Megan Moroney on Her Four CMT Awards Costume Changes, ‘Natural’ Beauty Offstage and Bad Taste in Men
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Megan Moroney admits she has bad taste in men. But it’s served her pretty well in her music career.
The country music artist blasted onto the scene in 2023 when her song, “Tennessee Orange,” was released. That song, about a Georgia girl — and Bulldogs fan — falling for a Volunteers fan from Tennessee, is now certified double platinum and put Moroney on the map.
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Since then, the Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records artist has taken home several awards, performed on a variety of shows from “Today” to “Good Morning America,” and headlined her own tour.
Sunday night, she was up for three awards at the CMT Music Awards and performed twice, one her duet with the Old Dominion group.
Before finding success in country music, the 26-year-old from Douglasville, Ga., had been studying accounting at the University of Georgia. “But this is a thousand times better,” she said with a laugh from her hotel room in Austin, Tex., as she prepped for her CMT performances.
“It’s very surreal to see how everything happened and unfolded,” Moroney said of her seemingly overnight success. “I literally used to just sing with my dad because I enjoyed doing it. And it was always just a hobby for me. And even when I moved to Nashville, I thought, this is probably going to end up still being a hobby for me. And if it doesn’t work out, I’m just gonna go work for a label so I can be in the music business, because I knew that was more fulfilling to me than accounting. You know, they always say you move to town and don’t have a plan B, but I have very realistic parents who remind me that I always needed a plan B because they weren’t going to pay for me to live.”
Turns out she didn’t need to lean on her parents for spending money for long.
After the initial success of “Tennessee Orange,” Moroney rode the wave and released a full-length debut album, “Lucky,” that showcased her songwriting skills on tunes such as “I’m Not Pretty,” which was up for both a CMT Female Video of the Year and Digital-First Performance of the Year award. She was also nominated along with Old Dominion for the duet, “Can’t Break Up Now.”
She’s been writing songs since her freshman year in college and many of her tunes are raw and personal. Both of her newer releases — “No Caller ID” and “28th of June” — are quintessential heartbreak songs, but she’s OK with letting people inside her world.
“I have horrible taste in men,” she said with a laugh. “I’m working on that.
“But I feel like I’ve always been kind of an open book,” she continued. “And writing songs is very therapeutic for me. There’s strength and vulnerability. And the stories that I’ve told about my personal life, like ‘Girl in the Mirror,’ I know have helped a lot of [people].”
But it’s not all about heartaches for Moroney. In the video for “I’m Not Pretty,” she takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to a tune about how her “ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend” tears her down and says she’s not pretty. She plays both parts in the film that she also codirected. “It was a really cool process to be a part of, and I felt like I was expanding my creative brain even more,” she said.
Collaborating with Old Dominion was also a highlight of Moroney’s career so far.
“I had been sent a bunch of duets from a bunch of different artists and I just felt like none of them really were a good fit until I heard the Old Dominion one,” she said. “It’s different than my stuff, but still on brand. And I’m a big fan of Old Dominion. I literally saw them on tour with Thomas Rhett in 2017. I was in a pit so it’s just one of those things where I have to pinch myself that I get to sing with them, and even perform with them at the CMT awards — it’s crazy. I have to remind myself that I am not dreaming.”
At the awards, Moroney had four costume changes, all different looks customized for her by designer Stefanie Naylor. The California-based designer reached out to her on Instagram and they immediately hit it off. Since then, Naylor has dressed Moroney for her tour, her award show appearances and her stage looks, helping the artist establish her own personal style.
“My red carpet and presenter dresses are both pink because I wanted to honor that ‘I’m Not Pretty’ music video,” she said. “So I went with baby light pink and then a hot pink. Then I get to perform ‘No Caller ID,’ and I’m wearing the classic dress that I always wear on stage — the same shape, but it’s light blue, because the dress that I wore on my album cover is light blue. I’ll wear cowgirl boots with that.
“And then my Old Dominion performance dress is a short black mini with heels — I grew like six inches. And all of them were designed by Stefanie. I literally just tell her for about three seconds what I have in my brain and she comes up with it. And there will be hair changes depending on the dress.”
Off-stage though, Moroney said her style is “very different. I think it’s more the songwriter version of myself. I wear my hair natural — I don’t have the seven pounds of hair in my head. I don’t do the lashes or anything. It’s very chill. But onstage, it’s like the polar opposite. I love getting dressed up and being over the top. Yeah, I think it’s very fun but it’s definitely a staged look.”
So what’s next for Moroney? She said she just about ready putting the finishing touches on her next album.
“I’ve literally been living in the studio, and I’m almost done,” she said. “There’ll be a few things that have to be done on the back end, but we’re getting close.”
She’s also going to have a full summer. Not only will she be headlining her “Lucky 2.0” tour, but she’ll also be opening for Kenny Chesney, playing the Stagecoach and Lollapalooza festivals and heading overseas to the U.K. for her first overseas tour.
Go behind the scenes with Megan Moroney as she gets ready at the 2024 CMT Awards in the gallery below:
Getting Ready With Megan Moroney for CMT Awards 2024, Photos
“You know, I think I’m still trying to learn how to juggle my day,” she said. “I can’t even think about what I’m doing three months from now, because it’s so cool to be touring everywhere. But it’s also hard to be in the moment and be present. I think I’m mostly off in November and December so I’ll be able to be home and rest.”
But not for long, because Moroney has lots of goals for her career including selling out even larger venues while continuing to connect with her fan base and adding some new followers.
“And I want to play Red Rocks and the Royal Albert Hall in the UK. — random stuff.”
Launch Gallery: Getting Ready With Megan Moroney for CMT Awards 2024, Photos
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