Morgan Wade performs at Bonnaroo on June 16, 2023.Photo:Astrida Valigorsky/Getty
Astrida Valigorsky/Getty
Morgan Wade first stepped onto the music scene in 2018 with her self-released albumPuppets with My Heart, and since then, the Virgina-born singer-songwriter has made a name for herself in the country world.
Wade — whose music career began her freshman year of college alongside her band, the Stepbrothers — droppedReckless,her full-length debut solo album with the Thirty Tigers record label in March 2021. The record reached No. 8 on Billboard’s folk albums chart.
“I was extremely nervous to releaseReckless,” Wade said in an interview withWonderland Magazine. “You only get one debut, and I had worked really hard on the record. I knew it was a very vulnerable record as well so there was added pressure when I thought about that.”
Soon after, many different career milestones for made for Wade, who’s “been writing songs for as long as [she] can remember.” Among them include makingher Grand Ole Opry debutin April 2022, in addition to collaborating with artists likeDiploandKip Moore.
Wade has also racked up a roster of star-studded fans. Among them includeKyle Richards,The Real Housewives of Beverly Hillsstar who shared her newfound love of the country musician’s music on her Instagram in February 2022.
Read on for everything to know about Morgan Wade.
She’s a multi-genre musician from Virginia
Morgan Wade in April 2023.Keith Griner/Getty Images
Keith Griner/Getty Images
Wade is a Virginia native born and raised in the small Appalachian town of Floyd, considered one of the historic birthplaces of country music and a bluegrass-fan mecca in the United States.
When Wade was 5 years old, her parents divorced. Although she still grew up alongside each of them, she spent a lot of time with her grandparents going to church and attending events where music was always present.
In fact, her grandfather often took her to the Floyd Country Store,where they’d enjoythe fiddlers, guitarists and folk singers who entertained the crowd on Friday nights.
Those musical moments sprinkled throughout her childhood in part inspired her musical future; however, she toldRolling Stonethat she’s not confined to the genre of country music specifically.
“I have a country accent, so everyone assumes that I’ll just sing country music, but I like to do a lot more than that,” Wade told the outlet. “I just want to play whatever I want to play, and right now, that happens to be more like rock music or pop music.”
She found her bandmates on Craigslist
Morgan Wade and Diplo.Instagram/morganwademusic
Instagram/morganwademusic
Wade has had a unique beginning to her professional music career, though she’s been writing music since she was 6 years old.
“I ended up getting him back, and then the band stuck," she said. “I played kind of like an open mic thing in Floyd, and people were like, ‘Oh. OK… you can sing!’ And I just started going with it.”
She’s been open about her sobriety in her music
Morgan Wade.Instagram/morganwademusic
During her interview withThe Ties That Bind Us, Wade recalled that her first time performing in front of a local audience was the only time she was ever nervous. At age 19, however, was when she started “picking [drinking] up.”
She recalled to the outlet an “ill-fated trip” to New York when she was 21 years old that in part led to her sobriety. “I normally had this thing where we would take a shot of something before we would play, and I think I had two or three that day,” she remembered of her actions prior to her show. “I drank more that night than I think I’ve ever drank,” she said.
A few days later, she faced her drinking habits and made a decision to quit. “As soon as I stopped drinking, everything got better,” she said. For the country singer, writing songs about her sobriety journey has proven helpful not only to her but to fans going through the same thing.
“I wrote ‘The Nights’ about my struggle with sobriety — I’ll be five years sober,” Wade explained in avideo shared exclusivelywith PEOPLE in June 2022. “Fans come up and they tell me, ‘Your song has helped me so much, I didn’t think there was anybody else that felt that way.'”
“I think that’s a beautiful thing,” she continued. “It makes me happy that that song gets people talking and they don’t feel so alone. I think as a songwriter, from the exterior, I look really tough, the tattoos and everything like that. And then, even my music is vulnerable. It’s good not to pretend like everything’s so great. I think that’s how we start talking about things, is we find someone else that feels the same way we do.”
She starred in Kip Moore’s music video — then hopped on the song
Wade made waves as the “music video girl” in the clip for Kip Moore’s song “If I Was Your Lover.” Fans enjoyed her appearance so much, Moore had his country colleaguehop on the song itself, making it a duet.
She’s friends with Kyle Richards
Kyle Richards and Morgan Wade.Instagram/morganwademusic
Wade is pals withKyle Richards, a friendship that started whenThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hillsstar listened to the country musician’s music for the first time.
“I stalked @morganwademusic on IG after listening to her music while driving solo from Utah to Colorado while making #housewivesofthenorthpole & today we met up in person for the 1st time. The most unlikely of friendships some may think but kinship knows no boundaries 💞” Richards wrote onInstagramin February 2022.
Since then, the pair have spent a lot of time together. Betweenjoint workoutsandvacations alongside otherHousewivesstars, Wade and Richards constantly post their whereabouts with each other on their respective social media pages.
In September 2022, Wade took Richards as her guest to the Americana Music Awards, in addition to the iHeartRadio Music Festival later that year.
In August 2023, Richards appeared in Wade’smusic videofor her single “Fall in Love with Me.” The reality starwas featured as the country singer’s love interest, feeding each other fruit, sharing a bubble bath and almost exchanging a kiss.
She spends a lot of time at the gym
Outside of music, Wade places a priority on her health and wellness. She often shares her workouts and gym selfies on her social media page, paired with motivational captions.
In June 2022, the musician uploaded a picture toInstagramof herself flexing her muscles. She captioned the photo, “Taking care of myself” — a post that gained the support of Richards, who shared “high five” emojis in the comment section.
In May 2022, Wade shared her diet plan onInstagramand updated her 200K followers on day 11 of her 21-day journey. “I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in months,” she wrote in part alongside a photo showcasing her tatted six-pack abs. She concluded, “Leaning out, still feeling strong , energy and motivation at an all time high. 💪”
source: people.com
