Thomas Rhett

Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. (born March 30, 1990) is an American country singer-songwriter.

He is the oldest son of singer Rhett Akins.

Rhett Akins had hit singles in the 1990s with "That Ain't My Truck" and "Don't Get Me Started" before becoming a songwriter at the beginning of the 21st century.

He was raised in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

He grew up knowing other singers including Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn.

He has one younger sister, and two younger half-brothers; one on his mother's side, and one his father's side.

After learning to play drums while attending junior high school, Rhett later would go onstage with his father and play.

In high school, he was part of a band named The High Heeled Flip Flops.

Rhett went to Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, to study communications.

He dropped out of college when he was 20 to pursue a career in music.

He subsequently accepted a publishing deal by Big Machine Label Group to write songs.

Rhett co-wrote the song "I Ain't Ready to Quit" on Jason Aldean's 2010 album My Kinda Party and signed a recording contract with Big Machine Records' Valory Music Group division in 2011.

The album's first 21 weeks were spent in the top 40 of the Billboard 200; it also has sold 1.7 million in its first years of release.

In early 2012, he released his debut single, "Something to Do with My Hands", followed later that year by "Beer with Jesus".

Both of these made top 30 on the Hot Country Songs charts.

His third single, "It Goes Like This", topped the Country Airplay chart and also peaked at number 2 on the Hot Country Songs.

Rhett has released six studio albums for Big Machine Records' Valory Music imprint: It Goes Like This (2013), Tangled Up (2015), Life Changes (2017), Center Point Road (2019), Country Again: Side A (2021) and Where We Started (2022).

Rhett also co-wrote the 2013 singles "1994" by Jason Aldean, "Parking Lot Party" by Lee Brice, and "Round Here" by Florida Georgia Line.

During the chart week of September 21, 2013, the Country Airplay chart included five songs within the top 10 that Rhett or his father had co-written, including "It Goes Like This".

His debut album, also titled It Goes Like This, was released on October 29, 2013.

The album's fourth single, "Get Me Some of That", became Rhett's second number 1 single in early 2014.

The album's fifth single, "Make Me Wanna", was released to country radio on August 4, 2014.

It reached number one on the Country Airplay chart on March 7, 2015.

In between the two singles, Rhett sang guest vocals along with Justin Moore on Brantley Gilbert's "Small Town Throwdown".

On April 7, 2015, Rhett released a new single titled "Crash and Burn" which served as the lead single to his second studio album.

The album, Tangled Up, was released on September 25.

It reached at number one on the Country Airplay chart in September 2015.

The album's second single, "Die a Happy Man" released to country radio on September 28, 2015.

It reached at number one on the Country Airplay, Hot Country Songs, and Canada Country chart in December 2015.

and January 2016.

It stayed at number one on the Country Airplay chart for 8 weeks, becoming the second song in the chart's history to do so.

The album's third single, "T-Shirt" released to country radio on February 16, 2016.

It reached at number one on the Country Airplay in June 2016, but received poor critical reviews criticizing its lyrical content.

The album's fourth single, "Vacation" released to country radio on June 13, 2016.

The album's fifth single, "Star of the Show", released to country radio on October 3, 2016.

On September 8, Rhett released his third studio album Life Changes.

He has received four Grammy Award nominations with two albums being nominated for Best Country Album in 2017 and 2019.

His six albums have produced 21 singles on the Billboard Hot Country and Country Airplay charts, with 17 reaching the No. 1 position on the latter: "It Goes Like This", "Get Me Some of That", "Make Me Wanna", "Crash and Burn", "Die a Happy Man", "T-Shirt", "Star of the Show", "Craving You", "Unforgettable", "Marry Me", "Life Changes", "Sixteen", "Remember You Young", "Look What God Gave Her", "Beer Can't Fix", "What's Your Country Song", and "Country Again".

In addition to much of his own material, Rhett has written singles for Jason Aldean, Lee Brice, Florida Georgia Line, LoCash, and Michael Ray, among others.

Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. was born in Valdosta, Georgia, to mother Paige (née Braswell) and father Rhett Akins.