See Brett Young’s Melancholy ‘Like I Loved You’ on ‘Kimmel’

For his first visit to late-night TV, Brett Young didn’t shy away from heartbreak. The former college baseball pitcher turned Number One country artist pulled out a breakup song, “Like I Loved You,” from his self-titled LP for the first of his two performances on last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“You never loved me like I loved you,” goes the kicker from the chorus of the song, which was recently released as Young’s newest single. Picking such a heavy song – Young’s narrator has to cope with a breakup text from a significant other – was perhaps a bit of a curveball, but Young owns it, with his spoken-word “What makes you think I want to hear,” before the breakdown really helping to drive home the hurt.

The California native lightened things up for his second song of the night, the love ballad “In Case You Didn’t Know,” even setting aside his guitar and sitting down on a stool to deliver it. The second single from his self-titled 2017 LP Brett Young (not to be confused with his 2016 EP of the same name), it outdid even his breakout song, “Sleep Without You,” by going to the top of the Country Airplay chart. (“Sleep Without You” went to Number Two.)

Young, along with Kelsea Ballerini, is currently on the road supporting Lady Antebellum on their You Look Good Tour. The two openers made a cameo in Lady A’s goofy, Spinal Tap-esque workout video to promote the tour back in the spring. Their next stop in July 21st at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Fall, Ohio.