Maren Morris facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maren Morris
Morris at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Maren Larae Morris (1990-04-10) April 10, 1990 (age 35) Arlington, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	University of North Texas
Occupation	Singer songwriter author
Years active	2002–present
Spouse(s)	Ryan Hurd ​ ​ (m. 2018; div. 2024)​
Children	1
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Country country pop Pop Dance pop R&B
Instruments	Vocals Guitar Tambourine
Labels	Mozzi Bozzi Smith Columbia Nashville Columbia

Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer and songwriter. Her music is mostly country, but it also mixes in pop and R&B styles. Maren Morris has won many important awards. These include a Grammy Award, an American Music Award, and several Country Music Association Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards.

Maren grew up in Arlington, Texas. She loved singing from a young age. She started performing publicly when she was a preteen. She even toured around Texas. In her late teens and early twenties, she released three albums on small record labels. She then moved to Nashville to become a country music star.

After moving, Maren signed a songwriting contract. Later, she got a recording contract because her songs became popular online. Her first album with a major label, Hero (2016), mixed country with R&B. Its first song, "My Church", became a big hit on country radio. Other popular songs from the album included "80s Mercedes" and "I Could Use a Love Song".

In 2018, Maren worked with Grey and Zedd on the song "The Middle". This song became a top ten pop hit in many countries. In 2019, she released her fifth album, Girl. This album also blended country with other music styles. It featured the number one songs "Girl" and "The Bones". Her sixth album, Humble Quest, came out in 2022. This album set a Guinness World Records for the most first-day and first-week streams for a country album by a female artist on Amazon Music.

Besides her solo work, Maren has also recorded music as part of the group The Highwomen. She also worked with her former husband, Ryan Hurd. Maren Morris has had two albums that sold enough copies to be certified in North America. She has also had three number one songs on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

Maren Morris has been recognized on many important lists. In 2018, Forbes magazine included her in their 30 Under 30 list. Out Magazine named her one of the most important LGBTQ+ artists in 2024. Billboard also put her on their list of the top 50 most successful Country Artists of the 2010s. In 2024, she was included in their list of the 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time.

Early Life and Musical Start

Maren Morris was born in Arlington, Texas. Her parents are Greg and Kellie Morris. Maren was named after an actress named Maren Jensen. She has a younger sister named Karsen. Maren's parents owned a hair salon called Maren Karsen Aveda Hair Salon.

Maren spent a lot of her childhood at the salon. She even worked there later, helping customers. When she was in elementary school, she sang in the school choir. She also acted in plays and played soccer. One day, at a party at her parents' salon, she discovered she could sing. She sang karaoke songs by Patsy Cline and LeAnn Rimes. Her father, Greg Morris, was very impressed. He started to encourage her to sing regularly.

One of Maren's first performances was at Johnnie High's, a country music show. It was like a smaller version of the Grand Ole Opry. After that, Maren knew that singing was what she wanted to do. When she was 12, her father bought her a guitar. This inspired her to start writing her own songs. Maren went to James Bowie High School in Arlington. She continued to play soccer there. Her favorite classes were creative writing and art.

Building a Music Career

Starting in Texas and Moving to Nashville (2002–2015)

Maren Morris began touring around her home state of Texas when she was 11 years old. Her father helped her by being her manager and booking agent. Maren often performed in cities like Dallas and Fort Worth. She played in bars and clubs. She said that music was "this weekend job" while her friends were having sleepovers.

In 2005, Maren flew alone for the first time to attend a Grammy camp. She was one of many high school students chosen for this camp. It was sponsored by the Grammy Foundation. There, she met people from the music industry at workshops. In 2005, when she was 15, Maren released her first album called Walk On. A small label called Mozzi Bozzi released it. The album had ten songs, most of which Maren wrote herself. Her parents helped pay for the album.

In 2007, another label, Smith Music, released Maren's second album, All That It Takes. This album also had mostly songs she wrote. In her late teens, Maren tried out for many TV music shows. These included American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, and Nashville Star. She was not chosen for any of them. Years later, her songs would be sung by contestants on these very shows. Maren also joined a teen band called They Were Stars. She played keyboards and sang backup vocals. After high school, Maren briefly went to the University of North Texas. She left after one semester. In 2011, her third album, Live Wire, was released.

During this time, Maren visited her friend, Kacey Musgraves, in Nashville. Kacey encouraged Maren to move there too. After saving enough money, Maren moved to Nashville. She spent her first year meeting other writers. She then met Carla Wallace, who worked for Big Yellow Dog Music. Carla was impressed by Maren's songwriting. She signed Maren to a four-year songwriting contract. Maren started writing songs with other people. Soon, other country artists began recording her songs. Tim McGraw recorded "Last Turn Home" in 2014. Kelly Clarkson recorded "Second Wind" in 2015.

