Maren Morris

Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990 ) is an American singer and songwriter.

Rooted in the country genre, her music also blends elements of pop, R&B, and hip hop.

Morris has won multiple accolades including a Grammy Award, an American Music Award and five Academy of Country Music Awards.

Born and raised in Arlington, Texas, Morris enjoyed singing as a child.

She started publicly performing in her preteen years and toured throughout Texas.

In her late teens and early twenties, she released three studio albums on independent record labels.

She relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in country music during this same time period.

In 2005, she took her first plane trip alone to attend a Grammy camp.

Morris signed a publishing contract and later a recording contract following the streaming success of her 2015 self-titled EP.

Morris's major-label debut studio album Hero (2016) was released on Columbia Nashville and blended country with R&B styles.

Its lead single "My Church" became her breakout single at country radio and was followed by the commercially successful songs "80s Mercedes", "I Could Use a Love Song" and "Rich".

In 2018, Morris collaborated with Grey and Zedd on the song "The Middle".

Released as a single, the track became a top ten pop success in various countries.

She followed it in 2019 with her fifth album titled Girl.

The album mixed country with various music styles and featured collaborations with different artists.

It spawned the number one singles "Girl" and "The Bones".

Morris released her sixth studio album on March 25, 2022, titled Humble Quest.

The album earned Morris a Guinness World Records for most first-day and first-week streams for a country album by a female artist on Amazon Music.

In addition to her solo work, she has recorded as a member of The Highwomen and in collaboration with her former husband, Ryan Hurd.

Morris has had two albums certified for sales certifications in North America.

She has scored three number one songs on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and eight top ten songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Morris was born in Arlington, Texas to Greg and Kellie Morris.

She has a younger sister named Karsen.

Her parents owned the Maren Karsen Aveda Hair Salon, which is still in operation today in Arlington.

Morris spent much of her childhood at the salon.

She later worked there as a front desk clerk and guest coordinator.

In her elementary years, she participated in the school choir, performed theater and played soccer.

Morris discovered she could sing one day at a party at her parents' salon.

At the event, she performed karaoke versions of songs by Patsy Cline and LeAnn Rimes.

Impressed by her natural singing ability, Greg Morris started encouraging his daughter to perform regularly.

Among her first performances was at Johnnie High's, a country music revue similar in style to the Grand Ole Opry.

From that moment, Morris realized that "this [singing] is my calling".

When she was 12, her father bought her a guitar which inspired her to start writing songs.

At the same time, Morris continued going through public school.

She attended James Bowie High School in Arlington where she continued playing soccer.

Her favorite classes were creative writing and art.

Morris started touring her home state of Texas when she was 11 years old.

Her father acted as her manager and booking agent.

Morris often played the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, where she played bars and clubs.

"Music was always this weekend job that I had while the rest of my friends were going to slumber parties," she recounted.