Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began her career in the early 2000s, when she self-released three solo albums and recorded another album as a member of the duo Texas Two Bits. In 2007, Musgraves appeared on the fifth season of the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

singing competition '' Nashville Star'', where she finished in seventh place. In 2012, she signed with Mercury Nashville and released the hit single " Merry Go 'Round". Her major-label debut studio album, '' Same Trailer Different Park'' (2013), won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Country Album at the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid co ...

. Musgraves' second studio album, '' Pageant Material'' (2015), debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and yielded the critically and commercially successful singles "

Biscuits A biscuit is a Flour, flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and Unleavened bread, unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing (food), icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also ...

" and " Dime Store Cowgirl". She released a Christmas-themed album, '' A Very Kacey Christmas'' (2016). Her fourth studio album '' Golden Hour'' (2018) was released to widespread critical acclaim and won all four of its nominated Grammy Award categories, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album. The album's first two singles, " Space Cowboy" and "

Butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

", won the

Grammy Award for Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, unless the artist is also the songwriter. There have ...

and Best Country Solo Performance, respectively. Musgraves' fifth studio album, ''

Star-Crossed The terms "star-crossed" and "star-crossed lovers" refer to two people who are not able to be together for some reason. These terms also have other meanings, but originally mean that the pairing is being "thwarted by a malign star" or that th ...

'' (2021), became her fourth top-ten album on the ''Billboard'' 200. In 2023, she was featured on the single " I Remember Everything" by

Zach Bryan Zachary Lane Bryan (born April 2, 1996) is an American country singer-songwriter and rock musician from Oologah, Oklahoma. After two self-produced studio albums—''DeAnn'' (2019) and '' Elisabeth'' (2020)—he signed with Warner Records to ...

, which debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Her sixth studio album, '' Deeper Well'', was released in 2024 debuting at number 2 on the ''Billboard 200,'' with the single " The Architect" winning the

. Musgraves has won eight

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, seven

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

, and four

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

Early life

Kacey Lee Musgraves was born August 21, 1988, in

Golden, Texas Golden is an unincorporated community in Wood County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 156 in 2000. History The Golden area was settled initially as early as 1865. The community wasn' ...

, to Karen (née Abrams), an artist, and Craig Musgraves, owner of a small printing business, M-Prints Printing, Inc., in

Mineola, Texas Mineola is a city in the U.S. state of Texas in Wood County, Texas, Wood County. It lies 26 miles north of Tyler, Texas, Tyler. Its population was 4,823 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was incorporated as the railroads arr ...

. Kacey said that she was born six weeks prematurely and weighed only five pounds. She has a younger sister, Kelly Christine Sutton (née Musgraves), who is a photographer and at times has photographed some of Kacey's work including in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

in South West England. Kacey Musgraves started writing songs at age eight. Her first song, "Notice Me", was for her elementary-school graduation. She first learned to play music on the

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, then at age 12 started taking guitar lessons from a local musician named John DeFoore, which she later described as "one of the most important things that ever happened to me." DeFoore also taught guitar to

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

and Riley Thompson. Musgraves learned harmonica too. Musgraves' mother took her to local music festivals to sing western swing music. She and co-student Alina Tatum formed country-music duo Texas Two Bits, toured through Texas, and released an independent album in 2000, and earned an invitation to perform at President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

's "Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball". Musgraves also won yodeling national championships and was selected to sing the national anthem at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

. At age 14, her family funded her first solo, self-released album. She graduated from Mineola High School in

northwest of Tyler in 2006 and moved to

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

at 18. In 2007, Musgraves competed on Season 5 of the singing competition reality TV series '' Nashville Star'', where she placed seventh. To sustain herself she took various jobs, including performing as

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

for children's birthday parties.

Career

2008–2014: Debut

Musgraves recorded three self-produced albums in 2002, 2003, and 2007. While living in Austin in 2008, she recorded two songs for independent record label Triple Pop. She collaborated with the Josh Abbott Band in 2010 on the song "Oh, Tonight". Musgraves' two acoustic recordings for Triple Pop (covers of

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado, formed in 2002. The lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, piano), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola), Drew Brown (musician), Drew Brown (guitar), Brent Kutzle ( ...

