Chris Young

Chris Young is a country music singer and songwriter who was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. While attending Middle Tennessee State University in 2005, he managed to do 150 live shows a year. His accomplishments include a membership in the Grand Ole Opry, 2 billion on-demand streams, 12 million singles sold and 11 career No. 1 singles. He has two Grammy nominations, as well as award nominations from the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music.

In addition to funding an annual scholarship for recording industry students, which began in 2016, and donating a selection of his touring audio equipment in 2012, he has also contributed $50,000 for renovations to a campus café venue. Formerly known as the Cyber Café is now named the Chris Young Café in his honor, allowing student musicians and technicians to practice their skills in front of a live audience.

Photo Courtesy of Chris Young

Mitchell Tenpenny

Mitchell Tenpenny is a country music singer and songwriter. He was born in and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. Originally intending to play college football, he enrolled in MTSU and soon became more interested in music and being in a band. He graduated with a music business degree.

Before breaking out into the country music world as an artist, however, Tenpenny was behind the scenes, writing a variety of tracks for other singers. His first radio single of his own, "Drunk Me,” a hit No. 1 on the charts. On October 24, 2019, he was presented with an RIAA Double Platinum plaque for the single, which has been streamed over 300 million times since its release.

Photo Courtesy of Mitchell Tenpenny

Brett Eldredge

Brett Eldredge is a country music singer, songwriter, and record producer born in Illinois. After a trip to Nashville to see his cousin Terry Eldredge (a veteran of Dolly Parton’s band and a member of the Grascals) perform, he was inspired to transfer to MTSU.

He has had five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, and at the 2014 CMA Awards, he was named New Artist of the Year.

Photo Courtesy of Brett Eldredge

Sam Hunt

Sam Hunt is famed for being a country music singer and songwriter, but attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with his label. He was born in Georgia where he played football in high school, and continued as quarterback at MTSU in 2003 and 2004.

He later discovered his passion was music. Many say Hunt marked a generational shift in country music, both in music and business. He slipped hip-hop phrasing and modern R&B rhythms into country-pop in what some say he broke down country music stereotypes.

He has been honored with numerous awards, including one American Music Award, and one CMT Music Award, as well as nominations for Billboard Music Awards and Grammy Awards.

Photo Courtesy of Sam Hunt

Hardy

Michael Hardy, professionally known as “Hardy,” is a country music singer and songwriter born in Mississippi. He attended MTSU where he got a degree in songwriting. He has written songs for Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane, Blake Shelton, Mackenzie Porter and Morgan Wallen, and has released his own music through Big Loud Records.

Among the songs that Hardy wrote are "Up Down" by Morgan Wallen. He also released a collaborative album in Sept. 2019 titled “Hixtape, Vol. 1,” which featured a total of 17 artists, including Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban, Tracy Lawrence, Jake Owen, Zakk Wylde, Cole Swindell, Dustin Lynch, and Morgan Wallen.

Photo Courtesy of Hardy

Eric Paslay

Eric Paslay is a country music singer and songwriter from Texas. He graduated from MTSU in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He got an internship with Cal4 Entertainment during his senior year, which led to a song publishing deal. This, in turn, led to a recording contract with EMI Records Nashville in 2011, the same year a song Paslay wrote "Barefoot Blue Jean Night," which became a number one country hit for Jake Owen.

His debut album produced in 2014 reached number four on Billboard country charts. Paslay also received a Grammy nomination. In addition to these, he has written several hit singles for other artists, and has collaborated with Amy Grant, Dierks Bentley and Charles Kelley, among others.

Photo Courtesy of Eric Paslay

Hillary Scott

Hillary Scott is a singer, songwriter, and co-lead singer of Lady Antebellum, a country music group formed in 2006. She attended MTSU to help her music career grow and to also improve it. During her time at MTSU, Scott worked with singer-songwriter Victoria Shaw and earned some publicity, but was unable to secure a contract with a major label. She auditioned for American Idol twice, but failed to make it through to the judges round in both cases. Then she met future bandmates Charles Kelley and later, Dave Haywood.

Her band released three consecutive #1 albums: “Lady Antebellum,” “Need You Now,” and “Own The Night.” Hillary and Lady Antebellum have accumulated nine Grammy awards, seven ACM awards, one Billboard Music Award, and six CMA awards.

Photo Courtesy of Lady Antebellum

Tay Keith

Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, known as “Tay Keith,” is a record producer and songwriter. He was born in South Memphis, Tennessee. He was a senior attending MTSU when he produced "Look Alive." He graduated with a Media Management degree in 2019.

He is best known for co-producing Travis Scott’s "Sicko Mode", peaking at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, BlocBoy JB's "Look Alive" peaking at number 5 on the Hot 100, and Drake's "Nonsto" peaking at number 2 and "Not Alike" by Eminem on the Kamikaze (Eminem album). He has been nominated for Best Rap Song for his work on "Sicko Mode" at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

He is also featured on Rhythm + Flow, the first music competition show developed on Netflix. Judges Cardi B, Chance The Rapper, and T.I. chose Tay Keith to mentor one of the contestants and judge the contestants performance in the finale.

Photo Courtesy of Tay Keith