Michael Wilson Hardy was born to Mike and Sarah Hardy, in Philadelphia, Mississippi.[5] Growing up, Hardy often listened to music with his father, whom he has cited as the source of some of his earliest and fondest memories.[6]
He attended Neshoba Central High School in Philadelphia, Mississippi. It was during that time that he wrote his first song to "impress a girl."[6] Hardy then went on to attend Middle Tennessee State University, where he got a degree in songwriting in the Recording Industry Management program.[7]
After graduating, Hardy took a trip to visit his sister in Nashville, which led to the start of his career. While there, he realized that it was possible to make country music into a career.[6] Hardy met Florida Georgia Line in 2012 at a party where he was introduced to them by a mutual acquaintance.[8] He was eventually reconnected with the group years later.
In October 2018, he released an EP titled This Ole Boy, which he promoted by joining Wallen's If I Know Me Tour.[11] This was followed in 2019 by the single "Rednecker",[12] and a second EP titled Where to Find Me. To support the EP, Hardy joined Florida Georgia Line on their Can't Say I Ain't Country Tour.[13]
Morgan Wallen announced his plans for his 2022 Dangerous tour, which included Hardy for almost all of the nearly 50 stops, including stops in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.[20]
In October 2022, Hardy announced that his album, The Mockingbird & the Crow, would be released on January 20, 2023, via Big Loud Records with guest vocals from fellow country singers Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson and A Day to Remember lead singer Jeremy McKinnon.[21]
Hardy released three songs from The Mockingbird & the Crow on October 9, 2022: "Truck Bed", "Here Lies Country Music", and "The Mockingbird & the Crow". The full album features half country and half rock music. The first half of the album is more traditional country music with all the song titles stylized in lower case. The song "The Mockingbird & the Crow" features a distinct shift halfway through the song to the rock genre, and the rest of the album continues as rock and hard rock, though still using country themes and imagery in the lyrics. The rock song titles are all stylized in uppercase.
On December 1, 2022, Morgan Wallen announced his One Night at a Time World Tour. This tour featured Hardy as direct support for thirteen of the thirty-nine tour dates.[22]
On January 12, 2024, Hardy released his new single, "QUIT!!". That same day, Hardy announced that he would be embarking on the QUIT!! Tour. This tour had fifteen dates. Kip Moore, Travis Denning, Ella Langley and Stephen Wilson Jr. joined him on the road as supporting acts.[23]
In early 2024, Hardy announced a collaborative project titled Hixtape: Vol. 3: Difftape, featuring him and other artists covering songs by Joe Diffie and honoring the fourth anniversary of his death in 2020. Unlike the previous two Hixtape installments, it is not credited solely as a Hardy album.[24]
In March of 2024, Hardy and Nickelback filmed an episode of CMT Crossroads. The episode featured Nickelback's "Save Me" and "Animals". It also featured Hardy's "Truck Bed" and "Give Heaven Some Hell". They also preformed a rendition of Hardy's song "Sold Out". They finished the episode with a mashup of both artists' song, "Rockstar". [25]
In April of 2024, Hardy announced that in collaboration with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg that he had recorded a version of their 1994 song "Gin and Juice". He also announced that he had filmed a short film with them for the song. This was done to promote Dre and Snoop's Gin & Juice alcoholic beverage.[26]
On May 17, 2024, Hardy released his third single, "Psycho" and announced that his third album, QUIT!! would be released on July 12, 2024, via Big Loud Records and Big Loud Rock. The album features guest appearances from Chad Smith, Knox, and Limp Bizkit'sFred Durst.[27]
Post Malone's country album, F-1 Trillion, featured Hardy on guest vocals for the song "Hide My Gun", which he also co-wrote.[28]
He announced via his Instagram on October 14, 2024 that he would be recording both nights of his tour at Red Rocks Amphitheatre so that he could release a live album in early 2025.[29]
His song Rockstar is in NHL'25 by EA Sports Canada.
Hardy was nominated for two awards in the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards: Song of the Year, for Blake Shelton's "Gods Country" that Hardy co-wrote, and Songwriter of the Year. Following that, in 2021, he received three nominations: New Male Artist, Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year, for his song "One Beer" along with Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson. Hardy was nominated for two awards in the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards, held at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He did not win the award for New Male Artist, losing to Parker McCollum. He was, however, named the Academy of Country Music's 2022 Songwriter of the Year, making that his first ACM Award. During the 2023 ACA Awards, Hardy was nominated for multiple awards, of which he ended up taking home three. His colabration with Lainey Wilson won for "Best Visual Media of the Year" and "Musical Event of the Year". In addition, he ended up winning the Artist-Songwriter of the Year".[32][33]
Personal life
Hardy proposed to his girlfriend Caleigh Ryan in August 2021 at The Lyric in Oxford, Mississippi which is where the couple met in 2017. The two married on October 29, 2022.[34] On October 15, 2024, Ryan announced that the couple are expecting their first child. [35] Hardy revealed on the Barstool Sports' podcast Bussin' With the Boys that his first child would be a girl.[36]
LoCash, formerly known as LoCash Cowboys, is an American country music duo consisting of Chris Lucas and Preston Brust, both of whom are vocalists, songwriters, and guitarists. They have released 3 studio albums, one each for Average Joes Entertainment, Reviver Records, and Wheelhouse Records. The duo has charted 3 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and 13 songs on the Country Airplay chart. Their highest-charting single is "I Know Somebody", which topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart in 2016. In addition to their own material, the members of LoCash co-wrote Keith Urban's number-one single "You Gonna Fly" and Tim McGraw's "Truck Yeah".
