Lauren Watkins
#
217
Ranking
Rising Artist
BIRTHDATE
BIRTHPLACE
Nashville
,
TN
,
USA
27
5
'
3
"
Lauren Watkins is a Nashville-born singer-songwriter and Big Loud Records artist who went from posting Instagram videos in her Ole Miss dorm room to opening stadiums for Morgan Wallen on his world tour, releasing the critically praised 17-track debut "The Heartbroken Record," and returning in 2026 with the sophomore album "In A Perfect World," produced by her husband and CMA and ACM Award winner Will Bundy, as she tours amphitheaters nationwide alongside Luke Bryan.
Current Tour & Setlist
Watkins is spending 2026 on the road behind "In A Perfect World," opening for Dylan Scott and Luke Bryan on his "Word On The Street Tour" at amphitheaters nationwide, with confirmed stops including PPL Center in Allentown on June 25, Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan on July 11 and 12, Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on August 14, and Big Valley Jamboree at the Camrose Regional Exhibition in Alberta, Canada on July 30 through August 2. Fans can expect a setlist featuring "Heartbreakaholic," "The Table," "Camel Blues," "Ole Miss," and highlights from both of her studio albums.
Early Life
Born August 25, 1999, and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Lauren Watkins is a genuine rarity in Music City. She's a true Nashville native who grew up attending CMA Fest and taking field trips to the Ryman Auditorium, yet whose parents had no connection to the music industry whatsoever, leaving her to absorb country music purely through the radio, the jukebox, and the influence of three sisters, including older sister Caroline, who shared her love of performing. Her dad introduced her to Alan Jackson and George Jones, her mom played Sara Bareilles and early 2000s singer-songwriters, and the radio brought her Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, and Miranda Lambert, giving her a musical education that ranged from honky-tonk traditionalism to indie piano pop and shaped the layered sound she writes today.
Career Highlights
After attending Ole Miss for a marketing degree, Watkins began posting stripped-down song clips to Instagram from her dorm room, and one of those videos caught the eye of famed songwriter Rodney Clawson, who showed it to his wife Nicolle Galyon just as Galyon was launching her female-focused Songs and Daughters imprint, leading to a breakfast meeting in Nashville and eventually a publishing deal followed by a Big Loud Records contract. She released her debut single "The Table" in November 2023, followed by the EP "Introducing: Lauren Watkins," and then her 17-track full-length debut "The Heartbroken Record" in 2024, which earned praise from The Boston Globe and Billboard and sent her on the road opening stadiums for Morgan Wallen internationally on his One Night At A Time Tour, as well as dates with Riley Green, Lainey Wilson, and Zach Top. Her sophomore album "In A Perfect World," produced by her husband and CMA and ACM Award winner Will Bundy with additional co-production from Joey Moi, marked a new creative chapter with steel guitars, ethereal atmosphere, and 10 co-written songs exploring a sunnier outlook, led by the new single "Heartbreakaholic."
Family & Personal Life
Watkins is married to CMA and ACM Award-winning producer Will Bundy, who produced her sophomore album "In A Perfect World," a project she has described as capturing a season of growth and self-discovery rooted in their relationship and the sense of home she had been pushing away in her debut era. She has described herself as deeply family-oriented, spending her weekends at home from the road at her parents' Nashville house, cooking dinner, grilling, and hunting and fishing with close friends, and crediting her three sisters as foundational to both her personal identity and her musical instincts from the time they started harmonizing together as children.
