Maren Morris

From Arlington to Hero

Maren Larae Morris was born on April 10, 1990 in Arlington, Texas, and began touring Texas at 11. She graduated from James Bowie High School in 2008, enrolled at the University of North Texas in 2010 and left after one semester. Early independent albums were Walk On (2005), All That It Takes (2007) and Live Wire (2011). She moved to Nashville in 2013 with a songwriting deal at Big Yellow Dog Music, and Kelly Clarkson and Tim McGraw recorded songs she wrote. In August 2015 she self-released a five-song EP on Spotify, which drew about 2.5 million streams in a month, and she signed to Columbia Nashville that September; the EP was re-released on November 6, 2015 with "My Church" as lead single.

Hero came out on June 3, 2016, debuted at 5 on the Billboard 200 and 1 on Top Country Albums, and went Platinum in July 2019. "My Church" won the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance at the 59th Grammys on February 12, 2017, though the artist article says the 60th, and she was named CMA New Artist of the Year in 2016. She made "The Middle" with Zedd and Grey (5 on the Hot 100) in 2018, then Girl (March 8, 2019), the CMA Album of the Year, and formed the Highwomen with Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby, whose debut album came in September 2019. Humble Quest (2022) was produced by Greg Kurstin. In September 2023 she announced a departure from country music, with The Bridge EP, and later made the Intermission EP (2024), "Kiss the Sky" for The Wild Robot, and the album Dreamsicle (2025).

Wikipedia counts five ACM and five CMA awards, including CMA Female Vocalist of 2020, and Billboard ranked her 99th among the greatest country artists in 2024. She toured with Keith Urban in 2016, Sam Hunt in 2017 and Niall Horan in 2018, and began the Dreamsicle World Tour in 2025. A tenth-anniversary edition, Hero: A Second Wind, is due on Legacy Recordings on June 26, 2026.