Maren Morris Unafraid of 'Genre-Blending' in Her Music

When Maren Morris collaborated on "The Middle" with Zedd and Grey, she knew it was a risky move. The Texas native learned very early in her career that the country music genre had some pretty clearly-defined boundary lines – and she learned she was brave enough to cross them.

"I've gotten sh–– for genre-blending from the get-go, but after the 2017 GRAMMYs when I performed with Alicia Keys, I felt like, 'We can do this,'" Morris tells Billboard. "The amazing thing about country fans is that they're loyal, and my music has always been a little bit of everything."

"The Middle" was recorded very early in 2018, when Morris was, unfortunately, having some vocal issues.

"I lost my voice after opening for Keith Urban on New Year's Eve in the freezing cold, so I had asked my doctor for a steroid or something to bring it back," recalls Morris. "The stakes were so high. Having listened to the demo so many times, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, and Zedd really worked with me. A lot of producers will crack the whip and say, 'Sing this two-second part like this,' but he was very collaborative. A couple of days later, we came to Zedd's space in Los Angeles to hear the final cut."

The newlywed might have been uneasy about her voice, but for Zedd, it was exactly what he wanted.

"My favorite take was the second to last, when we were losing her voice and she gave everything," he says. "The bits where her voice starts cracking and the rasp comes out? That's my sweet spot."

Vocal issues notwithstanding, Morris agrees that "The Middle" is one of her finest pieces of work so far.

"I'll never forget hearing it for the first time," she says. "Technically, it was in the Target commercial [during the 2018 GRAMMYs], but hearing it on [WRVW] The River, the pop station here in Nashville; there's something about radio waves coming through your car speakers.

"Country fans may have been scared of [me] leaving the nest initially," she adds, "but once the song came out they were just proud of me for making a catchy-as-hell song."

Morris will perform "The Middle" at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, alongside Zedd and Grey. She is also nominated for a Billboard Music Award for Top Country Female Artist, a category she shares with Miranda Lambert and Kelsea Ballerini.

Download "The Middle" on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Instagram/marenmorris