Maren Morris

Maren Morris, born in Arlington, Texas, to Gregory and Kellie Morris, began her trek to stardom in the music industry while attending elementary school. Her love for writing poems and stories led her to construct song lyrics at the age of 12 after her father bought her a guitar. The songwriting allowed her to sing her own songs as well as belting out tunes from country music icons. On June 14, 2011, she released "Walk On," her first album, under the Mozzi Blozzi Music label. Before returning to the Mozzi Blozzi Music label in 2011 with the release of her third album, "Live Wire," she spent time building her second album, "All That It Takes," which was released on Oct. 22, 2007, under the Smith Entertainment label. At 20, she found herself in Nashville, where she chose to focus on songwriting. Her work became noticeable in 2014 when Tim McGraw used the song "Last Turn Home," and Aubrey Peeples used "Blind." After the initial success she found in songwriting, she continued writing songs for many artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Jessie James Decker, Connie Britton and Lennon Maisy, and Brothers Osborne, among other singers. As she continued writing songs for others, Morris found the need to sing her own songs and set out to find a place in the singing side of the music industry. Her 2015 extended play, "Maren Morris," made it onto two Billboard charts, which put her on the map. The success continued when she released her major label debut album, "Hero," which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Top Country Albums. Her debut single, "My Church," hit No. 1 on the Country Digital Songs chart and reached the top 5 on the US Hot Country chart in 2016. Her success was rewarded when she became the 2016 CMA New Artist of the Year. She was also nominated for four awards, including Best New Artist, at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, where she won the award for Best Country Solo Performance.