Happy birthday Chris Young! The singer turns 35 on Friday, June 12. To celebrate his birthday, we rounded up eight surprising facts about the singer.

1. He almost died of sepsis.

In 2013, Chris was en route to a tour date in Montana when a small cut on his leg got infected, causing him to go into septic shock. Instead of continuing on tour, Chris was rushed to the hospital, where he had surgery to remove the infection. Less than two weeks later, Chris was back on the road.

2. He also had surgery on his hand after a kitchen mishap.

Not quite one year later, Chris had to miss his performance at CMA Fest, after he cut himself so badly with a kitchen knife that he required surgery. It was following his fan club party, and Chris was cutting an apple, and injured himself, requiring surgery to repair damaged tendons in his hand.

“It was not a knife I should have been using to cut an apple up with,” Chris told Taste of Country after the incident. “I will say that. It was a double-sided Gerber, so if anybody knows those knives, they’re really sharp.”

3. He is a Christmas fanatic.

Chris is such a fan of Christmas, that he not only decorates his own house, but his parents’ house as well!

“I always do a real tree, and my family definitely always does a real tree,” Chris previously shared at a media event. “And what normally ends up happening is, I don’t do too much to my house, but it ends up looking like the Griswold Family Christmas party in my parents’ yard every year. I think at least three years, there’s been a more-than-seven-foot inflatable, at minimum — and not just one, but I’m saying the biggest one that I can find. So that happens every year. I know where all of those boxes are in their house. They’re all numbered. It’s a thing.”

4. He got his start on Nashville Star.

Nashville Star was a reality TV talent show that ran from 2003 to 2008, and is credited with launching the careers of both Miranda Lambert, who came in third in the inaugural season, and Chris, who won in 2006. As part of his winnings, he secured a record deal with RCA Records, which is where he has released all seven of his records, including his holiday It Must Be Christmas album, released in 2016, and where he will also release his upcoming Raised on Country record.

5. He moved from Tennessee to Texas to get started in music.

Chris is from a town called Murfreesboro, located just outside of Nashville, but he moved to Texas to get his country music career started. He was attending college, while also performing on weekends, and was offered a job as the lead singer of the house band in the popular Cowboy’s in Arlington, Texas. Ironically, it was while he was in Texas that someone convinced him to try out for Nashville Star.

6. He became a Grand Ole Opry member at the age of 31.

Chris was officially inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on October 17, 2017, after being invited to join on August 29 by Vince Gill. Brad Paisley formally did the induction ceremony, which Chris says will always be one of the highlights of his life and career.

“I remember growing up near Nashville listening to and watching the Opry,” Chris said on social media, the night he got inducted. “Since I began my career in music, playing the [Opry] has always been a highlight. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would get to join this family. Dreams come true. I’m excited to call this place Home for the rest of my life.”

7. He loves breakfast food.

Chris could eat breakfast food any time of the day, and reportedly has a penchant for Pop-Tarts. But according to one interview with Chris, he enjoys any type of breakfast food.

“I’m a big fan of breakfast food,” he told CMT. “Literally, the simplest thing in the world, if you can scramble eggs without burning them, I’ll eat them. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is.”

8. He gets a lot of inspiration from his stepfather.

Chris was almost a teenager when his mom married his stepfather, but he still calls him Dad, and credits him with being the biggest influences of his life.

“He is the total, ultimate man,” Chris told CMT. “The dude trumps me all the time. I can’t top some of the stuff he’s done. When I was 11 or 12, he asked my mom to marry him on Valentine’s Day. He got down on one knee, then called us all downstairs and asked her kids if he could marry her. Even the little stuff that he does all the time makes me think, ’Oh, crap. I’ll ever be able to beat that.’ My dad is totally the guy I will always look up to.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Monarch Publicity / Matthew Berinato