Some of Maren's songs were very personal. Carla Wallace encouraged her to start recording her own music. One of these personal songs was "My Church", which she wrote in March 2015. After hearing the demo, Maren wanted to keep the song for herself. Around this time, she met record producer Busbee. He was very impressed by Maren's writing and singing. He said, "She was singing her own music, and it was world class."

Breakthrough with Hero (2016–2017)

Maren first released five songs on her own. This was an extended play called Maren Morris. It came out on Spotify in August 2015. The songs were streamed 2.5 million times in just one month. Three of her songs appeared on Spotify's "Viral 50" chart. This success caught the attention of bigger record labels. She signed with Columbia Nashville in September 2015. The label re-released her five-song EP in November 2015. "My Church" was the main song from this project. The EP reached number 22 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. It also hit number one on the Top Heatseekers chart.

In 2016, "My Church" became Maren's first big hit. It reached number five on the Billboard country songs chart. Maren later won a Grammy Award for the song. Her first album with Columbia Nashville, Hero, was released in June 2016. It reached number five on the Billboard 200 chart. It also hit number one on the country albums chart. The New York Times called Hero "utterly of its moment." Three more songs from Hero became popular: "80's Mercedes", "I Could Use a Love Song", and "Rich". These songs reached the top ten of the Billboard country charts.

With her new success, Maren toured with Keith Urban in 2016. Then, in 2017, she had her own "Hero" tour to support her album. A special version of Hero was released in March 2017 with three new songs. She also sang on Thomas Rhett's song "Craving You" in 2017. Maren also sang on Niall Horan's pop song "Seeing Blind" in 2017. She later opened for Horan on his tour. After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Maren released "Dear Hate". This was a song she wrote and recorded with Vince Gill. All the money from the song went to help victims. Maren continued to win awards, including "Best New Artist" from the Country Music Association. She also received more Grammy nominations.

Pop Success and New Music (2018–Present)

Maren Morris sang on Zedd's 2018 hit song "The Middle".

In 2018, Zedd and Grey asked Maren to sing on their pop song "The Middle". Zedd came to Nashville to record Maren's part. The song became a huge pop hit and helped Maren reach new fans. "The Middle" reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard magazine said the song showed a new way for country artists to have pop hits. On October 5, 2018, Maren joined Taylor Swift on stage in Arlington, Texas. They sang "The Middle" together during Swift's tour.

Maren's next album, Girl, came out in March 2019. Maren said the album showed her own experiences as a young woman. It also highlighted the experiences of other women her age. Rolling Stone magazine praised the album. The album topped the Billboard country albums chart. It also reached the top five of the Billboard 200. Maren then went on the Girl: The World Tour to support the album. The first song from the album, "Girl", reached number one on the Billboard country airplay chart. The second song, "The Bones", topped both the Country Airplay and Country Songs charts in 2020. A version of "The Bones" with Hozier became her second pop hit. Girl won Album of the Year at the 2019 Country Music Association Awards. Maren also won Female Vocalist of the Year from the association. She later won Female Artist of the Year twice at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

In March 2019, it was announced that Maren would form a group called The Highwomen. The group included Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby. They made their first live performance in April 2019. They sang "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels". Their first song, "Redesigning Women", came out on July 19, 2019. Their album, also called The Highwomen, was released in September 2019. The album debuted in the top ten on the Billboard 200 and was number one on the Country Chart.

In 2021, Maren worked with her husband Ryan Hurd on the song "Chasing After You". This song reached the top five on the Billboard country charts. She also sang on John Mayer's song "Last Train Home" in June 2021. In January 2022, Maren's next song, "Circles Around This Town", was released. Her next album, Humble Quest, followed in March 2022. Greg Kurstin produced this album. GQ magazine said the album sounded like a "return from glittery pop to her stripped-down country origins." Humble Quest debuted at number two on the Billboard country albums chart.

In late 2023, Maren Morris shared that she would be moving away from the country music genre. She told the Los Angeles Times that she felt she had "said everything" she wanted to say in country music. Columbia Records released an extended play called The Bridge. It has the songs "The Tree" and "Get the Hell Out of Here". She also announced plans to work on a new album with Jack Antonoff.

