Thomas Rhett

Few country careers have been built as deliberately around the songwriting room as Thomas Rhett's. Born Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. in Valdosta, Georgia, in 1990, he was raised in Hendersonville, Tennessee, the son of the singer and songwriter Rhett Akins, and grew up knowing figures such as Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn. Before fronting his own records he was writing for others, with co-writes for Jason Aldean, Lee Brice, Florida Georgia Line, LoCash and Michael Ray, which gives his sound its craft.

His debut album, It Goes Like This, arrived in October 2013, and its title single topped the Country Airplay chart. Tangled Up followed in September 2015, carrying Die a Happy Man, which spent eight weeks at number one, the second song in that chart's history to do so. Life Changes (2017) included Craving You, featuring Maren Morris, and Center Point Road (2019) opened with Look What God Gave Her. He won Entertainer of the Year at the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards. Across his albums he has placed 21 singles on the Billboard Hot Country and Country Airplay charts.