's " Apologize" and

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

' " See You Again") are available on a digital EP released in 2012. "Apologize" (Acoustic Version) charted in the Billboard Hot Singles Chart at No. 23 on February 15, 2014, and racked up over 31,000,000 streams on Spotify. To commemorate the 10-year anniversary on March 30, 2018, Triple Pop released the "Acoustic Remixed" digital EP, which featured newly remixed and remastered versions of the same recordings. Musgraves joined

Lady A Lady A, known until 2020 as Lady Antebellum, is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar ...

on the European leg of their Own the Night Tour in 2012. In 2012, she signed with Mercury Nashville and released her solo debut single " Merry Go 'Round". The song is included on her major-label debut album '' Same Trailer Different Park'', produced and co-written by Musgraves,

Shane McAnally Shane Lamar McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He debuted as a singer in 1999 with his Shane McAnally (album), self-titled album on Curb Records. This project produced three sing ...

and

Luke Laird Luke Robert Laird (born May 4, 1978 in Hartstown, Pennsylvania) is an American country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 number one ''Billboard'' singles, including Carrie Underwood's " So Small", " Temporary Home", and ...

and released on March 19, 2013. The album debuted at number 2, selling 42,000 copies. It produced additional hit singles in " Blowin' Smoke" and " Follow Your Arrow". ''Rolling Stone'' magazine listed "Follow Your Arrow" at number 39 of its list of 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time, and said that Musgraves was "one of the loudest symbols of young country musicians embracing progressive values." "Undermine", a song co-written by Musgraves and Trent Dabbs, was featured in one of the first episodes in the first season of the television series ''

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

'' on October 17, 2012. Musgraves co-wrote

's 2013 single " Mama's Broken Heart" and sang harmony on the song. Musgraves was nominated for four awards at the 47th Annual

in 2012, including Female Vocalist of the Year. Musgraves was also nominated for four Grammy Awards at the

, tying

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

and

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

for the most nominations received by a woman that year. Those nominations included

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...

, Best Country Album (''Same Trailer Different Park''), and Best Country Song for both "Mama's Broken Heart" and "Merry Go 'Round". "Merry Go 'Round" won the Best Country Song Grammy award, and ''Same Trailer Different Park'' won in Best Country Album. Musgraves joined

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

on the North American leg of her

Prismatic World Tour The Prismatic'' ''World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer Katy Perry, in support of her fourth studio album, ''Prism (Katy Perry album), Prism'' (2013). The tour began on May 7, 2014, at Belfast, Northern Ireland's Odyssey Aren ...

as well as

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

and

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

on select dates during their tour. Musgraves provided backing vocals for " Bourbon in Kentucky", the lead single on

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Do ...

's 2013 album '' Riser''. In April 2014, Musgraves won the Academy of Country Music award for album of the year for ''Same Trailer Different Park.'' In June 2014, she released a new song called ''The Trailer Song'', which she debuted on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. ''Same Trailer Different Park'' was certified gold in August 2014 for selling over 500,000 copies. Musgraves' single "Follow Your Arrow" was also certified gold, and "Merry Go Round" was certified platinum.

2015–2017: Early album releases

Musgraves announced in late August 2014 that she would perform a 10-show headlining tour, titled Same Tour Different Trailer, which started on September 25 and ended on October 19. In September 2014, she said that she had begun writing songs for her second major label album, and planned to write with Luke Laird and Shane MacAnally later in the year after her touring schedule wrapped. "

", the lead single from the album, was released on March 16, 2015. '' Pageant Material'', Musgraves' second studio album, was released on June 23, 2015. To support the album, Musgraves performed on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' (June 9, 2015), ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' (June 10, 2015), ''Good Morning America'' (June 23, 2015), ''The View'' (June 24, 2015), ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' (September 14, 2015), ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' (January 8, 2016), and ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (April 6, 2016). Musgraves was featured on a remix of Miguel's single "Waves", released on February 26, 2016. On September 7, 2016, Musgraves announced the release of her first

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

album, '' A Very Kacey Christmas''. The album, which features eight traditional and four original songs, was released on October 28, 2016, through Mercury Nashville. In support of the album, Musgraves embarked on a Christmas-themed tour, complete with a strings section, an accordion, a bass, a saxophone, a clarinet, and backup singers. In September 2016, Musgraves was selected as one of 30 country music artists to perform on " Forever Country", a mash-up track of "

Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two on ''Billboard''s U ...

