Kacey Musgraves

**Kacey Lee Musgraves** (born August 21, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Musgraves has won eight Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and four Academy of Country Music Awards.

Musgraves began her career in the early 2000s, when she released three solo albums on her own and recorded another album as part of the musical group Texas Two Bits. In 2007, Musgraves was on the fifth season of the USA Network singing competition *Nashville Star*, where she finished in seventh place. In 2012, she signed with Mercury Nashville and released the hit single "Merry Go 'Round". Her first studio album, *Same Trailer Different Park* (2013), won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2014.

Musgraves' second studio album, *Pageant Material* (2015), was at number three on the *Billboard* 200 chart. She released a Christmas-themed album, *A Very Kacey Christmas* (2016). Her fourth studio album *Golden Hour* (2018) was released to positive reviews from critics and won all four of its nominated Grammy Award categories, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album. The album's first two singles, "Space Cowboy" and "Butterflies", won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance. Musgraves' fifth studio album, *Star-Crossed* (2021), became her fourth top-ten album on the *Billboard* 200. 

In 2023, she worked with Zach Bryan on Bryan's single "I Remember Everything", which won a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Her sixth studio album, *Deeper Well* (2024), was at number two on the *Billboard* 200, and the album's single "The Architect" won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. In 2026, she announced her seventh album called *Middle of Nowhere*.

## Early life
Kacey Lee Musgraves was born August 21, 1988, in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Her parents are Karen (née Abrams), an artist, and Craig Musgraves, owner of a small printing business. She was born six weeks premature and weighed only five pounds. She has a younger sister, Kelly Christine Sutton, who is a photographer. Musgraves was raised in Mineola, Texas and in Golden, Texas.

Musgraves started writing songs at the age of eight. Musgraves also learned how to play the harmonica around this time.

Musgraves' mother took her to local music festivals to sing western swing music. She made a country-music duo called Texas Two Bits with a classmate Alina Tatum. The group was invited to sing at President George W. Bush's "Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball" in 2001. Musgraves also won yodeling national championships and was called the "Yodeling Queen of Texas". At age 14, her family paid for her first solo, self-released album. Her parents would go on to pay for two more independent albums while Musgraves was a teenager. In 2007, Musgraves took part in season five of the singing competition reality television series *Nashville Star*, where she came in seventh place. To support her career, Musgraves worked many jobs, including performing as Hannah Montana for children's birthday parties.

## Career
### 2008–2014: Early start
Musgraves recorded three albums on her own in 2002, 2003, and 2007 with the help of her parents. She worked with the Josh Abbott Band in 2010 on the song "Oh, Tonight". Musgraves also recorded two acoustic covers of OneRepublic's "Apologize" and Miley Cyrus' "See You Again" for Triple Pop.

Musgraves joined Lady A during the European part of their Own the Night Tour in 2012. In 2012, she signed with Mercury Nashville and released her first solo single "Merry Go 'Round". The song is included on her first major album *Same Trailer Different Park*, which was released on March 19, 2013. The album sold 42,000 copies. Musgraves started a tour to support the album in 2013 and would last two years. Musgraves co-wrote Miranda Lambert's 2013 single "Mama's Broken Heart".

Musgraves was nominated for six awards at the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in 2012. Musgraves was also nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2014. "Merry Go 'Round" won the Best Country Song Grammy award, and *Same Trailer Different Park* won in Best Country Album.

Musgraves joined Katy Perry on the North American part of her Prismatic World Tour as well as Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss on during their tour. Musgraves also sang in "Bourbon in Kentucky", the lead single on Dierks Bentley's 2013 album *Riser*. In April 2014, Musgraves won the Academy of Country Music award for album of the year for *Same Trailer Different Park.* In June 2014, she released a new song called *The Trailer Song*, which she sang on *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon*.

