Ward Thomas

English twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas achieved a historic milestone when Cartwheels, their second studio album, became the first country release by any British act to reach the summit of the U.K. album chart, displacing Jamie T from the top position. Raised on a farm in rural Hampshire after their birth in 1994, the siblings attended a nearby convent school and first encountered country music during their teenage years after a friend introduced them to the Dixie Chicks. Gifted as both vocalists and instrumentalists, they began composing material together in sixth form, infusing the genre with a distinctly British sensibility.

A former Nashville backup singer who had taught the pair forwarded their demo recordings to industry contacts, resulting in an invitation to cut their debut album in the city. Issued in 2014 under the title From Where We Stand, the project emphasized a traditional aesthetic that highlighted the duo’s exquisite close-harmony vocals. Sustained support from BBC Radio 2 helped the record climb to number 41 on the U.K. album chart and achieve sales of 25,000 units, while extensive touring gradually expanded their audience through personal recommendations.

The sisters moved to Sony in 2016 ahead of Cartwheels. Although the album’s lovely title track preserved the classic country approach of their debut, several songs departed from strict genre boundaries, with certain tracks echoing the country-rock textures of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and others adopting a contemporary pop-rock framework. Their songwriting remained potent, prompting British listeners to propel the set to number one and confirming Ward Thomas as the nation’s most successful country act to date. Restless Minds, their third album, arrived in 2019 and continued the shift away from traditional country toward the electro-pop-rock direction associated with Taylor Swift.