Less than a year after releasing his debut single, Christian Hayes has received the incredible honor of being invited to make his Opry debut on February 1. He was surprised with the news on Christmas Eve while surrounded by his entire family.

December 24 has become one of Hayes’ favorite days of the year, because it’s a chance for his loved ones to gather for a big holiday party filled with music. After eating and opening gifts, the real festivities begin as Hayes, his father, brother, uncle and cousins all break out the guitars for an epic jam session.

As this year’s party approached, the emerging artist was excited to take part in their annual traditions, but what he didn’t realize was that his parents had a huge surprise waiting upon his arrival.

“My parents for a week leading up to it, were like…I had another party I had to go to before, and they’re like, ‘make sure you’re there at eight.’ I was like, ‘why are they so adamant that I’m there at eight?’ And my parents were like, ‘we have a surprise.’ They played it off so well. They’re like, ‘we’ve been saving up for a long time for it. We have this big surprise for you.’”

The Sweet Surprise Unfolds

Hayes admitted to Country Now that he had a few theories for what they could be hiding, but the truth is he had no idea what was in store for him that night.

“I get there, and we’re all gathered around, we’re about to say a prayer before we eat dinner and then my mom and dad walk in the room and everyone’s gathered up in the kitchen,” he continued recalling the moments leading up to the grand reveal. “There’s probably 60 people there. My dad’s holding this cake from this cake company in Rome called Honeyman Bakery…and my mom’s holding these two huge sugar cookies but turned into her. So you could tell something was written on the frosting.” 

Before uncovering the reason for the treats, Hayes said his uncle joked that they now have a professional in their circle, referencing Hayes who had just signed to Capitol Records a few months prior. This prompted his dad to reflect on the Georgia native’s musical journey that began when he was just eight years old, and how far he’s come just in this past year. Then, it was time for the big surprise to be unveiled.

“[He] kind of walks down my path a little bit and then he was like, ‘well, what he doesn’t know yet is he’s going to have this Grand Ole Opry debut on February 1st.’ He opens it up and it’s this cake box that says ‘Christian Hayes, Grand Ole Opry debut.’ And my mom flips the cookies and has the debut date. It was really sweet. They didn’t tell anybody. No one in the family knew. I didn’t know. It was just a complete huge shock.”

Hayes Was Shocked

Hayes goes on to admit he was “speechless” in that moment and tried his best to hold back the tears welling up in his eyes but ultimately was too overjoyed to get to share that milestone with his family by his side.

“There’re all these things that hit when thinking about it. I started playing when I was eight and the amount of people in my life that always told me I’d never make it and to now be here, it’s just special. It’s just a testament to not listen to what people say and doing what you love and putting in the 10,000 hours. And so yeah, it’s definitely sinking in.”

It’s remarkable to think that Hayes is making his Opry debut less than a year after releasing his first single, “Leaving.” At the time he was just starting to gain momentum on his career while still working at an oil company in his hometown. Everything that’s unfolded since then has made for an incredibly fulfilling year for Hayes.

“It’s been such a whirlwind in such a beautiful way,” he noted.

It All Began With A Journal

Hayes’ love for music has been around for about as long as he can remember. His love for songwriting began at just seven years old when his Grandpa Jack, a former poet laureate of Georgia, gifted him his first journal. A year later, he taught himself to play guitar. The encouragement from his grandpa led him to finding comfort in the practice of writing down whatever was on his mind, which eventually turned into lyrics for hundreds of songs.

“Writing in general, it always was in the blood. My dad writes a lot. He plays too, but we were just always told to write down our dreams, write down our thoughts, and that words hold meaning. And I feel like that’s something that in society nowadays, words, they don’t mean as much as they used to,” he explained honestly. “My dad, granddad, they always preached words have meaning, don’t let your words fall short. Don’t let them waste space, say what you mean and mean what you say. And so just that ability to being able to write, being able to create was just always a space where I just felt at home and always just came naturally.”