", " On the Road Again", and " I Will Always Love You". The song celebrates 50 years of the CMA Awards and secured Musgraves her first number-one country single. In 2017, Musgraves provided backing vocals on "All the Best", a John Prine cover, for Zac Brown Band's album ''Welcome Home''. Also in 2017, Musgraves was featured on ''Outlaw: Celebrating the Music of

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

''. Originally recorded for TV, it later was released on CD and DVD. During the broadcast, Musgraves performed Jennings' song " The Wurlitzer Prize". Musgraves appeared on the June 21, 2017, episode of ''Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry'' to receive a psychic reading and connect with her grandmother, Barbara Taylor, to learn more details about her death in a house fire. Musgraves has said that her song "This Town", from the album ''Pageant Material'', is about her grandmother, and that her grandmother sings during the opening of the song.

2018–2020: Breakthrough

In October 2017, Musgraves posted a picture of herself on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

indicating she was in the studio writing new songs for her upcoming third studio album. On December 12, 2017, Musgraves announced the title of her third studio album '' Golden Hour'' through ''Entertainment Weekly''. The songs "Butterflies" and "Space Cowboy" were released as the first singles from the album on February 23, 2018. In March, Musgraves headlined the 2018 C2C: Country to Country festival in London after playing the festival in 2016. Musgraves premiered "High Horse", the third song from the album, on March 22, 2018, on Zane Lowe's ''Beats 1'' Apple Radio show. On March 29, 2018, she performed "Slow Burn" on ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert''. ''Golden Hour'' was released on March 30, 2018, on MCA Nashville. On May 12, 2018, Musgraves was the musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live'', performing "High Horse" and "Slow Burn". Through June and July, Musgraves was the opening act on the second North American leg of Harry Styles: Live on Tour. In September, Musgraves appeared on a rerecorded version of " There's No Gettin' Over Me" with

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

for his 2019 duet album. On October 2, 2018, she appeared on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' as the musical guest. In October 2018, Musgraves embarked on the "Oh, What a World Tour" in support of ''Golden Hour''. The tour began in Oslo, Norway on October 13. In February 2019, ''Golden Hour'' won Album of the Year at the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

. In the same month, Musgraves released "Rainbow" as the fifth single from the album. In April, Musgraves featured on a newly recorded version of " Neon Moon" with Brooks and Dunn for their duet album ''

Reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

''. She also made a cameo appearance as herself in the country-music drama film '' Wild Rose'', released in April. In May, Musgraves made her

Met Gala The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala was and still is popularly rega ...

debut as a Barbie doll and afterwards announced she had signed with modeling agency IMG. In August, Musgraves appeared at San Francisco's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, among her largest festival appearances to date. In October 2019, Musgraves revealed that she would cover the song "All Is Found" for '' Frozen II''. The song plays over the end credits and is also included on the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

. On November 4, 2019, Musgraves announced ''The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show'', a holiday special premiering through Amazon

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on November 29. On November 20, 2019, she debuted the song "Glittery" featuring

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with Universal Music Australia, EMI Australia in 2013 and ...

on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.'' The soundtrack to the show includes collaborations with other artists, including a cover of " I'll Be Home for Christmas" together with singer

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...

. The show also stars Kacey's grandmother Barbara (Nana) Musgraves. In April 2020, she appeared in the ''

Together at Home ''One World: Together at Home'' (also known as ''Together at Home'') was a 2020 benefit concert organized by Global Citizen (organization), Global Citizen of New York City and curated by singer Lady Gaga in support of the World Health Organizat ...

'' virtual concert series and performed "Rainbow". That same month, she released an

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...

inspired remix of "Oh, What a World".

