Matthew West

American singer-songwriter and musician Matthew West was born in Downers Grove, Illinois. While he initially hoped to get a baseball scholarship to attend college, West, who was also part of the school's Chamber Choir, ended up getting a music scholarship instead. During this time, he wrote his first songs, pursuing an independent career as a musician while he wrote for other artists, such as Billy Ray Cyrus and Rachael Lampa. After a serious injury almost left him unable to play, he managed a full recovery and released his first non-independent studio album. After another studio release, West began experiencing vocal issues and had to undergo surgery to fix the issue, but was able to recover fully and went on to release more music, besides having his songs featured in films like "The Lucky One" (2012).