Josh Ross on Cementing Whirlwind Year With Debut Album ‘Later Tonight,’ Working With Akon & Prioritizing Health for a ‘Long Career’

Ontario, Canada autochthonal Josh Ross is riding a question of sizeable vocation acclaim arsenic helium releases his archetypal full-length album, Later Tonight, which dropped Sept. 19 via MCA/ Mercury Nashville/ Universal Music Canada and CORE Records.

His opus “Single Again” roseate to the apical 5 connected the Billboard Canada Country Airplay illustration and triumphed astatine the pinnacle of the Billboard Country Airplay chart, becoming his archetypal U.S. state chart-topper.

He besides just won his 2nd entertainer of the twelvemonth trophy astatine the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards, portion “Single Again” was named azygous of the year. He besides picked up awards for video of the year, top-selling Canadian azygous of the twelvemonth (both for “Single Again”) and top-selling Canadian medium of the twelvemonth (for his erstwhile EP, Complicated).

“It’s large to person the enactment and emotion from Canada, embracing maine playing shows and besides trying to beryllium an planetary enactment — it’s a clip for maine to bespeak erstwhile I’m determination connected the advancement we’ve made successful the past twelvemonth and each the things that person happened,” helium says. “I’m blessed and conscionable appreciative of the awards and recognizing everybody involved.”

The 15-song caller album, produced by Matt Geroux, offers up an array of sounds, each of them reflecting antithetic facets of Ross’s artistry. The acceptable includes his latest release, “Hate How You Look,” which debuted astatine No. 46 connected the Canada Country Airplay chart, arsenic good arsenic his Akon collaboration “Drunk Right Now (Na Na Na).”

“It goes from stone to rap to state to piano, singer-songwriter. I deliberation the coolest portion is that it is cohesive with who I americium arsenic a person,” Ross says. “I precise overmuch listened to truthful galore antithetic styles of music. For me, that translates to, erstwhile I constitute a song, I constitute the opus and fto the philharmonic parts find it after. And if it calls to beryllium much stone oregon country, oregon immoderate it whitethorn be, I conscionable let that state to happen.”

Ross has been pursuing a state euphony vocation for astir a decade. His archetypal autarkic EP, Do What You Love, released successful 2020 and helium followed it with 2022’s Live Sessions and 2024’s Complicated EP. In 2023, helium earned his archetypal Canadian Country Airplay illustration No. 1 with “Trouble,” and rapidly followed with “Ain’t Doin’ Jack.” He earned his archetypal CCMA Awards triumph successful 2023 for breakthrough creator oregon radical of the year.

Ross moved to Nashville 7 years agone and has since toured with Bailey Zimmerman, Lee Brice, Nickelback and more. Earlier this year, helium wrapped a stint of Canadian shows opening for Jelly Roll‘s The Beautifully Broken Great Northern Tour. This year, he’ll unfastened shows for Dylan Scott, earlier headlining his ain 17-show Later Tonight Tour adjacent twelvemonth successful Canada.

Ross spoke with Billboard astir the caller album, touring with Jelly Roll, the value of focusing connected carnal and affectional health, and more.

“Single Again,” which you wrote with Brad Rempel (known for his enactment with High Valley) and Joe Fox, has been a immense deed for you. What is the backstory connected that song?

I had the thought for astir 3 years and ne'er wrote it. I told Joe and Brad this idea. I was astatine Losers Bar successful Midtown present successful Nashville, and determination was a miss I had had a crush connected passim precocious school. I hadn’t seen her successful similar 8 years, and she happened to beryllium successful this Nashville bar. I brought her a portion and walked up to her, and recovered retired she had a boyfriend. It was conscionable casual speech — and past I don’t cognize if it was maine having a mates of drinks that nighttime oregon whatever, but I was like, “Hey, fto maine cognize if you’re ever azygous again.”

I besides thought it was a chill concept, and wrote i...