Chris Young’s career is going so well that even his 5-month-old German shepherd Porter is a star.

The porterthedog Instagram account is closing in on 50,000 followers.

“The dude is super famous already, and he has no idea,” Young says, chuckling, after returning from walking Porter near their Nashville-area home.

Young called The Blade on a rare off day — though Young never really has a day off. “I’m one of those people who never stops working. I’m constantly working. Then I’m like, ‘Man, I’m really tired,’ then I find something else I’m interested in,” he jokes.

The hard work continues to pay off for the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native, whose Friday night show in Toledo is sold out, just like the first 20 dates on his Losing Sleep World Tour.

Young is one of the rare superstars to emerge from a singing reality show. He was the winner of Season Four of Nashville Star on the USA Network in 2006. After a shaky self-titled debut album, Young found his stride with his sophomore album, The Man I Want to Be. “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” which he co-wrote with Cory Batten and Kent Blazy, became a platinum-selling breakout hit. It was the first of five straight No. 1 singles for Young. His current album, Losing Sleep, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Country Albums chart when it was released in October. He has a writing credit on every cut, including the title track, which became Young’s ninth No. 1 when it hit the top of the charts in February.

“I would write songs even if I didn’t record them. I enjoy the process. I love starting with nothing and ending up with a song, to go, ‘Hey, I wrote this about something that is important to me. I wrote this about the time we went out, about that one crazy night, or I wrote this when my heart was broken,” Young says. “I think it’s cathartic for me as an artist, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Not every Young hit has been his own words, because as he says, “I’m in Music City. There are amazing writers everywhere.” But whether the words are his or someone else’s, he gets a thrill every night when his fans sing those words back to him.

“There’s nothing like it [when fans sing the songs]. The emotion is so cool because you know where that song started or you found that song and believed in it enough to record it,” Young says. “It is special to not only see it climb the charts but to see the connection it has with people, who go out of their way to memorize the lyrics. When you see them get into whatever the emotion is — good, happy, sad, let’s drink a beer, whatever — and they give it back to you and sing so loud that you can’t hear yourself, well that’s awesome.”

Young jokes that he is one of those guys people wonder about because they may see him talking to himself when a writing idea hits him.

“People will ask me what comes first, the music or the lyrics, but it’s never the same. That’s what I love about it, that there’s no defined structure on how to write a song,” Young says. “I wrote a song the other day about a friend going through a divorce. He started talking about it, and I’m like, ‘Dude, let’s write this down.’ Things like that you can’t plan.”

Buddy Jewell had a handful of solid hits after winning Season 1 of Nashville Star, and Miranda Lambert finished third in the first season. But otherwise, Young is the only participant to reach stardom, a problem — with the exception of Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson — that has also plagued other reality singing shows. 

“My first record didn’t really do anything coming off that show because it wasn’t super popular to be on the show, but it really worked out for me. Everyone’s journey is different,” says Young, who just resigned with RCA. He has released seven albums through RCA. “I had a chance to showcase myself on TV, and even though I had a couple years without hits, I was making friends at radio and making connections at my live shows. When I got to that second record, everything clicked. I’m very lucky. A lot of people work and work and work and don’t get that one magic moment.”

Young continues to capitalize on his early break. With this tour, he is bringing along his pals, Morgan Evans and Kane Brown, who are each having success of their own. Brown has had back-to-back platinum-selling singles with “What Ifs” and “Heaven.” Evans had a recent radio hit with “Kiss Somebody.”

Young understands that he has an obligation to put on the best show possible for those who come out to see him: “Somebody is making this their date night, somebody may say, ‘I have money to do one thing and I’m going to come to this show.’ We better make it good for them.”

Chris Young’s Losing Sleep World Tour will stop at Toledo’s Huntington Center 7:30 p.m. Friday. Morgan Evans and Kane Brown will also perform. The show is sold out. 

Contact Brian Dugger at bdugger@theblade.com or on Twitter @DuggerBlade.

First Published April 29, 2018, 1:00 p.m.