Matthew Neal Stell (born April 19, 1984) is an Americancountry music singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His song "Prayed for You" and his EPEverywhere but On were released in 2019.

Stell was born inClinton, Arkansas, and raised inCenter Ridge, Arkansas. He played basketball during high school in the Amateur Athletic Union summer league, and from 2002 to 2006, he playedcollege basketball forDrury University for four years on an athletic scholarship.^[1][2]

After college he worked farming and construction jobs while studying for a master's degree in communications at the University of Arkansas. A medical missions trip to Haiti inspired him to apply to a post-baccalaureate premedical program to complete pre-med coursework not taken as a religion and philosophy major.^[3] He applied to Harvard University's Extension School part-time pre-med program, and he was accepted. But in 2014, shortly before the program would have begun, he had the opportunity to sign a publishing deal with Wide Open Music, and he chose music over starting the part-time pre-med program.^[4][5]

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Stell played as the lead singer of the bandThe Crashers.^[6] During this time, he released three albums independently:The Sound & the Story,Vestibule Blues, and in March 2013,A River Through It,^[7] the latter two of which were on the label 124 Records. He continued playing gigs, and opened for major artists includingLuke Bryan andEric Church. He also wrote for other artists, including Bart Crow,Casey Donahew, and the John D. Hale Band.^[8] He moved to Nashville in 2014.

Stell released an EP,Last of the Best, on March 16, 2018.^[9] He also released the single, "Prayed For You", which he co-wrote with Allison Veltz and producer Ash Bowers.^[10]Rolling Stone named "Prayed For You" one of the "10 Best Country Songs to Hear Now".^[11] The song captured the attention ofBarry Weiss, former president and CEO ofJive Records, who signed Stell to his label, RECORDS, in July 2018.^[12] Keith Gale, president of Good Company Entertainment, signed on to promote the song to radio.^[13] Also in 2018, Stell was named a CMT Discovery Artist.^[14]

In February 2019, "Prayed For You" reached No. 36 onBillboard's Hot Country Songs chart^[15] and in March 2019 it reached No. 54 onBillboard's Country Airplay chart.^[16] The song received over 15 million plays onSpotify and 44 million altogether within just over a year. The official music video for the song starred reality TV starSavannah Chrisley and her fiancé, hockey player Nic Kerdiles. It premiered atPeople on July 9, 2018^[17] and received over 4.3 million views onYouTube in its first 10 months.

Matt made hisGrand Ole Opry debut on April 27, 2019. The same month,Arista Nashville andSony Music Nashville joined the team working to promote his career.^[18][19] He makes a return appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on June 12, 2019, withOld Crow Medicine Show and theDel McCoury Band. In May, Taste of Country named him an Artist to Watch.^[20]His major label debut EP, the seven-songEverywhere But On, released May 24, 2019, on Records/Arista Nashville,^[21] a week after the debut of the music video for the title track.^[22] The EP includes a collaboration withJimmie Allen.

On September 16, 2019, Stell was presented with a RIAA Gold certification for "Prayed for You".^[23]

On October 8, 2021, Stell released the song "Boyfriend Season."^[24] The song is slated for inclusion alongside theBetter Than That EP tracklist on an upcoming album, set to be released in 2022.^[25] In 2022, he released the single "Man Made" as well as the promotional single "One of Us".^[26]

• Living people
• American country singer-songwriters
• American male singer-songwriters
• Singer-songwriters from Arkansas
• Country musicians from Arkansas
• 20th-century American male musicians
• Arista Nashville artists

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Certification Cite Ref usages outside Certification Table Entry
• Year of birth missing (living people)