In the midst of bro-country's dominance during the mid-2010s, Maddie & Tae took aim at the genre's macho posturing through "Girl in a Country Song," a pointed lampoon of the sexist tropes crowding country radio in 2014. The single itself became a commercial success, climbing to the top of Billboard's Country Airplay chart by year's end and establishing the duo—Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye—as bona fide country artists. Their 2015 debut album Start Here maintained that momentum, buoyed especially by the reflective ballad "Fly," which showcased their gifts for close harmony and savvy country-pop fusion. Those early successes carried the pair through subsequent label upheaval, a stretch resolved by two 2019 EPs later assembled into the 2020 full-length The Way It Feels. The EPs Through the Madness, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 followed in 2022, preceding the 2023 standalone single "Heart They Didn't Break."
Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye first met in 2010 while studying under the same vocal coach during high school in the Dallas area. Their immediate rapport evolved into a creative partnership; performing and writing as Sweet Aliana, they made periodic visits to Nashville. After finishing school they moved to the Music City full time, where Big Machine Records signed them as the flagship act for its revived imprint Dot Records.
Dot issued "Girl in a Country Song"—the sharp satire co-written with Aaron Scherz—as the duo's debut single in July 2014. The track quickly drew widespread attention in country circles before ascending the charts, reaching number one on Billboard's Country Airplay tally by the close of the year, the same period that saw the November arrival of their self-titled debut EP. Alongside the hit, that EP introduced the follow-up single "Fly," which rose to number nine on Country Airplay during summer 2015 and paved the way for the August release of Start Here. The album entered at number two on Billboard's Country Albums chart and number seven on the Billboard 200, while "Shut Up and Fish" later peaked at number 23 that fall. "Sierra" surfaced in 2016 but managed only a number 47 showing on Country Airplay.
When Dot ceased operations in 2017, the duo moved to Mercury Nashville the following year. "Friends Don't," issued in 2018, reached number 33 on Country Airplay and appeared, along with "Die from a Broken Heart," on the April 2019 EP One Heart to Another. A second EP, Everywhere I'm Goin', arrived in October 2019 as the pair completed work on their sophomore album. That project, The Way It Feels, collected the earlier EPs and was released in April 2020. The 2021 single "Woman You Got" was later included on the 2022 EP Through the Madness, Vol. 1; Vol. 2, featuring the hit "Every Night Every Morning," followed later that year. In June 2023 the duo marked their longstanding friendship with the Corey Crowder-produced single "Heart They Didn't Break."
