Walker Hayes

Hayes was born on December 27, 1979 in Mobile, Alabama. His father, Charles Hayes is a realtor.[1]

Hayes and his wife moved to Nashville in 2005, hoping to get in the country music business. He landed a job writing songs for a Nashville publishing company and then signed a contract with Mercury Records Nashville,[5] though he was quickly dropped and moved to Capitol Records Nashville.[1] In 2010, he released his first single, "Pants". It debuted at No. 60 on the Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week ending September 18, 2010.[6] Kyle Ward of Roughstock rated the single three-and-a-half stars out of five.[7] Hayes debuted the video for the song in December 2010.[8] Hayes also appeared on an episode of 19 Kids and Counting, singing a song he wrote about Jill and her now husband, Derick's, proposal. "Pants" and a second single, "Why Wait for Summer", both appeared on an album for Capitol Records titled Reason to Rhyme.[9][5]

Hayes co-wrote and sang guest vocals on "Dirty Side", a cut from Colt Ford's 2014 album Thanks for Listening.[10] He also co-wrote Rodney Atkins' late-2014 single "Eat Sleep Love You Repeat".[11] After losing his contract with Capitol Records, Hayes worked at a Costco to support himself.[12]

In 2016, Hayes signed a publishing and production deal with Shane McAnally and SMACK/RareSpark, through which he released two extended plays:[13] 8Tracks Vol. 1 and 8Tracks Vol. 2.[14] This was followed by his first single for Monument Records, "You Broke Up with Me".[12] It appears on his first Monument album, boom.[15] "Craig" is the album's second single.[16]

In August 2018, Hayes released a new single titled "90's Country", whose song lyrics contain multiple references to titles of country songs from the 1990s decade.[17]

He lives in Franklin, TN with his wife, Laney Beville Hayes, and their six children. Their seventh child, a fourth daughter Oakleigh Klover died hours after birth on June 6, 2018.[18]

• Official website