Maren Morris

When Maren Morris’ first single, “My Church,” broke through in 2016, a few pious folks thought she was blaspheming by proclaiming she never felt more holy than when speeding with the radio turned up. The country star has been making unapologetically modern hits and driving into opposing lanes ever since. Morris was born in Arlington, Texas, in 1990, and played across the state for years before moving to Nashville to write songs for bigger names. But God or the gods of country radio were smiling down, and her 2016 debut, Hero, made Morris famous by showcasing a deep-bottomed voice that could swoop up to broken high notes, and songs that drew her as autonomous, cool, skeptical about commitment, and always barrelling forward. Then came something more startling than blasphemy: non-country success. The 2018 global hit “The Middle”—a collaboration with dance-pop giant Zedd and future-bass duo Grey—evoked big-tent EDM, ’90s pop comfort food, and, save the Texas twang in her vocal, not a whiff of western. It was a distinctive move, and controversial to some. But with 2019’s swaggering “GIRL” (“About being a woman in this very competitive industry,” she told Apple Music), and as a voice in left-leaning Americana supergroup The Highwomen, Morris has become a fake-fur-wearing agent for change. Count on outrage.