Biography, Musician, 2024 CMA Award Winner Emergency USA

Country singer Megan Maroney is best known for the song “Tennessee Orange.” Raised in Georgia, Moroney began singing at a young age and playing guitar at 16. She decided to become a professional musician while attending the University of Georgia, where she was discovered by country singer Chase Rice. After graduating, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to realize her dreams. She released “Tennessee Orange” as an independent artist in fall 2022, and its success led to her first record deal. The winner of the 2023 ACM Award for New Female Artist of the Year and the 2024 CMA New Artist of the Year, Moroney released her sophomore studio album, Am I Okay?, in July 2024.

FULL NAME: Megan Ann Moroney
BORN: October 9, 1997
BIRTHPLACE: Savannah, Georgia
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Libra

Megan Moroney was born in Savannah, Georgia, on October 9, 1997. She was raised in Douglasville, outside of Atlanta, surrounded by music.

“My whole life, as far back as I can remember, we had a music room in my house,” she told Upstar Music. Her parents exposed her to country music, Americana, and southern rock through artists like John Prine, the Eagles, Emmylou Harris, J.D. Souther, Loretta Lynn, Gram Parsons, and Jackson Browne.

Her father and brother, Connor, both play guitar. (Connor, an attorney, has played guitar for Moroney in many performances, including the 2023 CMA Fest.) “I have a very musical family, so I was always around music, but I didn’t think I could do it for a career,” she told Country Swag. “Throughout high school I did talent shows, and I was in chorus. I enjoyed singing, and I enjoyed music.”

Moroney also took piano lessons, and her dad supported her love of music early on. “I got my heart broken, so my dad brought me to Guitar Center and got me the Taylor that I still play now,” she shared on her website. Beginning when she was a teenager, she posted videos on social media of her playing guitar with her dad.

Music wasn’t her only hobby. Moroney grew up cheerleading and aspired to cheer in college. However, during her junior year of high school, a knee surgery ended those dreams. During her time healing in a wheelchair, she began practicing guitar.

After high school, Moroney attended the University of Georgia. She initially enrolled to study accounting—following in the footsteps of her accountant mother, whom Moroney calls “her best friend”—before changing her major to digital marketing and music business. She was a member of the sorority Kappa Delta.

“In those four years, I grew up so much as a person, learned so much about who I am,” she told The New York Times. “Everything you go through in college, between the heartbreaks and being so drunk that you’re literally fighting for your life on a curb, head between your legs—that builds character.”

Megan Moroney moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2020 but didn’t breakthrough on the country music scene until the 2022 release of her song “Tennessee Orange.”

Moroney’s musical talent bloomed during college. After singing a cover of Deana Carter’s song “Strawberry Wine,” Moroney won the Miss Sorority Row pageant in 2016. It put her on the map for future performances on campus.

“[My sorority] had a philanthropy event where we hired Jon Langston to come play, but we used all of our budget on him, so we didn’t have money for an opener,” Moroney told People. “But because I posted so many country covers with my dad, they were like, ‘Well, Megan can just open.’”

Country singer Chase Rice, known for the song “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen.” with Florida Georgia Line, was in attendance and asked her to open for his tour under the condition that she perform an original song. Moroney had never written any songs before but created one called “Stay Memory” for Rice’s concert. Soon after, Moroney decided to change her major to music business.

“After I played that show, I fell in love with [performing] and I was like, ‘Well, I want to drop out of school,’” she told People. “My parents were like, ‘Yeah, that’s not happening.’ So I finished up my four years and then moved to Nashville in May of 2020.”

Following her move to Tennessee, Moroney’s professional music career began with an internship with Sugarland artist and producer Kristian Bush. Still, it was a slow start. “I wanted to connect with other songwriters, but because of COVID, I ended writing by myself most of the time,” she wrote on her website. “Kristian checked in with me after a couple months and asked how it was going and I told him, ‘Honestly—not great.’”

She continued to work on songwriting while building a fan base on Instagram, one singing video at a time. “I get a lot of inspiration from the edgier female country artists like Miranda Lambert, so my brain usually goes right to those angry-at-men type of songs,” she shared on her website. Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves have also been notable influences on her music. Moroney has branded her sound as “emo cowgirl country.”

She released her first official single, “Wonder,” in early 2021. “It was the first time I understood that writing about my real-life experiences could be therapeutic for other people, and it motivated me to keep going,” she shared on her website.

