Virtually seamlessly, Josh Ross has made the chart-topping transition from hard-hitting faculty defensive again to certainly one of nation’s high heartbreak balladeers. His success now appears to be shifting even sooner than his 40-yard sprint time.
Buying and selling Cowl 2 defenses for making a music playlist that now attracts almost three million month-to-month Spotify listeners is sort of the achievement for an artist who first picked up a guitar after football-related accidents saved him from pursuing the game any longer.
Final yr turned a landmark yr for Ross: After dropping his debut album, Later Tonight, he hit No. 1 on U.S. nation radio with “Single Once more,” and racked up a number of CCMA awards—Canada’s model of the CMAs—together with Entertainer of the Yr. Now a veteran on main excursions, he’s opened for Jelly Roll and, earlier than he begins headlining his personal Later Tonight tour in February, Ross is ready to take the stage at Luke Bryan’s annual “Crash My Playa” in Mexico.
And the accolades hold coming—Ross was additionally just lately named certainly one of Nation Radio Seminar’s 2026 New Faces of Nation Music. Not unhealthy for a former faculty athlete who initially didn’t see music turning into his full-time gig. “I’d sing at events or karaoke or no matter it might be, however I didn’t take it critically at first,” Ross admits. “It wasn’t the cool factor. Sports activities was the cool factor.”
Lately, Josh Ross nonetheless carries an athlete’s drive, however he’s tailored that depth for a brand new objective. Success within the studio and stage has pressured him to make some sporting sacrifices for the sake of his long-term profession. An avid BMX fan, Ross admits to being extra risk-averse for the security of his profession in addition to his physique. “I’ve two bikes, however I don’t journey one—it wouldn’t be good,” he says.
That trade-off doesn’t imply Ross has let go of his soccer mentality. The gymnasium stays a second dwelling of types, however his coaching targets have now shifted from efficiency on the sphere to the stage. Singing hit songs for 90 minutes takes priority over knocking receivers to the turf, and this actuality means much less energy cleans and extra cardio to remain robust all through a demanding yearlong tour.
“With music, identical to soccer, you knock down what’s in entrance of you and hold operating ahead.”
As a substitute of Hitting Large Receivers, Josh Ross Now Trains to Preserve Hitting the Excessive Notes
As a defensive again at Ontario’s Western College from 2012 to 2016, Josh Ross relied on his pace to make a right away and intimidating affect on opposing offenses.
“My factor was to exit at first of the sport and try to hit someone as exhausting as I might,” Ross says. “Then they don’t need to come throughout and catch the ball once more. That was at all times my tactic, whether or not that was sensible or not.”
At 6′, 185 kilos, Ross says his athleticism got here from an equal mix of pace and energy. He remembers being clocked at 4.47 seconds within the 40-yard sprint. His weightroom numbers had been equally spectacular, benching 225 kilos for 12 reps whereas boasting an influence clear PR of 285 kilos.
He’s nonetheless pleased with these numbers—and says he might in the future attempt to match them—however after a latest exercise got here a sobering reminder of how a lot music has pulled him away from his former athletic peak.
“In London, I went one morning and wished to simply let loose some power, and I began doing energy cleans and stuff like that,” he says. “The subsequent morning, I awakened and thought, I’ve not been this sore in my shoulders and lats and traps for thus lengthy. Each every so often, I nonetheless really feel like I can do it, however I undoubtedly can’t.”
As a substitute of prioritizing explosive, max-effort, dynamic coaching as he did throughout soccer, Ross now follows a extra conventional bodypart-split routine. The simplicity helps lately, particularly with the grueling journey schedule that goes with being a top-selling nation artist. He brings a set of dumbbells on the street, however will modify his exercises to suit regardless of the lodging present—be it a completely geared up health heart or a restricted lodge gymnasium.
“Now I simply do again and biceps, shoulders and chest, and a leg day—these sorts of splits,” he explains. “Plus I’ll combine in somewhat core work on the finish and perhaps a little bit of cardio.”
Though his job not requires him to cowl 110 yards from sideline to sideline, Ross admits that touring greater than 100 days a yr requires a brand new form of conditioning to maintain hitting excessive notes with out gasping for air by encore time.
“The easiest way to coach for singing is to dash after which cease and sing a verse, then dash once more and sing a verse,” he says. “Interval type coaching would translate effectively for this.”