Ashley Gorley is an American songwriter, publisher, and producer from Danville, Kentucky, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Gorley has written more than 75 number 1 songs and has over 400 songs recorded by artists including Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Bon Jovi, Nate Smith, Thomas Rhett, Jason Derulo, Kelsea Ballerini, Morgan Wallen and Dan + Shay.
Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. is an American country singer-songwriter. He is the oldest son of singer Rhett Akins.
Colden Rainey Swindell is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashville. He has released thirteen singles, eight of which have reached number one on the Hot Country Songs and/or Country Airplay charts. Three more singles have reached the Top 10.
Morgan Cole Wallen is an American country pop singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of The Voice, originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated in the playoffs of that season, he signed to Panacea Records, releasing his debut EP, Stand Alone, in 2015.
Big Loud is an American independent multi-sector entertainment company located in Nashville. It consists of a record label, along with music publishing and talent management divisions. Big Loud was founded in 2013 by Craig Wiseman, Joey Moi, Kevin "Chief" Zaruk, and Seth England. Artists who have recorded for Big Loud include Florida Georgia Line, Morgan Wallen, Chris Lane, Dallas Smith, and Hardy.
American singer Morgan Wallen has released three studio albums, four EPs, 25 singles, seven promotional singles, and 13 music videos. On the US Billboard Hot 100 as of October 2024, Wallen has garnered three number-one songs: “Last Night", "I Had Some Help" and “Love Somebody”. Wallen also has charted 69 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 with 32 reaching the top-40, 20 reaching the top-20, 11 reaching the top-10, and four reaching the top-5. On the US Billboard 200, as of October 2024, Wallen has accumulated two number one albums with both peaking the chart for ten consecutive weeks or longer, and has accumulated 29 weeks at number one on the US Billboard 200, with only Garth Brooks having more weeks at number one for a country music artist.
American singer Hardy has released three studio albums, two extended plays, two mixtapes, and eight singles. He made his debut as a singer in 2019 with "Rednecker", a track from his EP This Ole Boy. This was followed by "One Beer", a collaboration with Devin Dawson and Lauren Alaina, found on Hardy's 2020 album A Rock. The song reached number one on Billboard Country Airplay. Hardy's 2023 album The Mockingbird & the Crow includes the duet "Wait in the Truck" with Lainey Wilson, as well as the tracks "Jack", "The Mockingbird & the Crow", and "Sold Out", all three of which entered the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts. Hardy is also featured on the songs "Some Things Never Change" by Dallas Smith, which reached number one on Canada Country, as well as the number-one Country Airplay single "Beers on Me", a collaboration with Dierks Bentley and Breland.
"Cover Me Up" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Jason Isbell. It is the first track on his 2013 studio album Southeastern.
Hixtape, Vol. 1 is a mixtape by American country music singer Hardy. It was released on September 13, 2019, via Big Loud Records.
"7 Summers" is a song by American country music singer Morgan Wallen from his second studio album, Dangerous: The Double Album (2021). Wallen wrote the song along with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, and it was produced by Joey Moi. Wallen did not originally intend to include the song on the album, but following a demo version of the song gaining popularity on social media, he decided on its inclusion. The song was officially released as the second single of the album on August 14, 2020. A country and soft rock track, it features suspended chords and guitar layering. Lyrically, Wallen sings of his lost love and reminisces about their romance that took place, as the title suggests, seven summers ago.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2021.
Lainey Denay Wilson is an American country singer-songwriter. She performed at an early age, before going to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career as a country performer. In 2014, she released her first album on Cupit, followed by a second on Lone Chief in 2016. Wilson secured a publishing deal and later released an extended play (EP) in 2019 which included the song "Things a Man Oughta Know". In 2020, it was issued as a single through the BBR Music Group and eventually reached number one on the American country songs chart.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2022.
Ernest Keith Smith, known mononymously as just Ernest, is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released three studio albums: Locals Only (2019), Flower Shops (2022), and Nashville, Tennessee (2024). He has also written songs recorded by Morgan Wallen, Jake Owen, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Chris Lane, and Jelly Roll. His songs are produced by Joey Moi.
The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards was held on May 11, 2023, in Frisco, Texas at the Ford Center at The Star. The ceremony was hosted by country music icons Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks.
The Mockingbird & the Crow is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Hardy. It was released on January 20, 2023, through Big Loud Records. The album features a mix of country music and hard rock music. Hardy co-wrote all seventeen songs on the project and co-produced with Joey Moi and Derek Wells. "Wait in the Truck", a duet with Lainey Wilson, is the album's first single. While receiving mixed reviews from music critics, the album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 with 55,000 album-equivalent units, making it Hardy's highest-charting album.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2023.
Hixtape: Vol. 3: Difftape is a multi-artist tribute album released in March 2024. The album is a tribute to country music singer Joe Diffie, who died in 2020, and incorporates previously unreleased recordings he made in 2006.
Ben Johnson is an American songwriter, producer, and artist. His notable hits include "One of Them Girls," "Truck Bed," and "Take My Name," which was recognized as Billboard’s Country Song of the Year, and "All My Favorite Songs," which was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Rock Song" at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. He has written for artists such as Morgan Wallen, Kylie Morgan, Charlie Puth, Hardy, Justin Timberlake, Lee Brice, Dierks Bentley, John Legend, Ava Max, and Weezer.
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