Kacey Musgraves

Early life

Kacey Musgraves came into the world six weeks early, weighing just five pounds, in Sulphur Springs, Texas, and was raised in Golden, Texas. Her mother Karen works as an artist, and her father Craig runs a small printing business. She has a younger sister, Kelly Christine Sutton, who works as a photographer and has shot some of Kacey’s projects. Musgraves began writing songs at age eight, starting with “Notice Me” for her elementary school graduation.

She first picked up the mandolin, then at twelve started guitar lessons with John DeFoore, a local musician who also taught Miranda Lambert. She also learned harmonica. Her mother took her to local festivals to sing western swing. She won national yodeling championships and sang the national anthem at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

At fourteen, her family paid for her first self-released solo album. She graduated from Mineola High School in 2006 and moved to Austin at eighteen. In 2007, she placed seventh on the reality show Nashville Star. To get by, she took odd jobs, including performing as Hannah Montana at children’s birthday parties.

Career

Musgraves recorded three self-produced albums in 2002, 2003, and 2007. In 2008 she recorded two songs for Triple Pop, and in 2010 she collaborated with the Josh Abbott Band on "Oh, Tonight." Her acoustic covers of "Apologize" and "See You Again" were released as a digital EP in 2012; "Apologize" charted at number 23 on the Billboard Hot Singles Chart in 2014 and accumulated over 31 million Spotify streams. Triple Pop released a tenth-anniversary "Acoustic Remixed" EP in 2018.

She joined Lady A on the European leg of their Own the Night Tour in 2012. That year she signed with Mercury Nashville and released her debut single "Merry Go 'Round." Her debut album Same Trailer Different Park, co-produced and co-written with Shane McAnally and Luke Laird, debuted at number 2 and sold 42,000 copies. It produced the singles "Blowin' Smoke" and "Follow Your Arrow."

She co-wrote Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart" and sang harmony on it. She was nominated for four Academy of Country Music Awards in 2012 and four Grammy Awards at the 56th ceremony, winning Best Country Song for "Merry Go 'Round" and Best Country Album for Same Trailer Different Park.

Artistry

Musgraves cites Alison Krauss as a career role model, noting Krauss's consistency and integrity. Her favorite artist is John Prine, whose sense of humor she says heavily influenced her songwriting. She lists Lee Ann Womack as a childhood influence, saying she grew up near Womack in East Texas. She has mentioned albums by Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, Marty Robbins, Charley Pride, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, and Jim Croce as influences on her second album, and has cited Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Julie Miller, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn as other influences.

She is a fan of Dolly Parton, admiring her fearlessness, songwriting, and LGBTQ advocacy. Noncountry influences include Cher, Selena, Ryan Adams, Cake, Neil Young, Weezer, Imogen Heap, Bee Gees, Sade, and Electric Light Orchestra. Critics describe her as a soprano. Her lyrics often address LGBT acceptance, safe sex, recreational marijuana use, and questioning religious sentiment.

She has said she does not consider her topics controversial and writes about things that have made an impression on her.

Personal life

In 2014 Musgraves said her bandmate Misa Arriaga had been her boyfriend for several years. She met Ruston Kelly in March 2016 at the Bluebird Café in Nashville; they began dating after a songwriting date in May 2016. They became engaged on December 24, 2016, married on October 14, 2017, and filed for divorce in July 2020, which was finalized in September 2020. From 2021 to 2023 she was in a relationship with poet Cole Schafer.