Runaway June

From Stealing Angels to Blue Roses

Runaway June is a spinoff of Stealing Angels and Natalie Stovall and the Drive. Jennifer Wayne, formerly of Stealing Angels, founded the group in Nashville in 2015 with Hannah Mulholland and Naomi Cooke, and it signed to Wheelhouse, a BBR Music Group imprint. Cooke is from Cedar Key, Florida, and co-wrote Tyler Farr's "Better in Boots"; Wayne co-wrote Eric Paslay's "She Don't Love You" and Keith Urban's "Wild Hearts" (2021). The debut single "Lipstick" (2016) reached 28 on Country Airplay, "Wild West" followed in 2017, and the self-titled EP came out on September 7, 2018, led by "Buy My Own Drinks". CMT named them one of its Next Women of Country, and the group was nominated for the 2018 ACM New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year. They toured on Carrie Underwood's Cry Pretty Tour 360 from May 1 to October 31, 2019, and later on Luke Bryan's tour.

Blue Roses, their debut album, followed on June 28, 2019, produced by Dann Huff with Ross Copperman on two tracks, 10 tracks in 32:16, and including a cover of Dwight Yoakam's "Fast as You". It reached 36 on Top Country Albums, with about 7,600 US copies by October 2019. AllMusic gave 4 of 5, Exclaim! 7 of 10 and Rolling Stone 3.5, whose headline called it harmony-drenched, grown-up country-pop; Country Standard Time found the singing striking and the tunes catchy but easy to forget. Cooke explained the title in July 2019: blue roses are perfect, and they do not grow in the wild, you have to make them. "Head Over Heels" and "We Were Rich" (2020, 37) followed as singles.

Mulholland announced her departure on May 14, 2020 and Stovall was announced as her replacement the next day. Cooke left for a solo career in February 2022, and Stevie Woodward was introduced as lead singer in April 2022. They signed to Quartz Hill in 2023, released "Make Me Wanna Smoke" and the EP Smoke, Wine and Whiskey (January 26, 2024), and the second album New Kind of Emotion on September 19, 2025. Wayne said in 2020 of a global publishing deal with BMG that they were excited about their next venture.