“Tennessee Orange” Success

Moroney released her debut EP, Pistol Made of Roses, in July 2022 as an independent artist. That September, she released the single “Tennessee Orange” through Spotify’s Fresh Finds program, which promotes independent artists. The song went viral. “I’m a diehard Georgia fan, but one day I found myself in a boy’s Tennessee shirt and realized my mom would kill me if she saw me wearing it,” she shared on her website. “I thought that was a clever idea for a love song—sort of like, ‘Look what I’m willing to do for you.’ I had no idea it would be the song that changed my whole life.”

“Tennessee Orange” entered the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2022, and Moroney had her pick of record labels looking to sign her. She ultimately chose Sony Nashville and Columbia Records. “I feel like they were most willing to let me be myself,” she told Variety.

The song eventually made it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay charts by June 2023 after it was re-released as the first single from her debut studio album, Lucky, which debuted in May 2023. It was then nominated for Song of the Year at the 2023 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. That year also saw Moroney first two headlining tours: the Pistol Made of Roses Tour in the spring and The Lucky Tour come autumn.

Propelled by her early successes, Moroney won the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award for New Female Artist of the Year in May 2024. She then supported fellow country singer Kenny Chesney as an opener for his Sun Goes Down Tour over the summer.

In July 2024, Moroney released her second studio album, Am I Okay? It peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 mainstream chart. At the 2024 CMA Awards in November, Moroney won New Artist of the Year, cementing her status as a rising name on the country music scene.

The singer’s next concert series, called the Am I Okay? Tour, begins in March 2025.

Moroney, who dated her brother’s best friend for two years in high school, is currently single. “Unfortunately a lot of my personal life revolves around my work life, so that’s why dating right now is just not something that’s in the front of my mind,” she told People in July 2024. “I don’t really worry about it too much. And as far as dating currently, I don’t think I’ve ever been more single!”

However, she has used past relationships and heartbreak to fuel her songwriting. “It’s like I’m 26, dating people, and you’re going to be wrong,” she told The New York Times in July 2024. “Okay, fine. That’s the point: It happened, and I’m okay. It’s happening to someone right now, thinking this is the one. They’re not, and it’s going to be okay.”

As for Moroney’s hit song “Tennessee Orange,” rumors began to swirl that country singer and native Tennesseean Morgan Wallen was the subject. The lyrics in question refer to Moroney wearing a University of Tennessee shirt despite the school being a rival of her alma mater the University of Georgia: “He’s got me doing things I’ve never done/ In Georgia they’d call it a sin/ I’m wearing Tennessee orange for him.”

She told People in October 2022: “I always say I cannot confirm or deny who the song is about. And I don’t think I’ll ever tell anyone who the song is about because I told the story in the song. So that would be giving it away too much!” However, in November 2022 during an interview with SiriusXM’s The Highway, Moroney confirmed that the orange shirt she wore for the single’s art was, in fact, owned by Wallen.

Moroney refused to confirm details about her alleged relationship with Wallen until a July 2024 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast. When host Alex Cooper asked if she dated Wallen, Moroney responded, “Never exclusively,” adding, “It was never a relationship. Here’s what I’ll tell you though because I haven’t told anyone this ever. Him and I met in 2020. [Fellow country artist] Jon Langston actually introduced us. I was a senior in college—COVID hadn’t happened yet, his Dangerous album wasn’t even out yet. So we were friends for a long time.” She reiterated that although the two “were not just friends,” she emphasized that they are currently only friends.

• All of my songs are very much me. I write from the heart. And that will never change. I don’t try to write songs that other artists could cut because they’re so specific to me and what I’ve gone through.
• I always say that I have two sides. I’m either “emo cowgirl country” or “bad bitch country.” It really just depends on what kind of mood I’m in.
• It’s a blessing and a curse that I feel things very deeply. I can really get into that headspace and remember all the emotions and remember what [an experience] felt like, and I try to translate that into songs.

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Emily Shiffer has worked as a writer for over 10 years, covering everything from health and wellness to entertainment and celebrities. She previously was on staff at SUCCESS, Men’s Health, and Prevention magazines. Her freelance writing has been featured in Women’s Health, Runner’s World, PEOPLE, and more. Emily is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she majored in magazine journalism at the Medill School of Journalism and minored in musicology. Currently residing in Charleston, South Carolina, Emily enjoys instructing barre, surfing, and long walks on the beach with her miniature Dachshund, Gertrude.