Alex Ferrari
In the last year, life has changed a lot for country star Maren Morris, who welcomed her first child, son Hayes, with fellow singer Ryan Hurd in March.
And while Morris planned to raise her son on the road, she says the COVID-19 live music shutdown has its silver linings.
“It’s been really nice to have this time with Hayes, whether we’d planned it or not,” she says. “I would have taken him on the road with me, he would have been a tour baby—we’d planned for all those things, but now my husband and I look at this as a blessing in disguise. We get this first year of his life at home to witness every milestone with no distractions.”
She’s also enjoying a career milestone: Morris’s song “The Bones” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in February and held the spot for 19 weeks. On April 11 it took the top spot on the Adult Pop Songs chart. In September "The Bones" returned to the top, claiming the No. 1 position on the Adult Contemporary chart. And that’s only a small part of the love song’s journey.
“So much has happened in the three or four years since we wrote it,” says Morris, who penned the track alongside Laura Veltz and Jimmy Robbins while she was still engaged to Hurd.
“It’s had many lives in that amount of time. It started as this love song I was writing to my now-husband, but the meaning has taken on a more dimensional layer. A lot of people have reached out over the last year and said this song echoes what our country is going through right now: ‘the bones are good; the rest don’t matter.’ It goes beyond a love song. It’s a triumphant song about the state of things.”
Morris isn’t shy about sharing her opinion about “the state of things” on social media, where she also uses her trademark dry wit to shoot down Internet hecklers.
“I often wonder should I say this? Should I tweet this? Should I respond to this troll?” she says. “There’s always the cliched ‘shut up and sing’ comments, and I get part of that, but at the same time I only get a short window here on earth.
Yes, I love making music and I’ve been blessed with it, but that’s one facet of me. The other many facets are human being and woman and mom and boss and daughter, so I have to serve those parts of me as well. I’m over the pussyfooting around ‘racists buy records, too!’ No. I don’t want just one type of person at my shows. I like to look out at my crowd and know that everyone feels safe to be there.”
The first-time mother is learning a lot about herself this year, including how to navigate being a celebrity with a baby. When Morris posted a photo of herself holding Hayes on a float in what was clearly a safely staged pose, commentors scolded the singer for not putting a life vest on her son. The incident led Morris to take a step back from sharing photos of her baby boy.
“That’s still tough. I want to share him because he’s so sweet and he’s growing so fast, but at the same time I’m glad that I got my wrist slapped because I think I owe him his privacy. I’d rather keep these years where he’s just ours.” Morris says.
“I’m a fierce personality regardless—maybe that’s a coming from Texas thing—but through that mom-shaming bout I definitely became fiercer and I make less apologies. We’re all just trying to live and do our best.”