Hailey Benedict

Did You Know?

• In 2016, Keith Urban invited Benedict and her sister on stage at Rogers Place in Edmonton, where she performed her original song "Clean Slate".
• "Things My Mama Says" became Benedict's first top ten hit on the Billboard Canada Country chart.

Biography

Hailey Benedict was born on May 10, 2002, in St. Albert, Alberta, and grew up performing. At age six, she was already onstage. In 2014, she won the Fan's Choice award from Country Music Alberta and took top honors in the youth Junior Talent Search at the Big Valley Jamboree. Two years later, during a Keith Urban concert at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Benedict and her sister were called up from the crowd. After she told Urban she wanted to be a singer-songwriter, he let her perform her original song "Clean Slate" for the audience. In 2017, she became the Grand Winner of the Big Valley Jamboree's ATB Homegrown Talent Stage and received a Global Women of Vision award. She finished high school at Paul Kane High School in St. Albert in 2020.

In August 2021, Benedict put out her first Canadian radio single, "Wanted You To," on her own. It climbed to number 25 on the country airplay chart. She signed a management deal with GPS Artist Management in July 2022. That same year, she won Interactive Artist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards. In early 2023, she opened for Aaron Goodvin on his It's the Ride Tour across Canada. She released "Damn You July" in June 2023 through Sakamoto Music, and in September 2023 she won the SiriusXM Top of the Country competition. Her first Christmas single, "Freeze," came out in December 2023.

In September 2024, Benedict signed both a record deal and a publishing deal with Big Loud Records and its imprint Local Hay. That month, she was nominated for Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year at the 2024 Canadian Country Music Awards. She released "Things My Mama Says" in October 2024, which became her first top ten hit on the Billboard Canada Country chart. She was later nominated for Female Artist of the Year at the 2025 Canadian Country Music Association Awards.