivor in 2015, Rice was voted by viewers as the 10th "steamiest" male contestant in Survivor history.

Chase Rice began playing guitar in college.

He cites his father as the inspiration for his career, recalling his father saying "boy anyone can play guitar, but no one is gonna really listen to you until you start singing."

He creates his albums based on the live shows he has and is building his career through performing.