Zach Top is one of country’s brightest young stars in today’s mainstream country world.
In a world of pop country…Zach is being his true authentic country self as he’s putting out nothing but solid traditional country music. Which is making him stand out in a great way.
He already won the ACM for New Male Artist this year…he has three Grammy nominations for 2026…and now he’s up for five CMA Awards tonight on ABC. But the story of how he first signed with a label of any kind is pretty damn awesome.
Zach took a big gamble when he signed with Leo33 back in 2023. The label was brand new, and he became their very first artist.
The head of the Leo33, Katie Dean, who also spent eighteen years at then Universal Music Nashville. Where she also helped George Strait’s career a little during her time there as well. So, she knows country music talent…and she’s a known bad ass to say the least.
Katie was on the “Ten Year Town” podcast and she explained how eager they were to sign him. She said, “I’ve never thought about a man as much as I thought about Zach Top. And being a lesbian, that says a lot.”
In the end, Zach told Katie he chose Leo33 because “they had something to prove”…and he felt the same way. It looks like that paid off for everybody.