MacKenzie Porter

Country singer MacKenzie Porter began playing the piano and violin at age four, and she performed in a family band that included her brother Kalan, the 2004 winner of Canadian Idol. ∙ Prior to launching a music career, she made her name as an actress—first in the 2007 children’s show Dinosapien, then with lead roles in Hell on Wheels and Travelers. ∙ Her self-titled 2014 debut, which featured the upbeat, pop-leaning breakout “Never Gonna Let You,” was nominated for a Country Album of the Year Juno Award. ∙ With the 2019 single “About You,” she became only the seventh woman in 25 years to hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Canada Country chart. ∙ A remix sent “These Days” to the Top 40 of Canada’s Pop chart in 2020, making it the first Canadian country song since Shania Twain’s 1997 hit “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” to reach those heights. ∙ Though she hasn’t yet taken home a prize, the Canadian Country Music Association nominated her for its Rising Star Award in 2013 and for Female Artist of the Year four times since.