Everything you need to know about Thomas Rhett

Unless you have been living under a rock, any country fan will know - and love - Thomas Rhett, the voice and brains behind huge hits such as 'Die A Happy Man' and 'Marry Me'. But just how much do you really know about him?

We've taken the liberty of gathering together pretty much everything you'd need to know about Thomas Rhett; from his famous parents, to awards he's won - and even just how cute his kids are! To celebrate Thomas' incredible success, we've gathered together everything you need to know about the singer...

Who is Thomas Rhett?

Thomas Rhett Akins is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is the son of country singer-songwriter Rhett Akins and his first wife, Paige.

How old is he?

Thomas is 34-years-old, born on 30th March 1990.

Where is he from?

He was born in Valdosta, Georgia where his parents are from, but was raised in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a town just outside of Nashville.

How did Thomas Rhett get famous?

Growing up with a country music star for a father who went on to become an acclaimed songwriter, Thomas got his start in music early. Focusing first on drums, Thomas would go onstage with his father and play.

In his early years, he would spend time with his dad's famous friends including Brooks & Dunn, Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire, who collaborated with Thomas and Lady A’s Hillary Scott on his single, 'Be A Light'.

Thomas briefly attended Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee before dropping out of college aged 20 to pursue a career in music. He subsequently inked a publishing deal with Big Machine Label Group.

In early 2012, he released his first music as an artist, but it wasn’t until his third single, 'It Goes Like This', that he had a Top 5 radio hit. And the rest, as they say, is history.

How many albums does Thomas Rhett have?

Thomas has released six studio albums, with his sixth album 'Where We Started' having come out in April 2022. Thomas' debut album, 'It Goes Like This' was released in 2013 followed by 'Tangled Up' (2015), 'Life Changes' (2017), 'Center Point Road' (2019) and 'Country Again: Side A' (2021).

His sixth studio album ‘Where We Started’ included the singles ‘Slow Down Summer’, ‘Half of Me’ (with Riley Green) and ‘Angels (Don’t Always Have Wings)’, in addition to collaborations with Katy Perry, Riley Green, Tyler Hubbard and Russell Dickerson. In the US, the album reached Number 2 on the US Top Country Albums chart.

Also in 2022, Thomas released the EP ‘Merry Christmas, Y’all’ in October, which included his versions of four classic Christmas songs.

He then released the greatest hits album ’20 Number Ones’ in September 2023, after his song ‘Half of Me’ became his 20th Number 1 single on the Country Aircheck/MediaBase chart. The album also included the bonus track ‘Mamaw’s House’, which was released as a single in September 2023 and features Morgan Wallen. The track topped the US Country Airplay charts and reached Number 17 on the UK Country Airplay chart.

Does Thomas Rhett write his own songs?

After getting his start as a songwriter with his first cuts for big country names such as Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and Lee Brice, Thomas continues to write most of his own material. He has also teamed up with his father to write, with the duo penning the tracks 'Star of the Show', 'Playing with Fire' and others.

What are his biggest hits?

How much time do you have? Thomas has amassed a whopping 20 Number 1 singles on the Country Airplay Charts in his career so far.

'Get Me Some of That' and 'Makes Me Wanna' off his debut album are fun songs that shot to Number 1 back when 'bro country' was still king. But Thomas really found his footing when the genre valued heartfelt love songs from their male stars.

Arguably his first mega hit, the love ballad, 'Die A Happy Man' was written about his wife Lauren, and also starred her in the music video. The song topped the Country Airplay chart for an unprecedented eight weeks.

Thomas' third album, 'Life Changes', took him from a few good songs to country music powerhouse. The record produced three hit singles, 'Craving You' with Maren Morris, 'Unforgettable' and 'Marry Me'. The latter won Thomas a Country Music Association (CMA) Award for Music Video of the Year. If you haven’t seen it, stop what you’re doing and take a look. Fair warning, you may need tissues.

The critically acclaimed, 'Center Point Road' album took Thomas to new heights. Named after a road from his hometown of Hendersonville, Tennessee, it was nominated for Country Album of the Year at the Grammy’s and even won him the Entertainer of the Year at the ACM’s (tied with Carrie Underwood). It spawned the hit singles, 'Look What God Gave Her' and 'Beer Can’t Fix', featuring Jon Pardi.

Who is Thomas Rhett married to?

Thomas and wife Lauren Akins’ love story is like a country love song itself - no wonder he is such a good songwriter! Thomas and Lauren have known each other since the first grade (about six-years-old). As they grew up, the pair became close friends, and even dated for a brief period of time in high school. But it wasn’t the right time and went back to being friends.

Both Thomas and Lauren moved on and almost ended up marrying other people, but he never quite got over Lauren. One day, he confided in Lauren's dad — the families remained close.

"Her dad called me and said, 'If you don't come over here tonight and tell Lauren how you feel about her, then I'm going to tell her how you feel about her,'" Thomas told CBS This Morning. Six months later, the couple were engaged.

Thomas and Lauren are heavily involved with the charity, 147 Million Orphans aims to counter the global orphan crisis. The organisation also led the couple to their daughter Willa Gray, who they adopted from Uganda. Lauren, who is now a member of the charity's Board of Directors, first met the little girl while she was in the country traveling with 147.

“I called Thomas one of the first nights I met her in Uganda and told him about her,” Lauren told Us Weekly. “Without hesitation he said, ‘Bring her home. She is ours. We are going to make this happen.’”

Along with Willa Gray, Thomas and Lauren are also parents to daughter Ada James, who was born in August 2017, Lennon Love, who arrived in February 2019 and Lillie Carolina, who was born in November 2021.

What awards has he won?

Thomas was named Entertainer of the Year along with Carrie Underwood at the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards, where he's also been named Male Artist of the Year three times.

He won the Male Artist of the Year award at the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards, and his song ‘Country Again’ was nominated for Best Country Song at the 2022 Grammy Awards.

Is he going on tour?

Thomas went on the ‘Home Team Tour’ in 2023, which visited 40 cities in 27 states. Opening acts for the tour were Cole Swindell and Nate Smith. While he doesn't have any tour dates planned for the UK at the moment, he has ventured across the pond a handful of times, notably on the C2C: Country to Country Festival stage in 2016 and 2023, and when his 2018 Life Changes tour came to the UK.

Take a look at some of the country tours to look forward to:

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