Mickey Guyton

After moving to Los Angeles, Guyton met record producer Julian Raymond. Impressed by her singing voice, he introduced her to country music industry professionals Gary Borman and Steve Moir. Both men helped launch the music careers of country artists such as Faith Hill and Keith Urban. The initial meetings with Borman and Moir prompted her to move to Nashville, Tennessee in 2011. Guyton soon became part of the city's country music songwriting community.[12] The same year, Guyton had the opportunity to audition for UMG Nashville's chairman, Mike Dungan. Singing a song by Patty Loveless, she was then signed to UMG's Capitol Records Nashville division.[13] With her signing, she became the genre's only black female artist signed to a major label.[10] Among her first events following her label signing was an all-star performance at the White House, where she performed alongside Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Darius Rucker and James Taylor.[1]

Jennifer Hanson was one of the co-writers of Guyton's debut single "Better Than You Left Me".

As she developed her artistry, Guyton was warned by industry professionals that she would be unsuccessful if went outside traditional country music boundaries: "Make sure your songs sound really country because listeners might think you're being disingenuous. Don't make your songs sound too R&B," she recalled to CNN.[14] She was asked by a country radio DJ to write songs that reflected "fluffy" and "happy" topics.[13] The stress and anxiety of these instances caused Guyton to develop insomnia and a drinking problem.[14] These conflicts, along with the difficulties of establishing an identity at Capitol Records, caused her music releases to be delayed by several years.[15] In 2014, Capitol Nashville released Gruyton's first extended play (EP), an acoustic album titled Unbreakable. The EP charted on the Billboard Top Heatseekers list after its release, reaching number 14.[16]

In 2015, Capitol released Guyton's debut single, "Better Than You Left Me".[1] Guyton co-wrote the song with Jennifer Hanson, Jen Schott, and Nathan Chapman, the last of whom co-produced it with Dann Huff.[17] The song received 79 ads to radio playlists in its first week of release, which had not been previously done.[18] The Guardian made note of the song's early success on the charts, particularly in relation to Guyton's being a Black female in a genre dominated by white men.[19] By July 2015, the song had reached number 34 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.[20] It reached a similar peak position on Canada's Billboard country chart.[21] According to Guyton, the song's minimal chart success was due to radio programmers stating "they didn't want two slow songs by women on the radio at the same time."[22] In May 2015, Guyton's self-titled second EP was released on Capitol and contained the minor hit.[23] The EP reached number 17 on the Billboard Heatseekers list by August.[24] The project received a four star rating from Queens of Country, who praised Guyton's vocals and mix of different musical stylings.[25] Guyton also joined Brad Paisley's Crushin' It World Tour in summer 2015.[26]

In 2016, Guyton was nominated for New Female Vocalist of the Year at the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards.[27] That year she also released her next single, "Heartbreak Song". The song reached number 45 on the Country Airplay chart. She continued releasing singles on Capitol such as "Hold On", "Sister", and a cover of Patsy Cline's "Crazy".[1] Entertainment writer Emily Yahr described Guyton's 2016–19 releases as having "heavily-produced" arrangements that seemed to lack a musical direction. These singles also had little commercial success. Guyton later told The Washington Post that she was focusing more on what radio wanted rather than going by her own musical instincts.[22] Instead, she began reworking her musical direction.[28]

Guyton chose to write music that reflected more of her struggles as a black woman. In early 2020, she released a single that came from those songwriting sessions titled "What Are You Gonna Tell Her?". It was followed by the single "Black Like Me". Based on the book of the same name, the song described Guyton's experiences with racial discrimination.[22] It was largely ignored by commercial country radio, but received significant attention on social media platforms and streaming services,[29] with Spotify including "Black Like Me" on their "Hot Country Playlist".[8] Critics also took notice of the track. John Blake of CNN called it "a three-and-a-half-minute song that flipped the good ol' boy patriotism of country music on its side and forced listeners to consider a different perspective."[14] Jewly Hight of NPR praised Guyton's blend of country, gospel and pop vocal styles.[8] The song was later nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Grammy nomination made Guyton the first black female artist to be nominated in the country category.[30][31]

In 2020, Guyton became the first black female artist to perform at the Academy of Country Music awards.[32] Capitol then released her third EP titled Bridges (2020).[1] The project featured her two previous singles and her third 2020 single, "Heaven Down Here". Four of its six tracks were "sobering personal testimonies", according to Taste of Country.[33] Bridges peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Heatseekers album chart in September 2020.[34] In November 2020, she collaborated with Canadian country singer Dean Brody on the duet "Boys".[35] The single reached number one on the Canada Country singles chart, giving Guyton her first career chart-topper,[36] and making her the first black woman to top the Canada Country chart.[37]

In 2021, Guyton became the first black woman to co-host the Academy of Country Music Awards.[38][39]

In an interview with The New Yorker, Guyton revealed the release of her the debut studio album called Remember Her Name.[40] She described the album as a look into her ten years living in Nashville, with songs directly addressing experiences of sexism and racism.[3] The album was released in September 2020 and included "Black Like Me", a re-recording of "Better Than You Left Me", and a cover of Beyoncé's "If I Were a Boy".[41] Rating it 3.5 out of 5 stars, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "If the bombast and ballads flatten the production of Remember Her Name somewhat, it nevertheless feels genuine, not calculated. Guyton is broadening and expanding the genre-bending sounds of 1990s country-pop".[42]

In February 2022, Guyton performed the National Anthem at Super Bowl LVI.[43] In 2023, Guyton was a coach and judge on My Kind of Country.[44] In Guyton announced that she was working on new music with Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard. The first Hubbard-produced single was 2022's "Somethin' Bout You".[45] In 2023, Guyton announced via the social media the release of her next radio single "Nothing Compares to You". The song was composed by Hubbard and featured vocals from Kane Brown.[46]