2020–present: ''Star-Crossed'', ''Deeper Well'' and other projects

On May 29, 2020, Musgraves was featured on

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

single "Flowers of Neptune 6" and also provided vocals on two additional tracks ("Watch the Lightbugs Glow" and "God and the Policeman") on their album American Head, which was released on September 11, 2020. Musgraves also provides backing vocals on several tracks on Ruston Kelly's second album '' Shape & Destroy'', which was recorded before she and Kelly divorced. On December 10, 2020,

released a reworked version of his song " Easy" which features Musgraves and was produced by

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

. Musgraves' song "Oh, What A World" was used in the Paramount Network original Christmas movie '' Dashing in December''. She voiced Earwig's mother in the English dub of the

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

film, '' Earwig and the Witch''. In April 2021, Musgraves announced that her new album would be released later that year, in partnership with UMG Nashville and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

, her first release on the latter label. ''Golden Hour'' co-producers Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk will return to work on the project. Musgraves began teasing her next album by releasing snippets of new music on her 33rd birthday. On August 23, Musgraves revealed that her fifth album, now titled ''

'', would be released on September 10, along with an accompanying 50-minute film which will be available for streaming exclusively on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

. Musgraves also released the album's title track. In August 2021, Musgraves announced a 15-city star-crossed: unveiled tour for the album ''Star-Crossed''. On October 2, she became the first ever musical guest to perform nude on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. Musgraves collaborated with American country star

on the single " I Remember Everything" from his self-titled fourth studio album. The track debuted at the top position on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

, marking her first number 1 single on the chart. The single was nominated for two Grammy awards at the

66th Annual Grammy Awards The 66th Annual Grammy Awards honored the best recordings, compositions, and artists from October 1, 2022, to September 15, 2023, as chosen by the members of The Recording Academy, on February 4, 2024. In its 21st year at the Crypto.com Arena ...

for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance winning the latter. On October 6, 2023 Musgraves collaborated with breakout artist

Noah Kahan Noah Kahan ( ; born January 1, 1997) is an American singer-songwriter who signed with Republic Records in 2017. His breakthrough single, " Hurt Somebody", achieved gold status in the United States and charted in multiple international markets. T ...

on a re-released version of the single "She Calls Me Back" from Kahan's album '' Stick Season''. In 2023, Musgraves also executive produced the country music competition show ''My Kind of Country'' with

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

. In February 2024, Musgraves announced her sixth studio album, '' Deeper Well'', which was released on March 15, 2024. She performed two songs from the album on the March 2 episode of ''

''. She was a guest and interviewed for two hours on March 18, 2024, on

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster and media personality. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1 ...

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

show; she performed three songs live with her band at Sirius'

studio. In April 2024, Musgraves collaborated with American alternative rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise on the single "Overtime," from the band's new album ''Love Hate Music Box.'' On August 10 2024, Musgraves and

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She first gained prominence starring on the Disney Channel series ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). She signed with the Disney Music Group, Disney ...

were in a duet singing a cover of

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer, actress, film producer and author. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato) and is known for her 1965 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walki ...

's These Boots are Made for Walkin' during Carpenter's headline set at the

Outside Lands Outside Lands was the name used in the 19th century for the present-day Richmond District and Sunset District on the West Side of San Francisco. With few roads and no public transportation, the area was covered by sand dunes and was conside ...

Festival in San Francisco.

Artistry

Influences

Musgraves lists

as one of her career role models, stating, "I mean, how many Grammys does she have? She's just remained solid and true and great, and I respect that". Musgraves' favorite artist is John Prine and, in a tribute performance to him after his death in April 2020, she said that "my favorite quality of John's would be his sense of humor and it really influenced my songwriting a lot" and proclaimed "that man singlehandedly influenced me and my songwriting more than anyone else on this planet". She lists Lee Ann Womack as one of her childhood influences: "Lee Ann Womack is from near where I grew up in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

, so I've always looked up to her." Musgraves spoke of both Prine and Womack, "if I could sing it like Lee Ann would and say it like John would, then I feel like I've gotten somewhere". Musgraves listed albums by

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

Bobbie Gentry Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is an American retired singer-songwriter. She was one of the first female artists in the United States to compose and produce her own material. Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 ...

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits " King of the Road", "Dang Me", and " England Swing ...

