Morgan John Evans (born 25 April 1985) is an Australian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer and songwriter. He released a

self-titled An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut studio album in March 2014, which peaked at number 20 on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. In 2019, he won the

ARIA Award for Best Country Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Country Album, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indus ...

for his second studio album, '' Things That We Drink To''. Evans also had a crossover hit in the United States with "

Kiss Somebody "Kiss Somebody" is a song recorded by Australian country music singer Morgan Evans and was released on 21 July 2017 as the lead single from his fourth EP '' Morgan Evans EP'' and second studio album '' Things That We Drink To''. It peaked at num ...

" in 2017.

Biography

1985–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Evans was born on 25 April 1985 in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' or 'Performer:' He has a younger sister, Jane, and a younger brother, Tom, who is also a musician playing bass guitar. At the age of 13, Evans performed his first gig. Whilst attending

Warners Bay High School Warners Bay High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive school, comprehensive secondary school, secondary day school, located in Warners Bay, New South Wales, Warne ...

he was in a local rock trio, Extortion, which won a state high school band competition, Youthrock, in 2002. Extortion were later renamed

Solver A solver is a piece of mathematical software, possibly in the form of a stand-alone computer program or as a software library, that 'solves' a mathematical problem. A solver takes problem descriptions in some sort of generic form and calculates t ...

. As of 2006 Evans provided lead vocals and guitar in that group, Tom was on bass guitar and a friend, Nicholas Cook, was the drummer. The band won Artist of the Year and Best Rock Act at the MusicOZ Awards of 2006. In 2007 Evans won the Road to Tamworth competition and for his prize he flew to

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 ...

to record a single. He was signed to

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

and released his debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), ''Big Skies'', in September 2007. The title track received airplay on Australian country music radio stations.

2012–2016: Debut studio album

In January 2012 Evans released his second EP, ''Live Each Day'', through

Warner Music Australasia Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records * Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Rec ...

. This was followed in August of that year by a third EP, ''While We're Young''. Evans supported

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

and

Thirsty Merc Thirsty Merc are an Australian pop rock band formed in 2002 by Rai Thistlethwayte, Phil Stack (bass guitar), Karl Robertson (drums), and Matthew Baker (guitar). In 2004, Baker was replaced by Sean Carey, who was, in turn, replaced by Matt Smith ...

on their Australian tours. He was named the New Oz Artist of the Year at the 2013 CMC Music Awards. Evans released a

debut studio album in March 2014, which peaked at number 20 on the

. At the 2014 CMC Music Awards he won the Oz Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Best Australian Video of the Year. His track, "Like a Tornado", was short-listed for the Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition of 2014. He hosted the CMC Music Awards for three consecutive years, from 2015 to 2017. He is the 2016

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enha ...

Global Artist of the Year and has won five fan voted Country Music Channel Awards, including Male Artist of the Year.

2017–2020: ''Things That We Drink To''

Following his relocation to Nashville, Evans signed with

Warner Music Nashville Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels * Atlantic Records * Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Re ...

in May 2017, which led to the release of his debut US single, "

". Evans released a single, "

I Do I Do may refer to: * "I do", a phrase used in some marriage vows; used by brides and grooms in response to questions posed by either the officiant or the other marriage partner Film and TV Film * ''I Do'' (1921 film), a silent comedic short fi ...

", on 8 December 2017. He explained via

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

that it was written, "about his girlfriend, recorded it about my fiancée, releasing it about my wife"

Kelsea Ballerini Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...

, whom he married on 2 December 2017 in Mexico. In August, Evans released his fourth EP titled, ''

Morgan Evans EP ''Morgan Evans EP'' is the third extended play by Australian country music singer Morgan Evans. The EP was produced by Chris DeStefano, and was released on 10 August 2018. Track listing Personnel *Chris DeStefano - banjo, bass guitar, drums, ...

''. Evan's second studio album, '' Things That We Drink To'' was released in October 2018. On 8 November 2019, Evans released a new single titled "

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

" which he says is a love song written for Ballerini. At the global APRA Awards in March 2020, Evans won Outstanding International Achievement Award.

