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Maren Smith Biography & Facts

Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer and songwriter. Rooted in the country genre, her music also blends elements of pop, R&B, and hip hop. Morris has won multiple accolades including a Grammy Award, an American Music Award and five Academy of Country Music Awards. Born and raised in Arlington, Texas, Morris enjoyed singing as a child. She started publicly performing in her preteen years and toured throughout Texas. In her late teens and early twenties, she released three studio albums on independent record labels. She relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in country music during this same time period. Morris signed a publishing contract and later a recording contract following the streaming success of her 2015 self-titled EP. Morris's major-label debut studio album Hero (2016) was released on Columbia Nashville and blended country with R&B styles. Its lead single "My Church" became her breakout single at country radio and was followed by the commercially successful songs "80s Mercedes", "I Could Use a Love Song" and "Rich". In 2018, Morris collaborated with Grey and Zedd on the song "The Middle". Released as a single, the track became a top ten pop success in various countries. She followed it in 2019 with her fifth album titled Girl. The album mixed country with various music styles and featured collaborations with different artists. It spawned the number one singles "Girl" and "The Bones". Morris released her sixth studio album on March 25, 2022, titled Humble Quest. The album earned Morris a Guinness World Records for most first-day and first-week streams for a country album by a female artist on Amazon Music. In addition to her solo work, she has recorded as a member of The Highwomen and in collaboration with her former husband, Ryan Hurd. Morris has had two albums certified for sales certifications in North America. She has scored three number one songs on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and eight top ten songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Early years Morris was born in Arlington, Texas to Greg and Kellie Morris. She has a younger sister named Karsen. Her parents owned the Maren Karsen Aveda Hair Salon, which is still in operation today in Arlington. Morris spent much of her childhood at the salon. She later worked there as a front desk clerk and guest coordinator. In her elementary years, she participated in the school choir, performed theater and played soccer. Morris discovered she could sing one day at a party at her parents' salon. At the event, she performed karaoke versions of songs by Patsy Cline and LeAnn Rimes. Impressed by her natural singing ability, Greg Morris started encouraging his daughter to perform regularly. Among her first performances was at Johnnie High's, a country music revue similar in style to the Grand Ole Opry. From that moment, Morris realized that "this [singing] is my calling". When she was 12, her father bought her a guitar which inspired her to start writing songs. At the same time, Morris continued going through public school. She attended James Bowie High School in Arlington where she continued playing soccer. Her favorite classes were creative writing and art. Career 2002–2015: Career beginnings in Texas, move to Nashville and songwriting Morris started touring her home state of Texas when she was 11 years old. Her father acted as her manager and booking agent. Morris often played the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, where she played bars and clubs. "Music was always this weekend job that I had while the rest of my friends were going to slumber parties," she recounted. In 2005, she took her first plane trip alone to attend a Grammy camp. Morris was one of several high school students from across the country selected to attend the camp sponsored by the Grammy Foundation. She got to meet music industry insiders at music workshops. In 2005, at the age of 15, Morris released her debut studio album titled Walk On. The disc was released on the independent Mozzi Bozzi label and contained ten tracks of mostly self written material. The record was financed by her parents who "literally sold the furniture out of the house" to pay for its recording and release, according to her mother Kellie Morris. Smith Music released Morris's second studio album in 2007, titled All That It Takes. The project was similar to her first record because it contained mostly self-composed tracks. In her late teens, Morris auditioned for a series of television music competition programs including American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, and Nashville Star. She was rejected after auditioning for all of the television shows. Years later, Morris's songs would be used by contestants performing in the show. Morris also joined a teen band in her teenage years called They Were Stars, which she played keyboards and provided harmony vocals. After graduating high school, Morris briefly enrolled at the University of North Texas but left after one semester. In 2011, the Mozzi Bozzi label released her third studio disc titled Live Wire. During this time, she paid a visit to a friend, Kacey Musgraves, whom she had first met on the Texas music scene. Musgraves, who was living in Nashville, Tennessee, encouraged Morris to also make the move. After saving enough money, Morris packed a U-Haul trailer and moved to Nashville. Morris spent her first year in Nashville networking and meeting other writers. She was later introduced to Carla Wallace of Big Yellow Dog Music. Impressed by her songwriting, Wallace signed her to a four-year songwriting contract with the company. She began co-writing material with other songwriters, and her material was soon recorded by several country artists. This began with Tim McGraw, who recorded "Last Turn Home" for his 2014 album Sundown Heaven Town. Another track, "Second Wind" was recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her 2015 album Piece by Piece. Some of her material was more personal, and Morris was encouraged by Wallace to start recording music herself. Among her personal compositions was the track "My Church", which she wrote in March 2015. After listening to the demo recording, Morris realized she wanted to shelve the song for herself. It was also around this time that she met record producer Busbee. He was impressed by Morris's writing and vocal delivery, later commenting, "She was singing her own music, and it was world class. I was super freaked out — in a good way." 2016–2017: Breakthrough with Hero Morris initially self-released five songs on eponymous extended play, Maren Morris. It was released on Spotify in August 2015. The songs gained 2.5 million streams on Spotify in a month, with three songs appearing on Spotify's US and Global "Viral 50" chart. The success of Morris' EP attracted the interest of major labels, and she was signed to Columbia Nashville in September 2015. The label re-released the five-song EP in November 2015. "My Church" was issued as the.... Discover the Maren Smith popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Maren Smith books.