, and

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American Folk music, folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of o ...

as influences on her sophomore album and an interview of hers with ''Rolling Stone Country'' cited Ray Price, Julie Miller, and

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

as being other influences. In a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' interview, Musgraves said that she is a

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

fan, saying "Beauty, sex appeal, brains, wit, humor, beautiful songwriting, meaningful songwriting, no apologies for who she is, LGBTQ advocate long before it was even a thing or trendy or whatever... She's fearless and I admire her spirit a lot and she's very kind. She's very present when you're talking to her and I just really love her so much." Noncountry artists whom Musgraves has mentioned as influences include

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...

Cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap ( ; born 9 December 1977) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is considered a pioneer in pop music, particularly electropop, and in music technology. While attending the ...

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

, Sade, and

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...

Lyrical themes and style

Critics have said Musgraves is a soprano. Her socially progressive lyrics draw attention in the generally conservative country music genre. Her music has tackled topics such as

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

acceptance, safe sexual intercourse, recreational marijuana use, and questioning religious sentiment. In an interview with ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', Musgraves talked about criticism she faced for her rebellious lyrics. "I think throwing the rebel card out there is really cheap," she said. "The things I'm singing about are not controversial to me, I don't push buttons to push buttons. I talk about things that have made an impression on me that a lot of people everywhere are going through."

Personal life

In 2014, in an interview with ABC Radio, Musgraves said she had been in a relationship with her bandmate Misa Arriaga for several years after first becoming friends and working together. Musgraves met Ruston Kelly in March 2016 at the Bluebird Café in Nashville. In May 2016, they had a songwriting date, and they began dating shortly after. Musgraves said that the song "Butterflies" from her album ''Golden Hour'' is about her courtship with Kelly; many other songs from the album were inspired by Kelly. On December 24, 2016, Musgraves and Kelly were engaged. They married on October 14, 2017 in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The couple filed for divorce in July 2020 and it was finalized in September 2020. From 2021 to 2023, Musgraves was in a relationship with Cole Schafer, a poet.

Discography

* '' Same Trailer Different Park'' (2013) * '' Pageant Material'' (2015) * '' A Very Kacey Christmas'' (2016) * '' Golden Hour'' (2018) * ''

'' (2021) * '' Deeper Well'' (2024)

Tours

Headlining * Same Trailer Different Tour (2013–2015) *The Kacey Musgraves Country & Western Rhinestone Revue (2015–2016) *A Very Kacey Christmas Tour (2016) *Oh, What a World: Tour (2018–2019) * Oh, What a World: Tour II (2019) * Star-Crossed: Unveiled (2022) * Deeper Well World Tour (2024) Opening act *50th Anniversary Tour for

(2012) *2012 Spring Tour for

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

; canceled (2012) *Own the Night Tour for Lady Antebellum (2012) *Tornado Tour for

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has had the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook. Fa ...

(2013) * No Shoes Nation Tour for

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country singer. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, he released his debut, '' In My Wildest Dreams'', in 1994, and has since released 19 follow-ups. His albums spawned 27 singles tha ...

(2013) * Take Me Downtown Tour for Lady Antebellum (2013–2014) *Together in Concert for

and

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

and

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

(2014) *

for

(2014) *Strait to Vegas for

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

(2016) * The Breakers Tour for Little Big Town (2018) * Harry Styles: Live on Tour for

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His showmanship, artistry, and flamboyant fashion have had a Cultural impact of Harry Styles, significant impact on popular culture. Styles's musical ca ...

(2018)

Awards and honors

At the

Musgraves has received eight awards from seventeen nominations. * Album of the Year - '' Golden Hour'' (2019) * Best Country Song - " Merry Go 'Round" (2014), " Space Cowboy" (2019), " The Architect" (2025) * Best Country Album - '' Same Trailer Different Park'' (2014), '' Golden Hour'' (2019) * Best Country Solo Performance - "

" (2019) * Best Country Duo/Group Performance - " I Remember Everything" with

(2024)

References

External links

*
Interview with Kacey Musgraves
on Ben Sorensen's REAL Country {{DEFAULTSORT:Musgraves, Kacey 1988 births Living people American acoustic guitarists American country guitarists American country singer-songwriters American women guitarists American women country singers Country pop musicians Grammy Award winners Mercury Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas Interscope Records artists Nashville Star contestants People from Wood County, Texas American LGBTQ rights activists Country musicians from Texas 21st-century American singer-songwriters Guitarists from Texas People from Mineola, Texas 21st-century American women singers