Balancing Health and Band Life on the Street Requires Teamwork
Not coaching for soccer means Ross generally finds steadiness away from each the load room and the stage. Typically, that’s as simple as a little bit of catch-and-release at a neighborhood pond. “If I’ve an hour to kill, I’ll go check out and see what there may be,” he says. Like different artists, Ross enjoys the occasional spherical of golf, although he admits managing his swing is more durable than music. “I want I might say I used to be good at golf,” he says. “I’ll play. I’m not nice, however I take pleasure in it.”
If there’s one sport he’d select to pursue after soccer, Ross says motocross—a ardour handed down from his father—would nonetheless high the checklist. “If I might choose one sport on the earth that I might have been an expert at, that will have been it.” Whereas the chance of damage retains him off the bike now, he’s glad to share his ardour with like-minded bandmates. “I nonetheless watch Supercross on TV after we’re on the street or on the bus,” he says. “A few of the guys are tremendous invested in it as effectively, which is cool.”
The bonding between Ross and the band extends past watching BMX movies. Getting stronger collectively, he says, performs a component in a stronger efficiency come present time.Ross makes a degree to schedule exercises, whether or not it’s a fast morning session earlier than interviews or a late afternoon train routine. “It’s been good to discover a routine on the street. I believe that’s the toughest half about being in bizarre time zones and schedules.”
On most present days, Josh and his band attempt to hit a neighborhood gymnasium collectively for a late morning or noon exercise, specializing in body-part-specific coaching. Whereas it’s exhausting to construct huge muscle on the street, preserving everybody accountable helps foster camaraderie—regardless of the place the tour takes them. “We attempt to discover a native gymnasium, get again by one or two, then it’s sound test round three,” he says. “We’ll even run if we are able to.
Due to the unpredictability of touring life, self-discipline, Ross says, turns into one of many keys to staying in high form year-round, which makes vitamin a crucial half as effectively. Whereas touring, he focuses on protein-rich meals and retains pre-made choices on the bus to keep away from late-night quick meals stops. Protein shakes and bars assist hold him fueled and wholesome whereas on the street.
“I attempt to take heed to my protein consumption and hold pre-made meals, like Issue meals, on the bus. If the blokes cease for McDonald’s at 2 a.m., I’ll pull out a kind of meals as an alternative.”
Turning Soccer Damage Into Nation Music Fame
Soccer performed a serious function in Josh Ross’s life, however back-to-back ligament tears in his proper ankle required reconstructive surgical procedure and two separate rehab stints. The time away pressured Ross to come back to a essential realization that the game was solely a brief a part of his private evolution.
“It’s an extended course of—4 to eight months—and it was actually irritating to come back again, solely to have the identical factor occur once more on my second day again on the sphere. Then it’s like, okay, reset and undergo nearly one other half a yr of rehab. I misplaced my love for it.”
These accidents in the end shifted his ardour from zone protection to overlaying tunes onstage. As he steadily stepped away from soccer, Ross turned to music as a brand new outlet, educating himself guitar and even some piano via YouTube tutorials.
Rising up in Ontario, Ross first experimented with lyrics by journaling about every day life—a behavior that finally led to his earliest songwriting makes an attempt, together with his faculty music “Low-cost Crimson Wine,” amongst others. “They had been horrible,” he admits with fun. “At the moment I most likely thought it was the most effective music ever. Then you definitely get humbled in a short time.”
Though he stopped taking part in soccer, Ross discovered that success in music required the identical relentless mindset: “Soccer taught me that if you need one thing, you’ve received to grind.” Some phrases of knowledge from his head coach, Greg Marshall, additionally reassured him he was on the suitable path. “He informed me that in the event you’re not utterly in (soccer), simply don’t do it,” Ross remembers. “You are able to do a lot else.”
By 2019, Ross was residing in Nashville full-time, and all of the exhausting work started to repay. He relied once more on teamwork—this time with teams of writers—and shortly the hits began coming. In 2022, his single “First Style of Gone” gave him his first style of nationwide recognition. That yr, he was a Rising Star nominee on the Canadian Nation Music Awards and carried out on the Gray Cup halftime present.
Two years later, Ross formally achieved breakout standing. He’s adopted up the success of “Single Once more” with the favored “Hate How You Look,” setting the stage for the primary leg of his Later Tonight tour, which begins Feb. 6 in New Brunswick, Canada.
“These previous two years have been particularly good for me—I undoubtedly really feel like I’m heading in the right direction. Between particular venues, awards, and my first primary at US nation radio, there have been plenty of wins, and I’m very grateful for all of them.”
