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Michael Wilson Hardy (born September 13, 1990), known professionally as Hardy (stylized in all caps), is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has written songs for Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane, Blake Shelton, Dallas Smith, Thomas Rhett, and Morgan Wallen. He released his debut album A Rock for Big Loud Records, as well as the mixtape Hixtape, Vol. 1. He has charted the singles "Rednecker" and "One Beer" and was featured on "Some Things Never Change".

Hardy
Background information
Birth name	Michael Wilson Hardy
Born	(1990-09-13) September 13, 1990 (age 32) Philadelphia, Mississippi, U.S.
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country country rock[1] country pop[2]
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar
Years active	2018–present
Labels	Big Loud
Website	hardyofficial.com

Early life

Michael Wilson Hardy was born September 14, 1990, to Mike and Sarah Hardy, in Philadelphia, Mississippi.[3] Hardy initially fell in love with music because of his dad. Growing up, he would often listen to music with his father, which he has cited as the source of some of his earliest and fondest memories.[4] The love of music grew from there, but did not become a serious goal of his until he was older.

He attended Neshoba Central High School in Philadelphia, Mississippi. It was during that time that he wrote his first song to "impress a girl."[4] Hardy then went on to attend Middle Tennessee State University, where he got a degree in songwriting in the Recording Industry Management program.[5]

After graduating, Hardy took a trip to visit his sister, in Nashville, which led to the start of his career. While there, he realized that it was possible to make Country music into a career.[4] Hardy met Florida Georgia Line in 2012 at a party where he was introduced to them by a mutual acquaintance.[6] He was eventually reconnected with the group years later.

After moving to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue songwriting, he became a writing partner of the duo Florida Georgia Line.[7] Among the songs that Hardy wrote include "Up Down" by Morgan Wallen. Due to the song's success and encouragement from record producer Joey Moi, Hardy was signed to Big Loud Records in 2018.[8]

Career

In October 2018, he released an EP titled This Ole Boy, which he supported by joining Wallen's If I Know Me Tour.[9] This was followed in 2019 by the single "Rednecker",[10] and a second EP titled Where to Find Me. To support the EP, Hardy joined Florida Georgia Line on their Can't Say I Ain't Country Tour.[11]

Hardy also co-wrote Florida Georgia Line's singles "Simple" and "Talk You Out of It", Blake Shelton's singles "God's Country"[12] and "Hell Right", "Drop" by Dallas Smith, Chris Lane's single "I Don't Know About You", and Jameson Rodgers' debut single "Some Girls".[13]

In September 2019, Hardy released a collaborative mixtape titled Hixtape, Vol. 1,[13] which featured a total of 17 artists including Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban, Tracy Lawrence, Jake Owen, Trace Adkins, the late Joe Diffie, Zakk Wylde, Cole Swindell, Dustin Lynch, and Morgan Wallen.

Hardy was set to be on tour with Thomas Rhett in 2020 for Rhett's Center Point Road Tour, but the tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, Hardy released his debut album A Rock, which included his single "One Beer".[14] He was also featured on Dallas Smith’s single "Some Things Never Change".[15] In June 2021, he was featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time". In July 2021, he was featured on Dierks Bentley's single "Beers on Me", which he co-wrote.[16]

He later toured with Sean Stemaly in 2021 and created Hixtape Volume 2. This album included artists such as Matt Stell, Jon Pardi, Jimmie Allen, Colt Ford, Randy Houser, Rhett Akins, and Lainey Wilson. In the Fall of 2021, Hardy went on tour with Jason Aldean, as well. The "Back in the Saddle" tour kicked off in August 2021, and included Lainey Wilson, in addition to Hardy.[17]

Morgan Wallen announced his plans for his 2022 Dangerous tour, which included Hardy for almost all of the nearly 50 stops, including stops in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.[18]

Awards

In 2019, Hardy received his first nomination for the Country Music Association awards. Held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, Hardy was nominated for Song of the Year for Blake Shelton's "God's Country", which Hardy co-wrote with Devin Dawson and Jordan Schmidt.[19] He was then again nominated in the 2021 CMA Awards as New Artist of the Year.[20] Hardy has yet to win a CMA award.

