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TJ Smith (Taylor Smith) was born in Arlington, Texas, on February 22, 1988. His mother, Sharon, worked as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines, and his father, Edward, was a minister and church choir director. At birth, TJ was rushed to the ICU due to a Strep infection. When TJ was 2 years old, his father left him and his mother to be with another woman. With his mother frequently traveling for work and caring for her own parents, TJ was largely raised by his paternal family, especially his grandfather, known as 'Doc.'
In second grade, TJ began playing football and learning the cello, a pursuit he continued for 10 years. Although an only child, he had an older half-sister named Mariel (sharing the same father), who lived with TJ and his mother for five years before returning to her own mother. When TJ was in fifth grade (around age 10), Mariel tragically committed suicide at age 16. Around that time, TJ’s mother remarried a man named Frank, who also helped raise TJ. Frank worked in the corporate division of Kroger, a supermarket chain.
At the end of sixth grade, TJ transferred from a public school to a private school in another town. A year later, the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, due to Frank’s job transfer. There, TJ joined the school’s ski team and the Utah Youth Olympic Orchestra at age 13. Another year later, the family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio. During high school, TJ was active in many activities: he played varsity football, starred as the lead in plays and musicals, worked as a writer and editor for the school newspaper, served as editor-in-chief of the poetry club, captained the engineering team, participated in the baseball and academic quiz bowl teams, was a Boy Scout who earned the Eagle Scout rank, joined a local orchestra, and formed a chamber quintet at school. It was also during this time that he began writing his own music.
After high school, TJ was accepted to Yale University, initially majoring in Ethics, Politics, and Economics before switching to Psychology. While at Yale, he dated a girl named Nikki for two years; they broke up when TJ left Yale and she remained. TJ and friends formed a pop-punk band called The Sandy Gill Affair, which included keyboardist Kurt Hugo Schneider, a fellow YouTuber. Upon graduating, TJ moved to Los Angeles to focus on YouTube, acting, and music, assisting Kurt with his YouTube channel. A year later, TJ handed over Kurt’s channel management to someone else and started working at The Game Station. Building on this experience, he launched more content, created a gaming channel, and produced music parodies with The Warp Zone.
In 2010, TJ started a vlogging channel, followed by a music channel in 2012. His first Highway Sing-a-long video, a Valentine's Day edition featuring the Backstreet Boys, was uploaded in 2013 with filming help from his friend Danielle. Shortly after, he released a Build Me Up Buttercup edition, filmed with Kathy Sue Holtorf, which had over 3.5 million views by February 2015. TJ has made eight additional Highway Sing-a-longs, including three commissioned by Nissan under a 12-month contract as of June 2014. By December 2013, TJ released his album titled Ivyleaguepunk. In 2014, he performed live on the Teen Vogue Main Stage at Playlist Live, returning to perform again in 2015.
