MacKenzie Bourg

MacKenzie Bourg has had a very unique relationship to music. Growing up as an aspiring athlete, the Lafayette, Louisiana native grew up playing basketball competitively on his high school's team. But everything changed when Bourg contracted a virus triggering congestive heart failure, and necessitating an induced coma. As a result of his condition, Bourg was forced to leave his basketball team and was unable to continue to pursue any type of athletics. "I never thought after playing sports my whole life, that it could be taken from me so fast, but that's when music really came into focus," says Bourg. Defeated but optimistic, Bourg was determined to find another means of expression. His brother was always playing music at home, and his uncle had built him a custom electric guitar which Bourg had always wanted to learn to play. Unfortunately, due to his condition, his fingers were initially too weak to pluck the guitar strings. Thus Bourg turned to writing songs at the piano, and was instantly hooked. '"I'm not drawn to anything else the way I'm drawn to music," says Bourg. He made it is mission to focus all his energy toward musical expression, singing and writing songs at the piano and, eventually, with the guitar. While honing his craft, word got out of Bourg's talents, attracting NBC's The Voice which first introduced Bourg to the masses. Amplifying this exposure was Bourg's impressive tenure on FOX's American Idol, where he made the Top 4, performing his original music and sharing his story with the world. "It was incredible to have someone like Jennifer Lopez understand the kind of artist that I am, and tell me how amazing it is that I've figured that out about myself," Bourg reflects. Having captivated America with his acoustic sound, infectious personality and powerful personal story on the show's farewell season, Bourg released his debut single "Roses" through Big Machine Records, which debuted on the iTunes Overall Charts at Number 3 and on the Billboard Rock Charts at Number 4. Following this success, he released "Little Moon" which was featured on Sirius XM's The Coffee House New Artist Discovery. It too performed strongly on the iTunes charts, breaking Top 50. Bourg credits his beloved fans, the "MacPack," as the driving force behind his success. "Whether it's getting hugged by a fan on the street, or the thousands of devoted people online, the fans are the reason I keep pursuing and striving to be the best," says Bourg.