9 Things to Know About Maren Morris

Maren Morris has already had a big year in 2020, with the country singer and her husband, Ryan Hurd, welcoming their first child, son Hayes, in March. On April 10, Morris celebrates her 30th birthday and her first as a mom, and she’s sure to be getting a whole lot of love from her little one.

Morris released her first album, Hero, in 2016, and followed it with GIRL in 2019. She is also part of supergroup the Highwomen along with Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby. Later this year, she’ll hit the road on her RSVP: The Tour, which is currently scheduled to begin in July and feature her husband as an opening act. Scroll through to commemorate Morris’ birthday for yourself with nine facts you may not know about the star.

She was rejected by ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Voice’

It may seem hard to imagine now, but Morris was rejected by both major singing competitions before she made it big.

“I think about all of the freaking talent shows I’ve tried out for in my life and I’m so glad I didn’t make any of them,” she told Rolling Stone Country. “It’s full circle because I was rejected from The Voice. I was rejected from American Idol — and I’m happier for it now.”

Morris has since seen plenty of love from both shows, with contestants on both Idol and The Voice performing her songs.

She got her first guitar when she was 12

Morris began singing in clubs at 11 years old, and had released her first independent album at age 15. By the time she was in high school, she was performing all over her native Texas as well as Oklahoma.

“I did choir, soccer, some theater,” she told Rolling Stone Country. “The only weird thing about my life was that I was playing honky-tonks on the weekends.”

She released three albums on her own

Ahead of her signing with Columbia Records, Morris released three albums on her own as well as her self-titled EP. That EP scored over 2.5 million streams on Spotify, earning the singer Columbia’s attention.

Her first official studio album, Hero, was released in 2016, followed by the release of GIRL in March.

She moved to Nashville at the encouragement of Kacey Musgraves

Both Musgraves and Morris hail from the Lonestar State, and the pair’s friendship was one of the reasons Morris made the move to Nashville. Though their musical styles aren’t quite so similar, the two women are both trailblazers when it comes to making way for females in country music.

“Kacey played a big role in my life just by getting my ass to this town,” Morris told Wide Open Country. “I had no idea before I moved here that songwriting was a ‘five days a week’ job. She enlightened me and it was really cool to see because I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can actually write for a living and go into an office.’ I felt like it was very grown up, even though you’re still writing songs.”

Her favorite food is street tacos with corn tortillas

Speaking to 107.7 WGNA, Morris shared that her favorite food is Mexican food, since she hails from Texas. She then named street tacos with corn tortillas as her favorite kind of Mexican food, a very relatable choice.

She’s also had a song recorded by Kelly Clarkson

During her days as a songwriter, Morris also nabbed a cut on Clarkson’s Piece by Piece album, the song “Second Wind.” Soon enough, however, her publisher was having the best kind of problem pitching Morris’ music.

The singer told Rolling Stone Country, “I kept getting e-mails back from my publisher: ‘These songs are great, but I don’t even know who to pitch this to because it’s so uniquely you.’”

She originally moved to Nashville to be a songwriter

Her first cut was with “Last Turn Home,” which Tim McGraw recorded for his 2014 album Sundown Heaven Town. She wrote the song with Eric Arjes and her now-husband, Ryan Hurd, who she met during that writing session.

When Morris and Hurd married in March, the songstress even captioned one of their wedding photos on social media with the lyric, celebrating the full-circle moment.

Her parents own a hair salon

Morris’ parents, Scott and Kellie, own Maren Karsen Aveda Salon in downtown Arlington. The business is named after Morris and her sister, Karsen, who grew up at the salon, playing in the back when they were kids and working at the front desk when they got older.

“We play her music occasionally,” Scott told Downtown Arlington of his daughter’s hits, “but we don’t want to bombard our clients with it just because she’s our daughter.”

She once had Dec. 27 declared as Maren Morris Day in her hometown of Arlington, Texas

2016 was a big year for Morris, and it was capped off with a proclamation by the Mayor of Arlington that Dec. 27 was Maren Morris Day in the town.

“I had the honor of being given a city proclamation by the mayor of Arlington which states today, December 27th, is Maren Morris day!” Morris wrote on Instagram at the time. “I received my plaque at my parent’s salon which was so cool!”

Photo Credit: Getty / Danielle Del Valle