Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She began her music 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, she appeared on the fifth season of the USA Network singing competition Nashville Star, where she finished in seventh place.[2][3][4] In 2012, she signed with Mercury Nashville and released the hit single "Merry Go 'Round". Her major-label debut album, Same Trailer Different Park (2013), won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.
Kacey Musgraves
- Singer
- musician
- songwriter
1999[1]–present
Mineola, Texas, U.S.
- Vocals
- mandolin
- harmonica
- banjo
- guitar
- piano
Her second album, Pageant Material (2015), debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart and yielded the critically and commercially successful singles "Biscuits" and "Dime Store Cowgirl". Musgraves also released a Christmas-themed album, A Very Kacey Christmas, in 2016.[5] 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.[6] The album's first two singles, "Space Cowboy" and "Butterflies", won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance, respectively.[7] Musgraves' fifth studio album, Star-Crossed (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, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Her sixth album, Deeper Well, came out in early 2024.
Throughout her career, Musgraves has won seven Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards.
Early life[edit]
Kacey Lee Musgraves was born August 21, 1988 [8][9][10][11] in Golden, Texas,[12] to Karen (née Abrams) and Craig Musgraves. Craig owns a small printing business, M-Prints Printing, Inc., in Mineola, Texas, and Karen Musgraves is an artist. Musgraves has stated that she was born six weeks prematurely and weighed only five pounds. Musgraves has one younger sister, Kelly Christine Sutton (née Musgraves), who is a photographer.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
Musgraves began to write songs at age eight; her first was a song for her elementary-school graduation, "Notice Me".[17] She first learned to play music on the mandolin, 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."[17] She also learned harmonica.[19]
Musgraves' mother took her to local music festivals to sing western swing music.[20] She and co-student Alina Tatum formed country-music duo Texas Two Bits, toured through Texas, and released an independent album in 2000,[21] and earned an invitation to perform at President George W. Bush's "Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball".[22] Musgraves also won yodeling national championships[19] and was selected to sing the national anthem at the 2002 Winter Olympics.[23] At age 14, her family funded her first solo, self-released album.[17] She graduated from Mineola High School in 2006 and moved to Austin, Texas at 18.[17] In 2007, Musgraves competed on Season 5 of the singing competition reality TV series Nashville Star, where she placed seventh.[24][25] To sustain herself she took various jobs, including performing as Hannah Montana for children's birthday parties.[26]
Personal life[edit]
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 becoming friends first.[110]
Musgraves met Ruston Kelly at the Bluebird Café in Nashville. In May 2016, they had a songwriting date, and they began dating shortly after. Musgraves stated that the song "Butterflies" from her album Golden Hour is about her courtship with Kelly.[14][111] On December 24, 2016, Musgraves became engaged to Kelly.[112] They married on October 14, 2017, in Tennessee.[113] The couple filed for divorce in July 2020,[114] which was finalized in September 2020.[115] From 2021 to 2023, Musgraves was in a relationship with poet Cole Schafer.[116]
Headlining
Opening act
At the Grammy Awards Musgraves has received seven awards from thirteen nominations.