On this day (March 24) in 1977, Natalie Hemby was born in Bloomington, Illinois. She has been writing hit songs for some of the biggest stars in Nashville and beyond for the better part of twenty years. More recently, Hemby kicked off her recording career. She records solo and as part of the Highwomen.
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Hemby came to Nashville and inked a publishing deal when she was just 19. Roughly a decade later, Lee Ann Womack became the first artist to cut one of her songs. Womack recorded “The Bees” for her 2006 album Call Me Crazy. Two years later, she co-wrote “Mystery in the Making” with Mike Eli and James Young for the Eli Young Band’s Jet Black & Jealous.
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In 2009, Hemby began a musical partnership that would make her an in-demand songwriter in Music City. She co-penned multiple songs, including “White Liar” and “Only Prettier,” with Miranda Lambert for her album Revolution. They would continue to collaborate on Lambert’s future albums. Notably, she co-wrote 10 of the tracks from The Weight of These Wings.
Hemby also collaborated with Little Big Town multiple times over the years. She co-penned their hit songs “Pontoon” and “Tornado,” and contributed heavily to their album Pain Killer.
Other country artists who have cut Hemby’s songs or co-written with her include Toby Keith, Sunny Sweeney, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, and Lady A.
Natalie Hemby Writes More Than Country Music
While Natalie Hemby is best known for her work with country artists, she’s not limited to a single genre. She has worked outside the genre with a handful of A-listers.
Hemby co-wrote “Don’t Rush,” which was recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her 2011 greatest hits collection. She also co-wrote “Overnight” for Amy Grant’s 2010 record Somewhere Down the Road. Hemby and Sheryl Crow co-wrote “Stay At Home Mother” for Crow’s 2013 album Feels Like Home.
Maybe her biggest departure from country music came in 2015 when she co-wrote “What Sober Couldn’t Say” for the rock band Halestorm’s Into the Wild Life.
One of Hemby’s biggest collaborations came in 2018. That year, she co-wrote “I’ll Never Love Again” and “Always Remember Us This Way” with Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey, and Aaron Raitiere for the A Star Is Born soundtrack. Two years later, “I’ll Never Love Again” won Best Song Written for Visual Media at the Grammy Awards.
Hemby’s Recording Career
Natalie Hemby released her debut solo album, Puxico, in 2017. The title is a nod to the town in Missouri where her grandfather lived. “In the beginning, I believed this was a story about a town, about a celebration. And it is. But really, it’s about a man. A man who loved me so much he gave me a town. A man who I love so much I had to tell the world,” she wrote on her website.
Hemby signed a recording contract with Fantasy Records in 2021. Later that year, she released her sophomore album Pins and Needles.
In April 2019, it was revealed that Hemby was the fourth member of The Highwomen. The supergroup also includes Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires. They won Best Country Song at the 2021 Grammys for “Crowded Table.” The song beat Miranda Lambert’s “Bluebird,” which Hemby also co-wrote.
Featured Image by Danielle Del Valle/Variety via Getty Images
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