Country singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters, born in Shueyville, Iowa on 9 September 1989, turns 37 today, prompting a look back at her decade-long climb in Nashville before achieving mainstream recognition. She spent years supporting herself through jobs such as nannying, salon reception work and waitressing while performing at songwriter clubs, before landing a publishing deal and gradually establishing herself as both a recording artist and a hit songwriter for acts including Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Alan Jackson and Brandy Clark.

Her breakthrough came with the 2019 single "Ten Year Town", and she has since released five studio albums, including 2022's "Raised", which reached number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart on the strength of the single "Everything She Ain't". She has also opened for Luke Combs and Maren Morris, won New Female Artist of the Year at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, and contributed to the Grammy-nominated song "A Beautiful Noise", recorded by Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile. Her most recent album, 2023's "Corn Queen", reflects her Midwestern upbringing and the years of hard graft behind her success.