2021: ''The Country and the Coast''

In September 2021, Evans announced the released of EP ''The Country and the Coast (Side A)''

Personal life

Evans married American country pop singer-songwriter,

, on 2 December 2017 in

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Cabo San Lucas (, "Saint Luke Cape"), or simply just Cabo, is a resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As at the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 202,694 inhabitan ...

. They had started dating in March 2016, and were engaged on Christmas Day of that year. On 29 August 2022, Ballerini announced that she and Evans were divorcing. On November 3, 2022, it was revealed that Ballerini and Evans had reached a settlement agreement, finalizing their divorce.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Notes

Other charted songs

Music videos

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual award ceremony event celebrating the

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

industry. Evens has won a trophy from two nominations. , - , rowspan="2",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, '' Things That We Drink To'' ,

Best Country Album The Grammy Award for Best Country Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the country music genre. Honors in ...

, , - , " Day Drunk" , Song of the Year , , -

APRA Awards

Since 1982 the APRA Awards are run by

Australian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Country Work of the Year , "Kiss Somebody" , , - , rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", Country Work of the Year , "I Do" , , - , "Day Drunk" , , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, Most Performed Country Work of the Year , " Young Again" (Evans,

Chris DeStefano Christopher Michael DeStefano is a Grammy Award-winning American singer/songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist currently living in Nashville. As a songwriter, he has multiple #1 songs with artists Carrie Underwood ( “Good Girl ...

, Joshua Kear) , , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , Most Performed Country Work of the Year , , "

" ( Evans, Evan Bogart, DeStefano) , , , -

Country Music Awards of Australia

The

Country Music Awards of Australia The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wales ...

(CMAA) (also known as the Golden Guitar Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales. The festival is the second bigg ...

, celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They have been held annually since 1973. ! , - , 2018 , Kiss Somebody , Single of the Year , , , - , rowspan="3", 2019 , rowspan="2", "Day Drunk" , Single of the Year , , rowspan="3", , - , Song of the Year , , - , "Kiss Somebody" (Director: Jeff Venable) , Video of the Year , , - , rowspan="4", 2020 , rowspan="2", ''Things We Drink To'' , Contemporary Country Album of the Year , , rowspan="4", , - , Album of the Year , , , - , Morgan Evans for ''Things We Drink To'' , Male Artist of the Year , , - , "Young Again" , , Single of the Year , , , - , rowspan="1", 2021 , , "Diamonds" , , Video of the Year , , , , , - , 2022 , , , , , , , , , - , rowspan="2", 2023 , , "Sing Along Drink Along" , , Single of the Year , , , , rowspan=" 2", , - , Morgan Evans , , Male Artist of the Year , , , -

CMA (America) Awards

The

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

(America) are the premier country music awards show which is held in Nashville every year. Winners and nominees are chosen for by members of the

. , - , 2014, , Himself , , Global Country Artist Award , , , -

CMC Awards

The CMC Awards are awarded annually by

Country Music Channel Country Music Channel (CMC) was an Australian cable and satellite music television channel owned and operated by Foxtel Networks. It was the only country music video channel in Australia, created after the departure of MusicCountry from the Au ...

Australia. , - , 2013, , Himself , , New Oz Artist of the Year , , , - , 2014, , Himself , , Oz Artist of the Year , , , - , 2014, , Himself , , Male Artist of the Year , , , - , 2014, , "Carry On" , , Australian Video of the Year , , , - , 2015, , Himself , , Male Artist of the Year , , , - , 2018, , Himself , , Male Artist of the Year , , , - , 2018, , Himself , , Australian Artist of the Year , , , -

ASTRA Awards

The

Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association The Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) is the peak industry body representing the subscription media industry in Australia. ASTRA's main activities are to represent the industry with government, regulators and the ...

awarded 'Excellence in subscription television in production, programming and talent' from 2003–15. , - , 2015, , Himself , , Most Outstanding New Talent , , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Morgan 1984 births Living people APRA Award winners ARIA Award winners Australian country singers Australian country singer-songwriters Australian country guitarists Australian expatriates in the United States Musicians from New South Wales People from Newcastle, New South Wales 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century guitarists 21st-century Australian male singers Australian male guitarists Australian male singer-songwriters