Photo credit: Alex Ferrari
Columbia Nashville GRAMMY Award-winning singer/songwriter Maren Morris scores her first No. 1 song, as both solo performer and songwriter, with her co-penned “I Could Use A Love Song” on the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase Country charts this week.
The song that The New York Times touts as “phenomenal” and “a meditative plaint with clear passion” has struck a chord with country radio listeners, carrying the Jimmy Robbins, Laura Veltz and Morris written song to the top.
Morris has much to celebrate. Not only was she the most heard female artist on country radio in 2017, she also finished the year by garnering her fifth career GRAMMY Award-nomination with the newly No. 1 hit “I Could Use A Love Song” being nominated for BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE for the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards to be held later this month.
Morris kicked off the release of “I Could Use A Love Song,” her third single from her critically acclaimed label debut album HERO, by announcing the new single from the stage of the New Faces In Country Music showcase at the annual Country Radio Seminar last year in Nashville, TN, where Morris performed in front of a packed house of country radio representatives from all over the globe. It was noted that evening that Morris was the first artist in eight years to perform on the New Faces stage after winning a GRAMMY since Zac Brown Band and Lady Antebellum in 2009.
It has almost been two years (January 20, 2016) since Morris made country radio history with her debut single, the GRAMMY Award-winning “My Church,” having 107 first week country radio chart reporting stations playing the new song; making “My Church” the highest charting debut single by a female in Country Aircheck’s Mediabase history.
Morris continues to prove that when it comes to her work as a singer/songwriter there may not be a ceiling, time limit, or any other boundary that can contain the art that she has on the horizon.
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About Maren Morris
Twenty-seven year old Columbia Nashville singer/songwriter Maren Morris has quickly established herself with vocal styling’s that reflect her country, folk and pop influences. Armed with sheer talent, honest lyrics and a completely magnetic presence, Morris’ label-debut album, the GOLD-certified HERO, released via Columbia Nashville on June 3, 2016. One week after it was available, HERO entered the Billboard Country Albums chart at No. 1 and No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, which spans across all genres. With this, the Arlington, Texas native became the first artist in the history of Columbia Nashville to open at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Charts with a debut album in the Soundscan era. Morris’ debut single from HERO, “My Church,” set a record at Country radio by having the most chart reporting stations to play a debut single by a country artist with 107 stations the week it hit the airwaves in addition to being certified PLATINUM by the RIAA.
Later in 2016 Morris tied for the most nominations with FIVE at the 50th Annual CMA Awards, including Album of the Year (HERO), Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year (“My Church”), Song of the Year (“My Church”) and New Artist of the Year which she won, marking her first CMA Award. She was tapped by Billboard Magazine to receive the Billboard ‘BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST’ Award at the 11th annual Billboard Women in Music Gala as well as being awarded the Breakthrough Artist Award by the Music Business Association at Music Biz 2017.
Kicking off 2017 Morris took home the GRAMMY for BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE for “My Church” at the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards in addition to having the most nominations for a Country music artist with FOUR to her credit including BEST NEW ARTIST, BEST COUNTRY ALBUM (HERO) and BEST COUNTRY SONG (“My Church”). She received SIX nominations for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards including Female Vocalist of the Year, New Female Vocalist of the YeaR which she took home the trophy for, Album of the Year (as artist and producer) for HERO, and Single Record of the Year (as artist and producer) for “My Church.” Morris was also named Radio Disney’s BEST NEW COUNTRY ARTIST at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards. In the fall of 2017 Morris received three nominations for the 51st Annual CMA Awards including nominations for FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR as well as MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR and MUSICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR, both for the No. 1 hit song “Craving You” by Thomas Rhett (featuring Maren Morris). In addition she received her fifth career GRAMMY Award-nomination for BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE (“I Could Use A Love Song”) for the upcoming 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards to be held January 2018.
Morris has appeared on Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, NBC’s Today, CBS Sunday Morning, ELLEN, NBC’s The Voice, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Talk, Chelsea, NCIS: New Orleans, Sprout’s Sunny Side Up, the 50th Annual CMA Awards, CMT Music Awards and the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Morris wrapped 2017 with the conclusion of her first-ever headlining HERO Tour 2017, which also included dates in the U.K. Looking ahead at 2018 Maren will join Niall Horan on the Flicker World Tour 2018 with dates in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA.
