Russell Dickerson

While plenty of starry-eyed musicians come from all over to make their Grand Ole Opry dreams come true in Music City, there’s a much smaller number who can call Nashville their hometown. Country singer Russell Dickerson, born in 1987, is a native, and it’s easy to hear in his natural delivery and earworm melodies that he’s familiar with the city’s famed Music Row. Dickerson’s efforts in the 2000s went mostly unnoticed until he nabbed a platinum hit with “Yours,” a song about the transformative power of love, in 2017, almost two years after it was originally released. Its success was likely thanks to wedding website The Knot calling it, “everything a first dance song should be.” He capitalized on the momentum, tapping into a country-pop sound that pulls back on the twang in exchange for arena-ready choruses and flourishes of R&B vocal stylings. Dickerson’s a romantic to be sure, with songs like the California dreamin’ “Blue Tacoma” bringing the sun and the bouncy “Every Little Thing” celebrating the woman he loves. Since getting to live the Nashville dream—his Grand Ole Opry debut came in 2016—he’s continued to sharpen his skills, and 2020’s sweet “Love You Like I Used To” found him doubling down on his big feelings.