# Lori McKenna

Lorraine McKenna (née Giroux; born December 22, 1968) is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer-songwriter. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and won Best Country Song for co-writing the hit single "Girl Crush" performed by Little Big Town. In 2017, she again won Best Country Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards for writing "Humble and Kind" performed by Tim McGraw. McKenna along with Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby and Hillary Lindsey wrote the second single off the soundtrack to the 2018 film A Star Is Born called "Always Remember Us This Way.” McKenna performed backing vocals along with Lindsey and Hemby, and the song received a nomination for Song of the Year at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.

## Early and personal life

McKenna was born and raised in Stoughton, Massachusetts, where she still lives today. Her mother died when she was seven years old, a theme often touched on in her music. She met her husband, Gene McKenna, in third grade and married him at age 19. She has five children and has been married for more than 30 years.
McKenna first started writing lullabies to her children. Her brother, who first introduced her to the guitar, encouraged her to attend an open-mic night at the Old Vienna Kaffeehause in Westborough, Massachusetts in 1996. The organizer heard her play and encouraged her to come back, becoming her informal manager and booking shows for her around Boston.

## Career

McKenna was managed by Gabriel Unger from 2000 to 2004. During this time, she released her first four albums under Signature Sounds and developed a folk music fan base in the Northeast. She won awards at the Boston Music Awards, and performed at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2004, singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier introduced McKenna's album Bittertown to her Nashville friends. Upon hearing it, Faith Hill stalled her completed 2005 record Fireflies to replace tracks with covers of McKenna's songs. Hill and husband Tim McGraw became McKenna's champions and asked her to tour with them in 2006. Hill took McKenna to perform with her on the Oprah Winfrey Show. McGraw helped bring McKenna to Warner Bros. Nashville in 2007 and produced her album Unglamorous. Following the lackluster sales, she parted ways with Warner Bros. She then signed with Universal Music Group Publishing in 2009 and independently released her next album Lorraine in 2011.
Since then, McKenna has become "one of the industry’s most in-demand songwriters." She has written songs for artists including Sara Evans, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban. She wrote 10 songs that made it to the Billboard Hot Country list, including Hunter Hayes' "I Want Crazy", Faith Hill's "Stealing Kisses", Tim McGraw's "Humble and Kind"; and Little Big Town's "Your Side of the Bed", "Sober", and "Girl Crush."
McKenna writes solo and co-writes with songwriters Hillary Lindsay and Liz Rose. The group wrote the song "Girl Crush", and it became a hit for the band Little Big Town. The song received Grammy nominations for both Song of the Year and Best Country Song, winning the latter in 2016. The song was nominated for Song of the Year Song at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and won Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
McKenna won another Grammy the next year for Best Country Song for "Humble and Kind" by Tim McGraw. McKenna wrote the song as "lullaby, guidebook, and tribute" to her five children. The song was named Song of the Year at the 2016 CMA Awards and won favorite country song at the American Music Awards the same year. In 2017, "Humble and Kind" was nominated for Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year at the ACM Awards. McKenna was named Songwriter of the Year at the ACM's that same year.
McKenna has received critical acclaim for her album The Bird and the Rifle. The album was produced by Dave Cobb and nominated for Best Americana Album at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, and the single "Wreck You" was nominated for Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance. McKenna was nominated for the 2017 Americana Music Awards Artist of the Year. Her 10th studio album, The Tree, was produced by Dave Cobb and released in summer 2018 through Thirty Tiger Records.
In 2015, McKenna was signed to a management and publishing deal with Creative Nation, a Nashville-based company owned and operated by songwriter Luke Laird and his wife Beth. On September 25, 2018, McKenna signed a publishing deal with Creative Nation for a three-year deal.
In 2020, McKenna released her eleventh album, The Balladeer, through CN Records and Thirty Tigers. Music critic Robert Christgau hailed it as "the most consistently top-notch album of her late-blooming career".
In 2020, McKenna co-wrote "A Beautiful Noise" with 7 other female writers - Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Hillary Lindsey, Ruby Amanfu, Hailey Whitters and Linda Perry - and the song was performed by Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile with the purpose of inspiring American voters to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election.
In 2021, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift released her second re-recorded album Red (Taylor's Version), including a song called "I Bet You Think About Me" featuring Chris Stapleton. The song was written by Swift and McKenna in 2011.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Sales |
| Title | Album details | US Country | US | US Heat | US Folk | US Indie | Sales |
| Paper Wings and Halo | Release date: March 24, 2000 Label: Gyrox Records / Catalyst Disc / Signature Sounds | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Pieces of Me | Release date: November 20, 2001 Label: Signature Sounds / Catalyst Disc | — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Kitchen Tapes | Release date: February 10, 2004 Label: Gyrox Records | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Bittertown | Release date: May 11, 2004 Label: Signature Sounds / Warner Bros. Nashville | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Unglamorous | Release date: August 14, 2007 Label: Warner Bros. Nashville | 19 | 109 | 1 | — | — | |
| Lorraine | Release date: January 25, 2011 Label: Signature Sounds | — | 196 | 5 | 6 | 30 | |
| Massachusetts | Release date: April 23, 2013 Label: 1-2-3-4-GO! | — | — | 11 | 18 | — | |
| Numbered Doors | Release date: September 23, 2014 Label: Hoodie Songs | — | — | 25 | 13 | — | |
| The Bird and the Rifle | Release date: July 29, 2016 Label: CN Records | 19 | — | 6 | 4 | 15 | US: 4,500 |
| The Tree | Release date: July 20, 2018 Label: CN Records/ Thirty Tigers | 39 | — | 1 | 9 | 4 | US: 5,100 |
| The Balladeer | Release date: July 24, 2020 Label: CN Records | — | — | 20 | 25 | — | |
| 1988 | Release date: July 21, 2023 Label: CN Records | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart ||||||||

