MacKenzie Lea Porter (born January 29, 1990) is a Canadian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer, songwriter, and actress. She has released one self-titled album and achieved four Canada Country number ones with " About You", "

These Days These Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''These Days'' (Bon Jovi album), and the title song (see below) ** These Days Tour, a 1995–1996 tour by Bon Jovi in support of the above album * ''These Days'' (Crystal Gayle album), 1980 * ''These D ...

", " Seeing Other People", and " Pickup". She is featured on

Dustin Lynch Dustin Charles Lynch (born May 14, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Broken Bow Records. Lynch has released four albums and one EP for the label: a self-titled album in 2012, '' Where It's At'' in 2014, '' Curren ...

's number one

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

hit " Thinking 'Bout You". As an actor she is best known for her leading role as a future-sent medic in the television series ''

Travelers Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to: People Generic terms *One engaged in travel *Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources *Nomad, a member of a community withou ...

''.

Early life

MacKenzie Porter was raised on a cattle and bison ranch near Medicine Hat, Alberta. She began studying

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, and

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

at age four. While growing up she toured in a family band with her brother, 2004 ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

'' winner

Kalan Porter Richard Kalan Porter (born November 11, 1985) is a Canadian former singer-songwriter from Medicine Hat, Alberta, and the winner of the reality television series '' Canadian Idol'' in 2004. He started to sing at an early age and is classically t ...

. Their grandfather Bob Porter was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, ...

from 1988 to 1993.

Film and TV career

Porter has appeared in numerous films and television productions, including ''

Dinosapien ''Dinosapien'' is a 15-episode children's television program. The series is a co-production between BBC Worldwide and CCI Entertainment Ltd., in association with BBC Kids, Discovery Kids and CBBC. Overall 15 episodes were made, each 21 and hal ...

'' (2007), '' Hell on Wheels'', and ''

'' (2016). She earned a Best Actress in Alberta award for her role in the TV movie '' The Other Woman''. She was also named as one of the Top 11 Hottest Vancouver Actors to Watch for in 2011 by ''BC Living'' magazine.

Music career

Early career

After moving to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

to pursue acting, Porter teamed up with musician and actor Andrew Jenkins to form the band The Black Boots. In 2010, she launched a solo career. Porter was the winner of the 2011 Nashville North Star competition. She has opened for Kenny Chesney,

Doc Walker Doc Walker is a country music group from Westbourne, Manitoba, Canada. They have won Canadian Country Music Awards and had radio hits with the songs "I Am Ready" and "The Show is Free" from the 2003 album ''Everyone Aboard''. In 2001 they releas ...

, and Trooper among others, and has performed for

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

and

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...

. In October 2012, Porter released her debut single, "I Wish I'd Known". Her second single, "

Never Gonna Let You "Never Gonna Let You" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian country artist MacKenzie Porter. She wrote the track with fellow country artist Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Brad Crisler, while Johnson produced the track. It was Porter's second ca ...

", was co-written and produced by

Carolyn Dawn Johnson Carolyn Dawn Johnson (born April 30, 1971) is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter. Johnson co-wrote Chely Wright's 1999 single, "Single White Female," which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in Sep ...

. Porter was chosen as one of six acts for the inaugural

Canadian Country Music Association The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3rd, 1973 when a g ...

Discovery Program in 2013. She was also nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2013 Canadian Country Music Association Awards. Her debut album was released on July 15, 2014. She is featured on the song "Circles" on

Chris Lane Christopher Eric Lane (born November 9, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released one album as frontman of the Chris Lane Band, a second album, ''Girl Problems'', and a third album, '' Laps Around the Sun''. via Big ...

's album ''

Girl Problems ''Girl Problems'' is the second studio album by American country music singer Chris Lane. It was released on August 5, 2016 by Big Loud Records. Produced by Joey Moi, the album includes Lane's first #1 single, "Fix", his top 10 single, "For Her", ...

'' in 2016.

2018–present: Big Loud Records, ''Drinkin' Songs'', five number ones

In 2018, Porter signed with

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

-based

Big Loud Big Loud is an American independent multi-sector entertainment company located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It consists of a record label also known as Big Loud, along with music publishing and talent management divisions. Big Loud wa ...

and became their first Canadian artist. She released the single " About You", co-written by

Hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, Sout ...

. The song would hit number one on Canada Country. Porter is featured on the

Dallas Smith Dallas Hendry Smith (born December 4, 1977) is a Canadian singer and songwriter, who performs both as a solo country music artist and as lead singer for the hard rock band Default. He is currently signed to Big Loud Records. Smith is the curre ...

song "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Alone" with Dean Brody. In March 2019, Porter released the single "

", which charted on Canadian country, pop, and adult hits charts as well as on the US

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

and

charts. It also reached number one on Canada Country, making Porter the first Canadian woman to land back-to-back Number Ones since

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

. She then opened for

and Dean Brody on their co-headlining cross-Canada ''Friends Don't Let Friends Tour Alone Tour''. In February 2020, Porter released " Seeing Other People" which would become her third consecutive number one, making her the first woman (Canadian or American) to land three consecutive Number Ones on Canadian country radio since Twain. Porter's EP '' Drinkin' Songs: The Collection'' was released in November 2020. The EP was her debut American release and included her three chart-toppers in addition to her top five hit " Drinkin' Songs". It received a nomination for Country Album of the Year at the

2021 Juno Awards The Juno Awards of 2021, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented on 6 June 2021, observing the 50th anniversary of these awards. The main ceremonies were televised on CBC. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in Ma ...

. In March 2021, she featured on the

single " Thinking 'Bout You", and then joined Canadian

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

artist

Virginia to Vegas Derik John Baker (born January 31, 1990), known as Virginia To Vegas, is an American-born Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. He is based in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his gold and platinum-certified singles, " We Are Stars", ...

on the single " This Sucks." in September 2021. She released the song " Pickup" later that year; it became a single in early 2022. " Thinking 'Bout You" spent six weeks atop the

chart, marking Porter's first number one in the U.S., and spent a record-breaking 28 weeks in the top ten. Meanwhile, " Pickup" would go on to reach number one on Canada Country, and achieve gold-certification. Later that year, she joined fellow Canadian country artist

on the single "

One Too "One Too" is a song recorded by Canadian country artists Dallas Smith and MacKenzie Porter. The song was written by Tom Jordan and Mitch Thompson of Seaforth along with Rocky Block and Alyssa Vanderhym. Jordan produced the track with Joey Moi, w ...

Personal life

In 2014 Porter and actor/singer/songwriter Jake Etheridge began dating. She and Etheridge were engaged in mid-/late May or early June 2019 and they married in July 2020. Etheridge appeared in the 2019 music video for Porter’s 2018 song " About You".

Filmography

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Mackenzie 1990 births Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers 21st-century Canadian women singers Actresses from Alberta Big Loud artists Canadian child actresses Canadian country fiddlers Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian voice actresses Canadian women country singers Canadian women pianists Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian women violinists and fiddlers Musicians from Alberta People from Medicine Hat 21st-century women pianists