BEAR NECESSITY

Bear Bailey is garnering attention from Music City and majors on both coasts. The TikTok breakout has amassed a loyal following of 3m+ as fans have watched him rise from soulful covers of country and R&B tunes to exploding with a series of videos filmed at a local gas station.

Though Bailey had racked up hundreds of thousands of plays for clips of himself covering songs, the gas-station dispatches have achieved a new level of viral transmission, with multiple entries eclipsing 10m views and one reaching 40m.

He's since appeared on Nick Cannon's daytime show, collaborated with Mitchell Tenpenny and earned co-signs from Keith Urban and Tim McGraw, who've both featured his videos on their socials and in concert.

As a major signing derby heats up, Bailey has reportedly connected with a top-tier songwriter. He's repped by Teddy Swims manager Luke Conway. Learn more about Bailey from his Nick Cannon appearance, handily provided below.

It might finally be time for us to develop our own gas-station series, HITS Editors in Cars Taking Hits.