hypersongs

Hailey Whitters

An Iowa-born country singer-songwriter in Nashville who co-wrote "Happy People" for Little Big Town, made The Dream (2020) and Raised (2022), and had a platinum single with "Everything She Ain't".

Iowa to Nashville

Hailey Faith Whitters was born in Shueyville, Iowa on September 9, 1989 and attended Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids. She plays guitar and banjo, lives in Nashville, and has had her records produced by Jake Gear. Her debut album, Black Sheep, came out on Carnival on October 2, 2015. In 2017 she co-wrote "Happy People" for Little Big Town's The Breaker, and she has written for Martina McBride and Alan Jackson, with Lori McKenna a frequent co-writer.

In 2019 she toured with Maren Morris on the Girl: The World Tour and released the EP The Days (September 13). The Dream (February 28, 2020, on her own Pigasus label, produced by Whitters, 43:29) includes "Ten Year Town", "Janice at the Hotel Bar" with Lori McKenna, and "Happy People"; it sold 300 copies in its first US week, and Paste gave it 8.3 out of 10. In June 2020 she signed to Big Loud's Songs and Daughters imprint, and Living the Dream, a reissue with five new songs and guests, followed in early 2021.

Raised and Corn Queen

Raised (March 18, 2022, Big Loud and Pigasus, produced by Gear and Whitters, 17 tracks, 46:32) was her first album to chart, peaking at number nine on the Heatseekers chart. Many of its songs were written years earlier; she says she was very homesick, and called it a celebration of the heartland. Its lead single, "Everything She Ain't", was her first top-20 country radio hit. She toured on the Heartland Tour and supported Jon Pardi in 2022, won the ACM's new female artist of the year in 2023, and was nominated for the CMA new artist award; she shared a 2022 Grammy nomination for song of the year as co-writer of "A Beautiful Noise". The I'm in Love EP appeared on July 28, 2023, and she opened for Luke Combs in 2024.

Corn Queen (June 6, 2025, Pigasus and Big Loud) came with promotional singles "Casseroles", "Prodigal Daughter" with Molly Tuttle, "High on the Hog" and "High on a Heartbreak". Her official bio also mentions Coachella and Bonnaroo.

Albums

  • Raised 2022 · Big Loud

    Her third album: seventeen tracks about home, with American Aquarium on "Middle of America".

Songs

  • Everything She Ain't Raised · 2022

    The lead single from Raised, written in an hour and a half in March 2021, her first top-20 country radio hit and a platinum single.

Sources

  1. Hailey Whitters, Wikipedia
  2. The Dream (Hailey Whitters album), Wikipedia
  3. Hailey Whitters, haileywhitters.com
  4. Hailey Whitters makes late night TV debut, Whiskey Riff (2023-01-26)