In 2024, Maren Morris performed her song "Better than We Found It" at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Maren also sang two songs, "Kiss the Sky" and "Even When I'm Not," for the DreamWorks animated movie The Wild Robot. The movie's soundtrack came out on September 27, 2024. "Kiss the Sky" was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Maren Morris's Music Style

Maren Morris's music style mixes country music with country pop, R&B, and even some hip hop. Music writers have noted that her first two albums combined country with R&B and hip hop sounds. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic said that her 2016 album Hero had "R&B influences." Jewly Hight of Billboard described Hero as showing how country-pop can be flexible. The Hartford Courant praised her 2019 album Girl for using similar styles.

Many writers and critics have also noticed Maren Morris's singing voice. When reviewing her 2019 album, Jon Caramanica called her voice "versatile." This means it can easily move between country and pop styles. Chris Richards of The Washington Post said Maren Morris has "the best voice of any country singer working today." He explained that her singing has a "sophistication" that sounds very special.

Maren Morris herself says she is a country artist. In an interview with NPR, she was asked if she still felt connected to the genre. She said, "even though I live in Nashville and I'm from Texas and I feel like my songwriting at its core is country, I think you can hear a lot of different influences when you've heard any of my records." Other writers agree. Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that Maren's music was based in country. But she also added parts of pop, R&B, hip-hop, and rock. This created a unique and stylish mix that many people enjoyed.

Maren Morris has said that many different artists have influenced her career. These include Katy Perry, Coldplay, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Chaka Khan, and Hank Williams.

Helping Others and Speaking Out

In 2017, Maren Morris started the Heroes Fund. This fund raises money to support music education in public schools. Through this program, Maren gave $70,000 to East Nashville Magnet High School. This money helped their music and drama departments. In April 2021, Maren donated $300,000 to several groups. These included the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Together We Rise, and Ecologi. In August 2021, Maren joined other country artists to raise money for Together: Feeding Nashville. This concert helped fight food insecurity in the Nashville area. The show raised a total of $450,000.

Maren Morris has also spoken up for fairness in country music. She has talked about the differences in how white and black artists are treated in the genre. She told The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021, "I'm a white woman in country music. I already have this sort of leg-up. There's a huge disparity between men and women in our genre, there's even more of a disparity between white women and black women trying to be in country music." In her 2020 CMA Awards speech, Maren thanked several black artists who helped make her award possible. These included Mickey Guyton, Linda Martell, and Brittney Spencer. In early 2021, Maren spoke out against country artist Morgan Wallen. This was after a video showed him using a racial slur. She told Variety, "You can't control a human being, but you absolutely can let them know where you stand."

In August 2022, Maren Morris responded to a social media post by Jason Aldean's wife, Brittany. Maren and other country singers felt Brittany Aldean's comments were unfair to transgender people. A TV host later called Maren a "lunatic country music person." In response, Maren sold T-shirts with that phrase on them. She said that money from the shirts would go to GLAAD, an organization that supports LGBTQ+ rights. In September 2022, she worked with GLAAD to design a new T-shirt for Spirit Day. In September 2023, Maren told The Los Angeles Times that she planned to leave the country music industry. She said this was because the industry was not addressing issues of misogyny (unfair treatment of women) and racism. She also felt it did not support artists from minority groups.

Personal Life

Maren Morris married Ryan Hurd in 2018. Hurd is shown performing at C2C (Country to Country) in Nashville, March 2018

Maren Morris met fellow country singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd while they were writing a song together. In December 2015, they started dating. They announced they were engaged in July 2017. They got married on March 24, 2018, in Nashville. Their son was born in March 2020. Maren Morris filed for divorce in October 2023, and their divorce was finalized in January 2024.

Discography

• Hero (2016)
• Girl (2019)
• Humble Quest (2022)

Film and TV Appearances

Maren Morris has appeared in some TV shows and films.

Awards and Tours

Awards and Nominations

Maren Morris has won many awards for her music. She has won five awards from the Academy of Country Music. She also has five awards from the Country Music Association and one from the Grammy Awards.

Concert Tours

Maren Morris has performed on several tours.

Headlining Tours

• The Hero Tour (2017)
• GIRL: The World Tour (2019)
• Humble Quest Tour (2022)
• RSVP Redux Tour (2024)

Supporting Tours

• Ripcord World Tour (2016) (with Keith Urban)
• 15 in a 30 Tour (2017) (with Sam Hunt)
• Flicker World Tour (2018) (with Niall Horan)
• Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour (2019) (with Miranda Lambert)
• The Chicks World Tour 2023 (2023) (with The Chicks)
• 2024 North American Summer Tour (2024) (with Maroon 5)

Images for kids

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  Maren Morris sang on Zedd's 2018 hit song "The Middle".

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  Maren Morris married Ryan Hurd in 2018. Hurd is shown performing at C2C (Country to Country) in Nashville, March 2018

See also

In Spanish: Maren Morris para niños