Hayes was born on September 9, 1991, in
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana; he is an only child. His parents both have
French Cajun ancestry, along with small amounts of
English,
Scots-Irish, and
German. He grew up
Catholic, singing songs in both
English and
French. Hayes started performing when he was 2. At 4, he began making appearances locally and on national television, including
Maury, ''
Rosie O'Donnell Show, and the Nickelodeon game show Figure It Out'', where he performed "
Jambalaya (On the Bayou)".
The Advocate writes that Hayes received his first guitar from actor
Robert Duvall on his 5th birthday. "Duvall not only attended the birthday party but presented the young musician with a beginner guitar and amplifier". At age 7, he was invited to perform for President
Bill Clinton for a
White House lawn party. At 13, he appeared on
America's Most Talented Kids, a show hosted by
Dave Coulier; he performed the hit
Hank Williams song, "
Hey Good Lookin'". At age 9, Hunter released his debut independent studio album
"Through My Eyes" on October 8, 2000, under Sugartown Records and Louisiana Red Hot Records. He released several more independent albums:
Make a Wish in 2001,
Holidays with Hunter in 2003,
Honoring our French Heritage in 2006, and
Songs About Nothing in 2008. In 2008, he moved from Breaux Bridge to
Nashville, Tennessee, and signed with
Universal Music Publishing Group as a songwriter. In 2010, Hayes co-wrote "Play" for the
Rascal Flatts album
Nothing Like This. In September, he was signed to
Atlantic Records Nashville and began working on what would become his major-label debut. Hayes appeared as the opening act of 10 dates of country star
Taylor Swift's
Speak Now World Tour throughout the summer of 2011 and concluded his leg of the tour in St. Louis, Missouri. In April 2011, he went on his own radio tour where he debuted songs that would appear on his debut album. His debut headlining tour was the Most Wanted Tour; the first leg of the tour began on October 8, 2011, in
Beaumont, Texas, and ended on December 4, 2011, in
San Bernardino, California. Hayes and singer
Victoria Justice contributed a duet to the soundtrack of 2011's
Footloose remake, recording a cover of
Mike Reno's and
Ann Wilson's 1984 hit "
Almost Paradise" from the original film. From January to February 2012, Hayes was the opening act on the
Rascal Flatts "Thaw Out" tour. in August 2012 "Where We Left Off" is an original song, written by Hayes, that can be heard on the
soundtrack for the 2012 war film
Act of Valor. During the 2012
O Music Awards,
The Flaming Lips broke a
Guinness World Record (previously held by
Jay-Z) for most concerts played in multiple cities in a 24-hr. period. Hayes was the opening act for them at the Hattiesburg stop. In May 2012,
Martin Guitars named Hayes as C.F. Martin & Co.'s newest brand ambassador.
American Songwriter quoted Hayes on the subject: "It is an absolute honor to be named an official Martin Ambassador and to be recognized by the Martin family." On September 7, 2012, he was inducted at the
Mahalia Jackson Theater in
New Orleans, Louisiana, into the
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
2011–2014: Hunter Hayes and Storyline in preparation for his performance of the
US national anthem at Game 6 of the
2016 World Series Hayes's debut single, "
Storm Warning", released to radio on May 16, 2011. His
self-titled major-label debut album was released on October 11, 2011. He co-wrote every song, played every instrument, and along with Dann Huff, produced the album. "
Wanted", the second single, was released to radio on March 5, 2012. On July 24, 2012, he appeared on the CBS's
The Talk, where he was then given an RIAA Gold Certification plaque for "Wanted". Just shy of two months since "Wanted" went gold, the song was certified Platinum by RIAA on August 23, 2012. "Wanted" became his first No. 1 single, making him the youngest solo male act to top Hot Country Songs, breaking the record set in 1973 by
Johnny Rodriguez. Twenty weeks after first appearing in the top spot and under a new chart format, "Wanted" returned to the top spot. "
Somebody's Heartbreak", the album's third single, went to No. 1 on the
Country Airplay chart. Starting September 14, 2012, Hayes began appearing as the opening act on 90+ dates for
Carrie Underwood's
Blown Away Tour. He was also nominated for three Grammys including
Best New Artist at the
2013 Grammy Awards; he is the youngest male country artist to be nominated in all three categories for which he was nominated. The album's fourth single, "
I Want Crazy", which is from the deluxe
Encore edition, was released to country radio on April 7, 2013. It peaked at number two on the Country Airplay chart in August 2013. Following it was "
Everybody's Got Somebody but Me", a re-recording of a song from the original press of the album. The re-recorded version features guest vocals from
Jason Mraz. Hunter was one of five country singers who won a CMT Artist of the Year award in 2013. This award is awarded every year to a group of country musicians who have had an outstanding year. Hayes performed "
Invisible", the lead single from his second album, at the
56th Annual Grammy Awards.
Storyline was released on May 6, 2014. In an effort to promote his album and to raise awareness to end child hunger, Hunter broke the Guinness World Record for the most concerts played in multiple cities in 24 hours, previously held by
The Flaming Lips. The album's second single, "
Tattoo" released to country radio on June 16, 2014. On July 20, 2014, Hayes's self-titled debut album was certified double platinum by the RIAA. Following that was "
Light Me Up", another single from the deluxe version of his debut album, in 2015.
2015–2018: The 21 Project and canceled album On May 21, 2015, Hayes released "
21", which was the title track for both his EP and third studio album,
The 21 Project. He also appeared on the track "I Can Play Guitar" on
Brett Kissel's album
Pick Me Up. On November 2, 2016, Hayes performed with four holograms of himself on Jimmy Kimmel Live's after the CMA show. In March 2017, Hayes performed as part of the
C2C: Country to Country festival in the UK where he played alongside
Dan + Shay and
Darius Rucker supporting
Reba McEntire and would return in 2019 with
Carly Pearce and
Dustin Lynch in support of
Lady A. Following "21," Hayes released several songs including “
Yesterday’s Song” which were slated to be part of a studio album set to be released in February 2018. Hayes then canceled the project citing “shifted priorities.” Hayes also appeared as a guest star in the Nickelodeon show
Bella and the Bulldogs.
2018–present: Wild Blue and Red Sky In December 2018, Hayes guest starred on
Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas. He also recorded a duet with Irish singer
Catherine McGrath for her debut album
Talk of This Town. In January 2019, Hayes released his first radio single in three years titled "Heartbreak" which was the lead single for an upcoming album to be released by
Warner Music Nashville. The album is the first part of a three-part ‘trilogy’ of albums. In April 2020, Hayes competed in the
third season of
The Masked Singer as "Astronaut". In June 2020, the
Saskatchewan-based
Hunter Brothers released their single "
Hard Dirt", co-written and produced by Hayes. He also co-wrote and produced their 2021 single "
Been a Minute". In October 2021, Hayes released the album
Wild Blue Complete an extension of the album
Wild Blue (Part I). In April 2023, Hayes released the album
Red Sky. ==Discography==