Music remained in Hayes’ life by leading worship throughout high school and even into his time spent in bootcamp for the US Navy Reserve at the University of Alabama. Things kicked into high gear after catching the attention of Wildrose Projects artist manager Helena Capps, with a video posted online of him singing his self-penned song, “Leaving” in September 2023. The two eventually entered into a management agreement and shortly after in February of 2024, released the same up-tempo tune as his debut single.

Debut Single, “Leaving,” Is Unveiled

By the time Hayes moved to Nashville, he’d already had well over 900 songs stored up and was ready to start sharing his real-life emotions through stories that he hopes will touch people. “Leaving” was the perfect first introduction to his sound and mission as an artist.

“Again, going back to not writing empty words, everything I write, it’s true. It’s something that’s happened to me or it’s happened to someone I know. And that song I wrote about a time in my life where the only thing I knew how to do was leave. And so it’s this song that it’s about this kind of ballad, I guess you’d call it about me, but I think it’s something that…so many people my age…they can relate to this feeling of, ‘well, I feel like I can’t do, so I’ll just go, I’ll just leave.’”

He added, “I think what I’ve really done a good job at is being able to write a serious message, but in a fun way…So it’s one of those things where it’s like, I can still get my point across, but you don’t have to be crying in your car in the rain to listen to it.”

His goal for that song was to reach 5,000 Streams in 2024, however that number was surpassed after just one day and has now amassed over 2 million streams.

The Story Behind “LILY” And Debut EP

The follow-up to “Leaving” was a tune named “LILY,” is as an acronym for “Last I Love You,” which also serves as the title of his debut EP that was released on September 20, 2024. Produced by Lukas Bracewell, the five-track collection gives fans a warm introduction to Hayes’ Americana and Cinematic folk blended sound through his first three singles – “Leaving,” “LILY” and “Cheyenne” – plus two brand new songs, “My Memory” and “Black Gold.”

The idea behind “LILY,” originally called, “Last I Love You (Wants and Needs),” came out of what Hayes deems to be a “generational curse” that causes him to feel happy in a relationship for a few months and then suddenly start to wonder if there was something better out there for him. He recalls feeling as though he could never “shake” this struggle and is now trying to make sense of why he always found himself in the same situation.

“The song is, in its essence, it’s about the struggle of discontent and realizing that the better things aren’t always the best things, and normally all you want is right in front of you the whole time,” said Hayes. “So this song is about my realization of being honest with someone that I was in a relationship with about, ‘Hey, I want more than you, so you need more than me.’ And it’s not something that I’m proud about, but it’s something that I can at least be honest with.”

Digging Into Hayes’ Latest Single, “Wildflower”

Keeping on the theme of flowers (unintentionally), Hayes dropped his latest single, “Wildflower.” Like many of his past writers, this tune was penned on his parent’s back porch and it showed how even though his granddad has passed, he still finds ways to inspire Hayes to write. Inspiration struck one day as he was searching through a collection of books in their home and spotted one about wildflowers. Inside he found a line that instantly resonated with the stage of life he was in. It read, “I just want to find my wildflower.”

“There’re so many things, like I said, kind of tying back in with ‘LILY,’ always trying to find the best thing. I was looking for that better person and realizing in a deep sense how unique flowers are. You can’t say a rose is prettier than a daisy because that might be your opinion, but that doesn’t mean it’s fact. And so this whole notion of using all these sunflower, daisy, lilac, morning glory, it’s all these things that it’s finding that person that’s just uniquely who you love and finding this person that there might be flaws, there will be flaws, and no flower’s perfect, no person’s perfect, but still loving them for who they are and finding your wildflower.”

Hayes kept the ball rolling when he expanded his team and signed with William Morris Endeavor (WME) for booking, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) for publishing and Flood Bumstead McCready & McCarthy (FBMM) for business management. Having this group of supporters will help Hayes to continue his momentum and achieve even more dreams and growth in 2025.

“At the end of the day, for me, the biggest thing is felt like God put me here to write music and share it. So as long as I’m doing that, I’m doing what I need to do,” he said in conclusion while sharing his hopes to release another project within the year and preforming even more live shows for his growing fanbase.  

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