Who Is Morgan Wade? All About the Country Musician

Here's everything to know about Morgan Wade, from her musical rise to her Grand Ole Opry debut

Morgan Wade first stepped onto the music scene in 2018 with her self-released album Puppets with My Heart, and since then, the Virgina-born singer-songwriter has made a name for herself in the country world.

Wade — whose music career began her freshman year of college alongside her band, the Stepbrothers — dropped Reckless, her full-length debut solo album with the Thirty Tigers record label in March 2021. The record reached No. 8 on Billboard's folk albums chart.

"I was extremely nervous to release Reckless," Wade said in an interview with Wonderland Magazine. "You only get one debut, and I had worked really hard on the record. I knew it was a very vulnerable record as well so there was added pressure when I thought about that."

Soon after, many different career milestones for made for Wade, who's "been writing songs for as long as [she] can remember." Among them include making her Grand Ole Opry debut in April 2022, in addition to collaborating with artists like Diplo and Kip Moore.

Wade has also racked up a roster of star-studded fans. Among them include Kyle Richards, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star who shared her newfound love of the country musician's music on her Instagram in February 2022.

Read on for everything to know about Morgan Wade.

Related: Morgan Wade Reveals Plans for Preventative Double Mastectomy After Genetic Testing

She's a multi-genre musician from Virginia

Wade is a Virginia native born and raised in the small Appalachian town of Floyd, considered one of the historic birthplaces of country music and a bluegrass-fan mecca in the United States.

When Wade was 5 years old, her parents divorced. Although she still grew up alongside each of them, she spent a lot of time with her grandparents going to church and attending events where music was always present.

In fact, her grandfather often took her to the Floyd Country Store, where they'd enjoy the fiddlers, guitarists and folk singers who entertained the crowd on Friday nights.

Those musical moments sprinkled throughout her childhood in part inspired her musical future; however, she told Rolling Stone that she's not confined to the genre of country music specifically.

“I have a country accent, so everyone assumes that I’ll just sing country music, but I like to do a lot more than that,” Wade told the outlet. “I just want to play whatever I want to play, and right now, that happens to be more like rock music or pop music.”

Related: Morgan Wade Makes Her Grand Ole Opry Debut — See the Behind-the-Scenes Pics!

She found her bandmates on Craigslist

Wade has had a unique beginning to her professional music career, though she's been writing music since she was 6 years old.

Among the most unique aspects of her singer-songwriter start is that Wade found her bandmates on Craigslist, a search that was prompted by heartbreak during her freshman year at the Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke.

Following a tough breakup at age 19, Wade turned her emotions into a song. "I’ll either tick him off really good or win him back,” she told The Ties That Bind Us during a September 2019 interview. “I had written a song, and I got on Craigslist and formed a band that way,” she continued.

“I ended up getting him back, and then the band stuck," she said. "I played kind of like an open mic thing in Floyd, and people were like, ‘Oh. OK... you can sing!’ And I just started going with it."

She's been open about her sobriety in her music

During her interview with The Ties That Bind Us, Wade recalled that her first time performing in front of a local audience was the only time she was ever nervous. At age 19, however, was when she started "picking [drinking] up."

She recalled to the outlet an "ill-fated trip" to New York when she was 21 years old that in part led to her sobriety. "I normally had this thing where we would take a shot of something before we would play, and I think I had two or three that day," she remembered of her actions prior to her show. "I drank more that night than I think I’ve ever drank," she said.

A few days later, she faced her drinking habits and made a decision to quit. "As soon as I stopped drinking, everything got better," she said. For the country singer, writing songs about her sobriety journey has proven helpful not only to her but to fans going through the same thing.

"I wrote 'The Nights' about my struggle with sobriety — I'll be five years sober," Wade explained in a video shared exclusively with PEOPLE in June 2022. "Fans come up and they tell me, 'Your song has helped me so much, I didn't think there was anybody else that felt that way.'"

"I think that's a beautiful thing," she continued. "It makes me happy that that song gets people talking and they don't feel so alone. I think as a songwriter, from the exterior, I look really tough, the tattoos and everything like that. And then, even my music is vulnerable. It's good not to pretend like everything's so great. I think that's how we start talking about things, is we find someone else that feels the same way we do."

Related: Morgan Wade Says Singing About Sobriety Helps Her Connect with Fans: 'They Don't Feel So Alone'

She starred in Kip Moore's music video — then hopped on the song

Wade made waves as the "music video girl" in the clip for Kip Moore's song "If I Was Your Lover." Fans enjoyed her appearance so much, Moore had his country colleague hop on the song itself, making it a duet.

She's friends with Kyle Richards

Wade is pals with Kyle Richards, a friendship that started when The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star listened to the country musician's music for the first time.

"I stalked @morganwademusic on IG after listening to her music while driving solo from Utah to Colorado while making #housewivesofthenorthpole & today we met up in person for the 1st time. The most unlikely of friendships some may think but kinship knows no boundaries 💞" Richards wrote on Instagram in February 2022.

Since then, the pair have spent a lot of time together. Between joint workouts and vacations alongside other Housewives stars, Wade and Richards constantly post their whereabouts with each other on their respective social media pages.

In September 2022, Wade took Richards as her guest to the Americana Music Awards, in addition to the iHeartRadio Music Festival later that year.

In August 2023, Richards appeared in Wade's music video for her single "Fall in Love with Me." The reality star was featured as the country singer's love interest, feeding each other fruit, sharing a bubble bath and almost exchanging a kiss.

Richards' husband was quick to give his stamp of approval on the video which was posted to her Instagram. “So good,” Umansky wrote in the comments before including not one or two but three fire emojis. 

Related: Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky Have 'Separated' After 27 Years of Marriage (Exclusive)

She spends a lot of time at the gym

Outside of music, Wade places a priority on her health and wellness. She often shares her workouts and gym selfies on her social media page, paired with motivational captions.

In June 2022, the musician uploaded a picture to Instagram of herself flexing her muscles. She captioned the photo, "Taking care of myself" — a post that gained the support of Richards, who shared "high five" emojis in the comment section.

In May 2022, Wade shared her diet plan on Instagram and updated her 200K followers on day 11 of her 21-day journey. "I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in months," she wrote in part alongside a photo showcasing her tatted six-pack abs. She concluded, "Leaning out, still feeling strong , energy and motivation at an all time high. 💪"

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