### Songwriting

| Year | Artist | Album | Song Title | Co-Writers |
| 2004 | Carol Laula | To Let | "Broken Inside" | |
| 2005 | Faith Hill | Fireflies | "If You Ask" | |
| 2005 | Faith Hill | Fireflies | "Fireflies" | |
| 2005 | Faith Hill | Fireflies | "Stealing Kisses" | |
| 2005 | Faith Hill | Fireflies | "Lone Star" | |
| 2005 | Sara Evans | Real Fine Place | "Bible Song" | |
| 2007 | Tim McGraw | Let It Go | "I’m Workin’" | Darrell Scott |
| 2007 | Mandy Moore | Wild Hope | "Most of Me" | Mandy Moore |
| 2007 | Mandy Moore | Wild Hope | "Latest Mistake" | Mandy Moore |
| 2007 | Mandy Moore | Wild Hope | "Can't You Just Adore Her?" | Mandy Moore |
| 2007 | Mandy Moore | Wild Hope | "Swept Away" | Mandy Moore |
| 2007 | Jimmy Ryan | Fun with Music | "My Last Whiskey Song" | Jimmy Ryan |
| 2008 | Vance Gilbert | Up on Rockfield | "House of Prayer" | Vance Gilbert |
| 2008 | Jimmy Wayne | Do You Believe Me Now | "True Believer" | Liz Rose |
| 2008 | Heidi Newfield | What I Am Waiting For | "Wreck You" | Edward McTeigue |
| 2009 | Mandy Moore | Amanda Leigh | "Everblue" | Mandy Moore |
| 2009 | Alexandra Samson | Takin’ My Time | "I See Smoke" | Liz Rose |
| 2009 | Alexandra Samson | Takin’ My Time | "I Don’t Think I Deserve This" | Liz Rose |
| 2010 | Ashley Ray | Ashley Ray | "Figured it Out" | |
| 2010 | Keith Urban | Get Closer | "The Luxury of Knowing" | |
| 2010 | Melissa Ferrick | Enough About Me | "How to be Righteous" | |
| 2011 | Melissa Rae Barrie | Breakaway | "Adore Her" | Mandy Moore |
| 2011 | Steel Magnolia | Steel Magnolia | "Bullet Proof" | Chris Tompkins |
| 2011 | Sunny Sweeney | Concrete | "The Old Me" | Mark D. Sanders |
| 2011 | Alison Krauss | Paper Airplane | "My Love Follows You Where You Go" | Barry Dean; Liz Rose |
| 2012 | Ashley Monroe | Like a Rose | "The Morning After" | Ashley Monroe; Liz Rose |
| 2012 | Trent Dabbs | Southerner | "Can I Cross Your Mind" | Trent Dabbs |
| 2012 | Mindy Smith | Mindy Smith | "Devils Inside" | Mindy Smith |
| 2012 | Buffy Lawson | I’m Leaving You for Me | "Lightning in a Bottle" | Ashley Monroe; Liz Rose |
| 2012 | Meghan Sheehan | About Love | "Break Me in Two" | Liz Rose; Jesse Sheely |
| 2012 | Walt Wilkins | Plenty | "Gray Hawk" | Liz Rose; Walt Wilkins |
| 2013 | Hunter Hayes | Encore | "I Want Crazy" | Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges |
| 2013 | Little Big Town | Tornado | "Your Side of the Bed" | Karen Fairchild; Kimberly Schlapman; Phillip Sweet; Jimi Westbrook |
| 2013 | Little Big Town | Tornado | "Sober" | Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose |
| 2013 | Drew Kennedy | Wide Listener | "Rose of Jericho" | Drew Kennedy |
| 2013 | Drew Kennedy | Wide Listener | "Sleeping Alone" | Drew Kennedy |
| 2013 | Trent Dabbs | The Way We Look at Horses | "Natural Causes" | Trent Dabbs |
| 2013 | Holly Williams | The Highway | "Without You" | Holly Williams |
| 2014 | Little Big Town | Pain Killer | "Tumble and Fall" | Karen Fairchild; Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose; Kimberly Schlapman |
| 2014 | Little Big Town | Pain Killer | "Save Your Sin" | Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose |
| 2014 | Caitlyn Smith | Everything to You EP | "Everything to You" | Liz Rose; Caitlyn Smith |
| 2014 | Caitlyn Smith | Everything to You EP | "Grown Woman" | Liz Rose; Caitlyn Smith |
| 2014 | Angaleena Presley | American Middle Class | "Grocery Store" | Angaleena Presley |
| 2014 | Wade Bowen | Wade Bowen | "Long Enough to be a Memory" | Wade Bowen; Ashley Ray |