### 2015–2017: *Pageant Material* 
In September 2014, Musgraves said that she had begun writing songs for her second major label album. "Biscuits", the main song from the album, was released on March 16, 2015. *Pageant Material*, Musgraves' second studio album, was released on June 23, 2015. In 2015, she started the Kacey Musgraves Country & Western Rhinestone Revue Tour, which lasted for a year. On September 7, 2016, Musgraves announced the release of her first Christmas album, *A Very Kacey Christmas*. To support the album, she started the short A Very Kacey Christmas Tour.

In 2017, Musgraves was one of the background singers for "All the Best", a John Prine cover, for Zac Brown Band's album *Welcome Home*. Also in 2017, Musgraves was in *Outlaw: Celebrating the Music of Waylon Jennings*, where she sang "The Wurlitzer Prize".

### 2018–2020: *Golden Hour* and rising success 
In December 2017, Musgraves announced the title of her third studio album *Golden Hour* through *Entertainment Weekly*. The songs "Butterflies" and "Space Cowboy" were released as the first singles from the album on February 23, 2018. 

Musgraves released "High Horse", the third song from the album, on March 22, 2018. A week later, she sang "Slow Burn" on *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert*. *Golden Hour* was released on March 30, 2018, on MCA Nashville. On May 12, 2018, Musgraves was the musical guest on *Saturday Night Live*, performing "High Horse" and "Slow Burn". Through June and July, Musgraves was the opening act for the North American part of Harry Styles: Live on Tour. In September, Musgraves was in a re-recorded version of "There's No Gettin' Over Me" with Ronnie Milsap for his 2019 album. In October 2018, Musgraves started the "Oh, What a World Tour" in support of *Golden Hour*. 

In February 2019, *Golden Hour* won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 2019. In April, Musgraves was in the new version of "Neon Moon" with Brooks and Dunn for their duet album *Reboot*. She also made a cameo appearance as herself in the country-music drama movie *Wild Rose*, released in April. In May, Musgraves went to the Met Gala where she dressed up as a Barbie doll and later said signed up with IMG to be a model. In October 2019, Musgraves revealed that she would cover the song "All Is Found" for *Frozen II*.

On November 4, 2019, Musgraves announced *The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show*, a holiday special for Amazon Prime Video. The soundtrack to the show includes works with other singers, including a cover of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" together with singer Lana Del Rey. The show also stars Kacey's grandmother Barbara Musgraves. In April 2020, she was in the *Together at Home* virtual concert special. That same month, she released an Earth Day inspired remix of "Oh, What a World".

### 2020–2025: *Star-Crossed*, *Deeper Well* and other projects 
In May 2020, Musgraves was part of The Flaming Lips single "Flowers of Neptune 6". She also sang two songs on their album *American Head*, which was released on September 11, 2020. Musgraves was also the background singer on Ruston Kelly's second album *Shape & Destroy*, which was recorded before she and Kelly divorced. On December 10, 2020, Musgraves also took part in Troye Sivan's new version of his song "Easy". She voiced Earwig's mother in the English dub of the 2020 Studio Ghibli movie *Earwig and the Witch*. She also voiced herself in a 2020 episode of *Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?*.

In April 2021, Musgraves announced that her new album would be released later that year with UMG Nashville and Interscope Records. Musgraves began showing short clips of her album on her 33rd birthday. In August 2021, Musgraves said the name of her album would be *Star-Crossed* and would be released on September 10. That same month, Musgraves announced a tour for the album would happen the next year. In October 2021, she became the first ever musical guest to sing while naked on *Saturday Night Live*. In 2022, Musgraves sang a version of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" for the 2022 biographical movie *Elvis*.

Musgraves worked with country singer Zach Bryan on the single "I Remember Everything" from his self-titled fourth studio album in late 2023. The single was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2023 for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. In October 2023, Musgraves worked with Noah Kahan on a re-released version of the single "She Calls Me Back" from Kahan's album *Stick Season*. She was also an executive producer for the Apple TV+ country music competition show *My Kind of Country* in 2023.

