Sunny Michaela Sweeney (born December 7, 1976) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer–songwriter. Since beginning her career, her recordings have been released through five studio albums. Her best-selling album was 2011's ''

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

'', which spawned three charting country singles. Born and raised in Texas, Sweeney was exposed to music from an early age but did not pursue it professionally. Instead, she attempted an acting and comedy career. She then attended and graduated from

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

in 2001. It was after several jobs that Sweeney chose to pursue music professionally. After forming a band and gathering a regional following, her music was heard by

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...

. The label would release her debut studio album titled '' Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame'' (2007). While its three singles failed to become success, it drew attention to Sweeney's career. She was then moved to

Republic Nashville Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment, formerly BMLG Records and Republic Nashville, is a record label established in 2009 by Republic Records in New York and Big Machine Records in Nashville. It is headquartered on Music Row and utilizes the c ...

, which released her second studio album ''Concrete''. Its lead single, " From a Table Away" reached the top ten of the American country songs chart in 2011. Sweeney's career shifted towards the

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

genre with her next several releases. In addition, her recordings were issued on the independent

Thirty Tigers Thirty Tigers is an American music marketing, distribution and management company for independent artists, based in Nashville. History The company was founded in 2002 by David Macias and Deb Markland and is distributed by The Orchard. In 20 ...

and Aunt Daddy labels. Her 2014 album '' Provoked'' reached the top 20 of the American country albums chart and received critical acclaim. It was followed by 2017's ''

Trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

'', which made both the American folk and independent albums charts. In 2023, her fifth studio album ''Married Alone'' was released.

Early life

Sweeney was born in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

. She was the only child born to parents Patrick and Sheila Sweeney. Her biological parents later divorced and remarried new spouses. Sweeney would become close with both her new stepmother and stepfather. Her grandfather, Art Sweeney, was a local musician who played clubs and events near her hometown. He was among her early exposures to music. While surrounded by music, Sunny herself did not perform publicly until singing

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 ...

's "

9 to 5 Working time or laboring time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countri ...

" in her high school talent show. Upon graduating, Sweeney attempted other careers first instead of music. Sweeney took several junior college courses before moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to attempt an acting career. After finding little success, she then moved to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, where she joined an

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

group. While she enjoyed being onstage she did not want to pursue comedy full time. Instead, she attended

. Commuting five days a week, Sweeney graduated in 2001 with a degree in

Public Relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

. She then married and worked various jobs. This included a brief stint at a newspaper and a child support agency. While interning for the Propaganda Media music company, Sweeney got opportunities to watch artists perform onstage. After seeing several artists perform onstage, Sweeney realized she could do the same thing. "This guy’s getting paid to do this? I could get paid to do that," she recalled to ''Lone Star'' magazine.

Career

After college, she started a band and played local bars in Austin and began to branch out and play around Texas. She put out her first album with the production help of Tommy Detamore in March 2006. After gaining a following on the club circuit in her native Texas, Sweeney signed to the independent

label. She also toured throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 2007. Her debut album, ''Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame'', was initially self-released in March 2006, and was reissued in March 2007 on Big Machine. In 2009, Sweeney was signed as the first artist to

, a newly founded joint venture between Big Machine and

Universal Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially a ...

. Her first single for the label is " From a Table Away," which was released on June 28, 2010. It became her first chart single when it debuted at No. 58 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart for the week of June 26, 2010. In March 2011, the song entered the Top 10 of the chart. Republic Nashville released Sweeney's second studio album, ''

'' on August 23, 2011. The album was produced by

Brett Beavers Brett Beavers (born in Waco, Texas) is an American country music songwriter and producer and a co-author of a book, ''Something Worth Leaving Behind''. Education and early career Beavers attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he earne ...

consists of ten tracks, including one co-written with

Radney Foster Radney Muckleroy Foster (born July 20, 1959) is an American country music singer-songwriter, musician and music producer. Initially a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee, Foster made his recording debut as part of the Foster & Lloyd duo, recordi ...

and Jay Clementi. " Staying's Worse Than Leaving" and " Drink Myself Single" were released as the album's second and third singles, respectively, and both were minor Top 40 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart. Sweeney and Big Machine parted ways in 2012. In 2013, Sweeney signed a recording contract with the Thirty Tigers record label. Her debut label single entitled "Bad Girl Phase" was released in June 2014. Through the fan-sponsored

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects, such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist pa ...

program, Sweeney issued her third studio record, '' Provoked'', on August 5, 2014. "My Bed," a duet with

Will Hoge Will Hoge (born November 14, 1972) is an American Americana country music singer, songwriter, and musician from Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Early life Will Hoge was born and grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, located just south of Nashv ...

, was released in early 2015 as the album's second single. Dreamer: A Tribute to Kent Finlay, released in early 2016 on Austin-based Eight 30 Records, features Sweeney and Randy Rogers' duet "Between You and Me." Sweeney's fourth studio album, ''Trophy'', was released on March 10, 2017. Sweeney released her first live album, ''Recorded Live At The Machine Shop Recording Studio'', on November 13, 2020. Sweeney's fifth studio album, ''Married Alone'', was released on September 23, 2022. It includes a duet with

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

on the title track as well as vocals from Paul Cauthen on “A Song Can’t Fix Everything”.

Personal life

Sweeney has married and divorced twice. According to Sweeney, her first marriage was "really quick" and when she was "really young". The pair later divorced, but her first spouse's name has not been reported. She married her second husband Jeff Helmer on November 11, 2011. The pair wed in an intimate ceremony in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, with only a few friends and family invited. At the time, Helmer was a Sergeant with

, police department. He was previously a Staff Sergeant in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. "He is so supportive and just wants me to be happy and succeed," Sweeney said of the marriage in 2011. The couple repeatedly attempted to have a child together, resulting in one miscarriage. Sweeney spoke of the miscarriage in 2017, "It makes you feel broken. It seems like no one talks about it, unless they know the person they’re talking to has also been through it." Helmer and Sweeney divorced in 2018, citing her touring schedule for the marriage's demise. The pair still remain friends.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Heartbreaker's Hall of Fame'' (2006) * ''

'' (2011) * '' Provoked'' (2014) * ''

'' (2017) * ''Married Alone'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

! , - , 2012 ,

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 ...

, New Female Vocalist of the Year , , align="center", , - , 2018 , Texas Country Music Association , Female Vocalist of the Year , , align="center", , -

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Sunny 1976 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Big Machine Records artists Country musicians from Texas Living people Republic Records artists Singer-songwriters from Texas Texas State University alumni Thirty Tigers artists