Valdosta, GA · country · pop country

Thomas Rhett

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Radio country's most reliable hitmaker — a decade of chart-toppers built on easy charm and hooks that lean frankly pop.

Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. was born in Valdosta, Georgia, in 1990, to mother Paige Braswell and father Rhett Akins, a singer who had hits with 'That Ain't My Truck' and 'Don't Get Me Started' before turning to songwriting. Raised in Hendersonville, Tennessee, he grew up around family friends including Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn, learned drums in junior high, and later played in a high-school band called The High Heeled Flip Flops.

He studied communications at Lipscomb University in Nashville before dropping out at twenty to pursue music, taking a publishing deal with Big Machine Label Group. He began in Nashville as a writer before signing as an artist, co-writing Jason Aldean's 'I Ain't Ready to Quit' and later '1994', along with songs recorded by Lee Brice and Florida Georgia Line, before signing to Big Machine's Valory imprint in 2011.

His first album, It Goes Like This, arrived in 2013, launched by singles including 'Something to Do with My Hands' and 'Beer with Jesus' before the title track topped the Country Airplay chart. 'Get Me Some of That' and 'Make Me Wanna' followed as further number ones, setting the pattern for the decade of hits that came after.

His records blend contemporary country with pop and R&B production, and he has had a long run of hits at country radio, among them 'Die a Happy Man', 'Craving You' and 'Life Changes'. Across seven studio albums, through 2024's About a Woman, twenty of his singles have reached number one on Country Airplay, and two of his records have earned Grammy nominations for Best Country Album.

Much of his material is drawn from his marriage and family life, and he continues to co-write most of what he records. Alongside his own catalogue, he has written singles for Jason Aldean, Lee Brice, Florida Georgia Line, LoCash and Michael Ray.

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