In February 2024, Musgraves announced her sixth studio album, *Deeper Well*, which was released on March 15, 2024. In March 2024, she sang two songs from the album on *Saturday Night Live*. That same month, she was a guest and interviewed for two hours with Howard Stern. In April 2024, Musgraves worked with the rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise on the single "Overtime", from the band's new album *Love Hate Music Box*. That same month, her Deeper Well World Tour started. In December 2024, her Deeper Well World Tour ended in Nashville.

In May 2025, Musgraves released a cover of Leon Payne's 1948 single "Lost Highway" to honor the re-opening of Lost Highway Records, a record label she worked with before. In October 2025, she recorded a song called "If the World Burns Down" for the Netflix series *Nobody Wants This*.

### 2026–present: *Middle of Nowhere* 
On March 11, 2026, Musgraves released a new single called "Dry Spell". To promote for the single, she had billboards around Nashville, Los Angeles and New York City with the message 'Dry Spell? Call for a Real Good Time' and a working phone number. That same day, she also said she was making a seventh studio album called *Middle of Nowhere*. The album will be released on May 1, 2026. She worked with other country musicians for her new album such as Miranda Lambert and Willie Nelson.

## Inspirations and music style 
Musgraves said that Alison Krauss is one of her career role models. Musgraves also said her favorite singer is John Prine. She also said Lee Ann Womack is one of her childhood inspirations. 

Musgraves said albums by Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, Marty Robbins, Charley Pride, Roger Miller, and Jim Croce were inspirations for some of her albums. In an interview with *Rolling Stone*, she said that Ray Price, Julie Miller, and Loretta Lynn inspired her music making. In a *Billboard* interview, Musgraves said that she is a Dolly Parton fan and was inspired by her activism.

Some non-country musical inspirations that Musgraves mentioned were Cher, Selena, Ryan Adams, Cake, Neil Young, Weezer, Imogen Heap, Bee Gees, Sade, and Electric Light Orchestra.

Her music has been seen as progressive, which was seen as different from the usual conservative themes in country music. Her music has focused on accepting LGBT people, safe sex, recreational marijuana use, and questioning religious beliefs. In an interview with *The Wall Street Journal*, Musgraves talked about criticism she had for her progressive lyrics, saying "I think throwing the rebel card out there is really cheap. The things I'm singing about are not controversial to me, I don't push buttons to push buttons. I talk about things that have made an impression on me that a lot of people everywhere are going through."

## Personal life 
Musgraves lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She owns a horse named Nava.

Musgraves met Ruston Kelly in March 2016 in Nashville. In May 2016, they had a songwriting date, and they began dating shortly after. On December 24, 2016, Musgraves and Kelly were engaged. They married on October 14, 2017 in Tennessee. The couple divorced in 2020 

From 2021 to 2023, Musgraves was in a relationship with Cole Schafer, a poet.

In June 2025, Musgraves was taken to a hospital after falling and breaking a rib while on vacation in Mexico. This caused Musgraves to cancel a show later in the month and another in September.
*The Kacey Musgraves Country & Western Rhinestone Revue (2015–2016)
*A Very Kacey Christmas Tour (2016)
*Oh, What a World: Tour (2018–2019)
*Star-Crossed: Unveiled (2022)

## Awards and honors 
### Grammys
At the Grammy Awards, Musgraves was nominated seventeen times, winning eight awards.
* Album of the Year &ndash; *Golden Hour* (2019)
* Best Country Song &ndash; "Merry Go 'Round" (2014), "Space Cowboy" (2019), "The Architect" (2025)
* Best Country Album &ndash; *Same Trailer Different Park* (2014), *Golden Hour* (2019)
* Best Country Solo Performance &ndash; "Butterflies" (2019)
* Best Country Duo/Group Performance &ndash; "I Remember Everything" with Zach Bryan (2024)

## References
## Other websites
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