Nashville artist Hunter Hayes blasted off to stardom by tearing up the traditional country music playbook and defining his sound on his own terms. For Hayes, born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana in 1991, that meant adding gnarly arena guitars, smooth R&B, and buoyant dance pop to his country tunes. In almost everything he does, there is an easygoing optimism that doesn’t hide emotional depths; it just never falls in. His self-titled 2011 major-label debut featured the hit ballad “Wanted” and “Storm Warning,” where a tempestuous woman blows through his life and, when she’s gone, leaves him scouring the sky for the next storm. The success of the album landed Hayes a spot opening for Taylor Swift—then a likewise country music boundary breaker—on her 2011 tour. He'd proved on his debut that he could play his own instruments, but he next recorded 2014’s Storyline with his touring band, which gave the songs a more expansive sound. Wild Blue, P. I, from 2019, is the least country and the most emotionally complicated of his releases. Songs like “Heartbreak” and “Dear God,” which explored what happened to a relationship that didn’t fail but still ended, proved that Hayes can find uplift even after a broken heart. No wonder Hayes turned out to be the space-suit-wearing Astronaut on reality show The Masked Singer in 2020—the guy just naturally keeps looking onward and upward.