Lauren Alaina

Lauren Alaina, whose style leans into contemporary country-pop, stepped into the spotlight as runner-up on the 2011 season of Fox’s American Idol. That platform propelled her debut album Wildflower straight to number five on the Billboard Top 200. The title track from her 2017 sophomore effort Road Less Traveled delivered her first Billboard Country Airplay number one. Alaina’s ear for bright anthems and glossy ballads kept her music circulating inside the Country Top 40, whether through featured spots or solo releases. Sitting Pretty on Top of the World, her 2021 album, spotlighted Trisha Yearwood and Jon Pardi, while earlier pairings included Kane Brown’s 2017 chart-topper “What Ifs” and Hardy’s 2020 number one “One Beer.” She notched another Country Airplay hit in 2023 with Lainey Wilson on “Thicc as Thieves,” taken from the Unlocked EP, then opened 2025 with the solo single “Those Kind of Women.”

Born in 1994 in Rossville, Georgia, Alaina absorbed country music early and began singing by age three. Before American Idol she served as a high-school cheerleader and performed regularly across Georgia, winning the 2009 WinniSTAR youth talent contest. In the finals of the show’s tenth season she competed against fellow country singer Scotty McCreery, the eventual winner, and finished second.

Once Idol concluded, Alaina released “Like My Mother Does,” which sold more than 200,000 copies in its first two months and landed her a Mercury Nashville contract. Wildflower arrived several months later in 2011, debuting at number five on the Billboard 200 and number two on Top Country Albums. In 2013 she issued “Barefoot and Buckwild” and revisited American Idol to perform the track.

Her second full-length, Road Less Traveled, surfaced in 2017 with its title track co-written by Alaina, Meghan Trainor, and Jesse Frasure; the busbee-produced set also contained “Next Boyfriend.” It reached number 31 on the Billboard 200 and number three on Top Country Albums. Alaina’s strongest 2017 showing came alongside Kane Brown on the Country Airplay number one “What Ifs.”

She issued the 2019 singles “Ladies in the ’90s” and “Getting Good,” then joined Hardy for his 2020 chart-topper “One Beer” and Dustin Lynch on “Thinking ’Bout You.” Sitting Pretty on Top of the World, released in 2021, featured the Jon Pardi duet “Getting Over Him.” After moving from Mercury to Big Loud, she returned in 2023 with the Unlocked EP, which spawned the Country Airplay hit “Thicc as Thieves” with Lainey Wilson. The next year she appeared on Corey Kent’s “Now or Never,” then launched 2025 with the solo track “Those Kind of Women.”