Tiera Kennedy is an American

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-songwriter. Kennedy is the host of

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

Country's ''The Tiera Show'' and is featured on Beyonce's 2024 album ''

Cowboy Carter ''Cowboy Carter'' (also referred to as ''Act II: Cowboy Carter'') is the eighth studio album by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé, released on March 29, 2024, via Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. A concept album, ''Cowboy Cart ...

'' as a vocalist on the track "Blackbiird".

Background

Tiera Kennedy grew up in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

singing country music wherever she could, playing in restaurants like

Chick-Fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...

and Buffalo Wild Wings and more. When she was in high school she met a group of bluegrass musicians which furthered her love for country music. Her other musical influences growing up were

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

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...

. Kennedy originally had planned to enroll at Belmont University, but instead received a full-ride scholarship to University of North Alabama which she attended for one year. Spending her days at

FAME Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording locations of the ...

, she began honing her songwriting skills during that period, prompting her to move to Nashville and begin pursuing a career in country music.

Career

In 2018, Kennedy landed a role on the TV series ''Real Country'' on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

, where she was mentored by

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 ...

, eventually winning her episode. Kennedy would honor Twain at the ACM Honors, making her debut at the Ryman. In 2021, Kennedy made her

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

debut. That same year, she was also featured on various outlets as an artist to watch including

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

's Hot Country, ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

'', and CMT. Kennedy was a featured songwriter for Nicolle Galyon's publishing company Songs & Daughter, eventually releasing her own music as an artist. Kennedy signed with Big Machine Music Group in 2022 and released the single "Found it In You", which she had originally recorded a demo for years earlier. She followed that up by releasing "Alabama Nights", a song about growing up in Birmingham. In 2022, Kennedy was named on '' MusicRow'' Next Big Thing, and

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

's Country Artist to Watch and signed with management company Hill Entertainment Group. She also opened for notable artists including

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''. ...

and

Danielle Bradbery Danielle Simone Bradbery (born July 23, 1996) is an American country pop singer. She won season 4 of NBC's ''The Voice'' in 2013, becoming the youngest artist to win the competition at age 16. Bradbery's record has since been eclipsed by Sawyer F ...

. Tiera Kennedy hosts a show on

Country called ''The Tiera Show''. In 2023, Kennedy released the single "Jesus, My Mama, My Therapist", co-written by Eily Falvey, Trianne Anderson, and Emily Landis. Kennedy is featured on

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's 2024 album ''

'' as a guest vocalist on "Blackbiird" and "Tyrant". She has said that she did not know she had made the album until she heard the final versions of the song when it was released. Kennedy is currently working on her full-length debut album and set to release the single "I Ain't a Cowgirl" on April 26, 2024.

Personal life

Kennedy is married to creative director Kamren Kennedy. The pair met in 2014 as Kamren was helping Tiera with music videos and photos.

Discography

EPs

*''Tiera'' (Independent, 2021)

Singles

*"Jesus, My Mama, My Therapist" (Big Machine Label Group, 2023) *"I’ll Be Home For Christmas" (Big Machine Label Group, 2022) *"Blue Christmas" (Big Machine Label Group, 2022) *"Alabama Nights" (Big Machine Label Group, 2022) *"Found it In You" (Big Machine Label Group, 2022) *"Gentlemen" (Big Machine Label Group, 2021) *"Found It In You" (Independent, 2021) *"Be Kind" (The Acoustic Room, 2020)

Other appearances

*"Blackbiird" ( Beyonce - ''Cowboy Carter'', Columbia Records, 2024) *"Tyrant" ( Beyonce - ''Cowboy Carter'', Columbia Records, 2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Tiera Living people 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singers from Alabama Year of birth missing (living people)