Hardy was nominated for two awards in the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards: Song of the Year, for Blake Shelton's "Gods Country" that Hardy co-wrote, and Songwriter of the Year. Following that, in 2021, he received three nominations: New Male Artist, Songwriter of the Year, and Music Event of the Year, for his song "One Beer" along with Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson. Hardy was nominated for two awards in the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards, held at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He did not win the award for New Male Artist, losing to Parker McCollum. He was, however, named the Academy of Country Music's 2022 Songwriter of the Year, making that his first ACM Award.[21][22]

Personal life

Hardy proposed to his now fiancé Caleigh Ryan in August 2021 at The Lyric in Oxford, Mississippi which is where the couple met in 2017.[23]

Discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US [24]	US Country [25]	US Indie [26]	CAN [27]	AUS Country [28]
Hixtape, Vol. 1	Released: September 13, 2019 Label: Big Loud/Tree Vibez Music	—	35	34	—	—
A Rock	Released: September 4, 2020 Label: Big Loud	24	4	4	34	20
Hixtape, Vol. 2[29]	Released: December 10, 2021 Label: Big Loud	—	—	—	—	—

Extended plays

Title	EP details	Sales
This Ole Boy	Released: October 19, 2018 Label: Big Loud/Tree Vibez Music Formats: music download	US: 5,600[30]
Where to Find Me	Released: January 18, 2019 Label: Big Loud/Tree Vibez Music Formats: music download

Singles

As lead artist

Year	Title	Peak chart positions					Certifications	Sales	Album
		US [31]	US Country Songs [32]	US Country Airplay [33]	CAN [34]	CAN Country [35]
2019	"Rednecker"	—[upper-alpha 1]	23	26	—[upper-alpha 2]	17	RIAA: Platinum[38] MC: Platinum[39]	US: 90,000[40]	This Ole Boy
2020	"One Beer" (featuring Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson)	33	4	1	43	1	RIAA: 2× Platinum[38] MC: 2× Platinum[39]	US: 19,000[41]	A Rock
2021	"Give Heaven Some Hell"	69	16	11	86	8	RIAA: Gold[38] MC: Gold[39]
2022	"Wait in the Truck" (featuring Lainey Wilson)	80	18	30	—	—			TBA
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

As featured artist

Year	Title	Peak chart positions					Certifications	Album
		US [31]	US Country Songs [32]	US Country Airplay [33]	CAN [34]	CAN Country [35]
2020	"Some Things Never Change" (Dallas Smith featuring Hardy)	—	—	—	55	1		Timeless
2021	"The Worst Country Song of All Time" (Brantley Gilbert featuring Hardy and Toby Keith)	—	31	32	—	—		TBA
	"Beers on Me" (Dierks Bentley featuring Breland and Hardy)	40	5	1	61	2	RIAA: Gold[38]
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Other charted songs

Year	Title	Peak chart positions				Album
		US Country Songs [32]	US Country Digital [42]	US Rock [43]	US Hard Rock [44]
2019	"Y'all Boys" (Florida Georgia Line featuring Hardy)	—	15	—	—	Can't Say I Ain't Country
2020	"Truck"	50	—	—	—	A Rock
2021	"Blurry"	—	—	—	19	Non-album song
2022	"Sold Out"	—	—	21	1
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Music videos

Year	Video
2018	"This Ole Boy" (acoustic)
2019	"Rednecker"
2020	"One Beer" (featuring Lauren Alaina and Devin Dawson)
	"Give Heaven Some Hell"
	"A Rock"
2021	"Some Things Never Change" (with Dallas Smith)
	"The Worst Country Song of All-Time" (with Brantley Gilbert and Toby Keith)

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	References
2022	Academy of Country Music Awards	New Male Artist of the Year	Himself	Nominated	[45]
		Songwriter of the Year	Himself	Won

Notes

References

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