| 2014 | Doc Walker | The 8th | "That’s How I Like It" | Liz Rose; Nathan Chapman |
| 2014 | Antigone Rising | Whiskey & Wine Vol. 1 | "That was the Whiskey" | Nini Camps Cathy Henderson; Kristen Henderson |
| 2014 | Antigone Rising | Whiskey & Wine Vol. 1 | "Call Me Crazy" | Nini Camps Cathy Henderson; Kristen Henderson |
| 2014 | Jill Johnson | Songs for Daddy | "No Other Daddy but You" | Lisa Carver; Jill Johnson; Liz Rose |
| 2015 | Little Big Town | Pain Killer | "Girl Crush" | Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose |
| 2015 | Antigone Rising | Whiskey & Wine Vol. 2 | "Game Changer" | Nini Camps Cathy Henderson; Kristen Henderson |
| 2015 | Antigone Rising | Whiskey & Wine Vol. 2 | "My Town" | Nini Camps Cathy Henderson; Kristen Henderson |
| 2015 | RaeLynn | Me EP | "God Made Girls" | Nicolle Galyon; RaeLynn; Liz Rose |
| 2015 | Amber Lawrence | I Will Love You – Single | "I Will Love You" | Phil Barton; Kylie Sackley |
| 2015 | Reba McEntire | Love Somebody | "Until They Don’t Love You" | Shane McAnally; Josh Osborne |
| 2015 | Hunter Hayes | The 21 Project | "Saint or A Sinner" | Barry Dean; Hunter Hayes |
| 2016 | Tim McGraw | Damn Country Music | "Humble and Kind" | |
| 2016 | LeAnn Rimes | Remnants | "How To Kiss A Boy" | Barry Dean |
| 2016 | Brandy Clark | Big Day in a Small Town | "Three Kids No Husband" | Brandy Clark |
| 2016 | Native Run | When I’m Taken EP | "BIC Lighter" | Barry Dean; Luke Laird |
| 2016 | David Nail | Fighter | Home | Barry Dean; David Nail |
| 2016 | Kree Harrison | "This Old Thing" | The Time I’ve Wasted | Liz Rose; Jesse Walker |
| 2017 | Little Big Town | The Breaker | "When Someone Stops Loving You" | Hillary Lindsey; Chase McGill |
| 2017 | Little Big Town | The Breaker | "Happy People" | Hailey Whitters |
| 2017 | Little Big Town | The Breaker | "Free" | Barry Dean; Natalie Hemby; Luke Laird |
| 2017 | Little Big Town | The Breaker | "Lost in California" | Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose |
| 2017 | Little Big Town | The Breaker | "Don’t Die Young, Don’t Get Old" | Karen Fairchild; Hillary Lindsey; Kimberly Schlapman |
| 2017 | Eli Young Band | "Skin & Bones" | Skin & Bones | Phil Barton; Mike Eli |
| 2017 | Jillian Jacqueline | God Bless This Mess | God Bless this Mess | Tofer Brown; Jillian Jacqueline |
| 2017 | Tim McGraw & Faith Hill | The Rest of Our Life | "The Bed We Made" | Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose |
| 2017 | Tim McGraw & Faith Hill | The Rest of Our Life | "Damn Good at Holding On" | Barry Dean |
| 2017 | The Cadillac Three | Legacy | "American Slang" | Jaren Johnston; Neil Mason |
| 2017 | The Cadillac Three | Legacy | "Love Me like Liquor feat. Lori McKenna" | Jaren Johnston; Neil Mason |
| 2017 | Sunny Sweeney | Trophy | "Nothing Wrong with Texas" | Sunny Sweeney |
| 2017 | Sunny Sweeney | Trophy | "Grow Old with Me" | Sunny Sweeney |
| 2017 | Natalie Stovall | Wine or Whiskey - Single | "Wine or Whiskey" | Andrew Dorf; Jimi Westbook |
| 2017 | Brandon Rhyder | Brandon Rhyder | "They Need Each Other" | Brandon Rhyder |
| 2017 | Brandon Rhyder | Brandon Rhyder | "Shake" | |
| 2018 | Carrie Underwood | Cry Pretty | "Cry Pretty" | Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose; Carrie Underwood |
| 2018 | Glen Phillips | Swallowed by the New | "Nobody’s Gonna Get Hurt" | Glen Phillips |
| 2018 | Jillian Jacqueline | Sad Girls | "Sad Girls" | Jillian Jacqueline; Tofer Brown |
