Maren Morris

With her 2016 debut album, “Hero,” and its accompanying hit single “My Church,” Maren Morris helped push country music into the 21st century. Morris’ music was grounded in country — prior to striking gold as a performer, she was a professional songwriter in Nashville — but she also incorporated elements of pop, R&B, hip-hop, and rock, creating a distinctive, stylish hybrid that had wide appeal outside her chosen genre. This versatility was evident on her hit singles “80s Mercedes” and “Rich,” while her ability to cross over was showcased in “The Middle,” a 2018 dance-pop smash she recorded with Zedd and Grey. Even as she broke into the pop Top Ten with 2019’s “Girl,” Morris maintained strong country roots, as evidenced by her pivotal part in the supergroup The Highwomen – with Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby. She began the next decade with several collaborations and solo singles like 2020’s “Better Than We Found It” and “Circles Around This Town,” which heralded the release of her third album, “Humble Quest,” in 2022. She followed it with the 2023 EP “The Bridge”.