| 2019 | Sara Bareilles | Amidst the Chaos | "Miss Simone" | Sara Bareilles |
| 2019 | Sara Bareilles | Amidst the Chaos | "Saint Honesty" | Sara Bareilles |
| 2019 | Sara Bareilles | Amidst the Chaos | "A Safe Place to Land" | Sara Bareilles |
| 2019 | Lady Gaga | A Star Is Born | "Always Remember Us This Way" | Lady Gaga; Natalie Hemby; Hillary Lindsey |
| 2020 | Mandy Moore | Silver Landings | "If That's What It Takes" | Mandy Moore; Mike Viola; Taylor Goldsmith |
| 2020 | Cam | The Otherside | "Forgetting You" | Cam; Tyler Johnson; Mitch Rowland |
| 2020 | Cam | The Otherside | "Like a Movie" | Cam; Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose |
| 2020 | Cam | The Otherside | "Changes" | Thomas Hull; Tyler Johnson; Harry Styles |
| 2020 | The Highwomen | Crowded Table | "Crowded Table" | Brandi Carlile; Natalie Hemby |
| 2020 | Alicia Keys & Brandi Carlile | A Beautiful Noise - Single | "A Beautiful Noise" | Alicia Keys; Brandi Carlile, Ruby Amanfu; Brandy Clark; Hillary Lindsey; Hailey Whitters and Linda Perry |
| 2021 | Taylor Swift | Red (Taylor's Version) | "I Bet You Think About Me" (featuring Chris Stapleton) | Taylor Swift |
| 2022 | Maren Morris | Humble Quest | "Hummingbird" | Maren Morris; Hillary Lindsey; and Liz Rose |
| 2022 | Thomas Rhett | Where We Started | "The Hill" | Jordan Reynolds; Emily Weisband |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2015 | Country Music Association Awards | Song of the Year | "Girl Crush" | Won |
| 2016 | Grammy Awards | Song of the Year | "Girl Crush" | Nominated |
| 2016 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Song | "Girl Crush" | Won |
| 2016 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Song of the Year | "Girl Crush" | Nominated |
| 2016 | Country Music Association Awards | Song of the Year | "Humble and Kind" | Won |
| 2017 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Song | "Humble and Kind" | Won |
| 2017 | Grammy Awards | Best American Roots Performance | "Wreck You" | Nominated |
| 2017 | Grammy Awards | Best American Roots Song | "Wreck You" | Nominated |
| 2017 | Grammy Awards | Best Americana Album | The Bird and the Rifle | Nominated |
| 2017 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Songwriter of the Year | Lori McKenna | Won |
| 2017 | Academy of Country Music Awards | Song of the Year | "Humble and Kind" | Nominated |
| 2017 | Americana Music Honors & Awards | Artist of the Year | Lori McKenna | Nominated |
| 2017 | Americana Music Honors & Awards | Song of the Year | "Wreck You" | Nominated |
| 2019 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Song | "When Someone Stops Loving You" | Nominated |
| 2019 | Americana Music Honors & Awards | Album of the Year | The Tree | Nominated |
| 2019 | Americana Music Honors & Awards | Song of the Year | "People Get Old" | Nominated |
| 2019 | Americana Music Honors & Awards | Song of the Year | "By Degrees" (with Mark Erelli, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Anaïs Mitchell and Josh Ritter) | Nominated |
| 2020 | Grammy Awards | Song of the Year | "Always Remember Us This Way" | Nominated |
| 2020 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Song | "It All Comes Out in the Wash" | Nominated |
| 2021 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Song | "Crowded Table" | Won |
| 2022 | Grammy Awards | Song of the Year | "A Beautiful Noise" | Nominated |
| 2023 | Grammy Awards | Best Country Song | "I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)" | Nominated |