Jennifer Nettles | |
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 Nettles in 2021 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Jennifer Odessa Nettles (1974-09-12)September 12, 1974 (age 51) Douglas, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | Sugarland |
| Website | jennifernettles |
Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer.
Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duoSugarland alongsideKristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted theAtlanta-based bands Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band. She charted as a duet partner on the country version of rock bandBon Jovi's 2006 single "Who Says You Can't Go Home", a number-one hit on theBillboard country chart.[1] Throughout her career, she has acquirednumerous accolades, including threeGrammy Awards, fourCountry Music Association Awards, and anAmerican Music Award for her work both as a soloist and as one half of the duo Sugarland. Nettles was a judge onGo-Big Show (2021–22).[2]
Nettles was born and raised in the small town ofDouglas, Georgia, United States, graduating fromCoffee High School andAgnes Scott College inDecatur, Georgia.[3] Nettles married Todd Van Sickle in 1998; the couple divorced in 2007.[4] On November 26, 2011, Nettles married her boyfriend of two years, Justin Miller, in a sunset ceremony at Blackberry Farm inEast Tennessee.[5] On June 18, 2012, they announced they were expecting their first child in November 2012.[6] Their son was born in December 2012.[7] Nettles and Miller were divorced in 2018.
Nettles began performing at school assemblies, her Southern Baptist church, and in community theater. She was also a member ofGeorgia 4-H's Clovers & Company performing arts group from 1986 to 1993.[8]
Nettles studied Spanish and Anthropology atAgnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, and graduated in 1997.[9] While a student there, Nettles and Cory Jones (who at the time was studyingclassical guitar at theUniversity of Georgia) formed the group Soul Miner's Daughter. Performing as both an acoustic duo and with a band, they released two albums:The Sacred and Profane in 1996 andHallelujah in 1998, both of which were composed of songs written collaboratively by Jones and Nettles.[10] Soul Miner's Daughter was invited to perform at the Atlanta installment ofLilith Fair in 1999.[11]
In 1999, she formed the Jennifer Nettles Band, with which she released three studio albums and two live albums. The band, which in addition to Nettles included Brad Sikes (drums), Scott Nicholson (piano), Wesley Lupold (bass), and Mike Cebulski (percussion), was selected the grand prize winner from more than 2000 bands in "The Big Deal $100,000 Music Search" presented byMars Music.[12]
In 2003, Nettles teamed up withKristen Hall andKristian Bush to form Sugarland. In 2006, Hall left the group[13] and Nettles and Bush continued on as a duo releasingEnjoy the Ride in November 2006. Their third album, titledLove on the Inside, was released on July 22, 2008. Regarding the trio's collaboration, she said:
We really wanted to get out of where we had all been as artists and move beyond that to something bigger. Consequently all the songs reflect that; 'Fly Away,' 'Baby Girl,' all of those songs - you speak to the human condition and write what you know in your life.[14]
Sugarland was nominated for aGrammy award in theBest New Artist category in 2006.[15] Although they did not win the award, Nettles and Bush performed for the awards show and Nettles presented both aLifetime Achievement Award toMerle Haggard and the award forBest Country Group.[16]
A duet performance with rock bandBon Jovi, "Who Says You Can't Go Home", reached No. 7 on theBubbling Under Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on theBillboard Hot Country Singles chart. The video for the song won aCMT Music Award in 2006 for Collaborative Video Of The Year. In February 2007, Nettles and Bon Jovi won aGrammy forBest Country Vocal Collaboration.[17]
In an interview onFox News withMartha MacCallum, Nettles expressed interest in appearing in aBroadway play, stating in particular that she would like to play the role of Elphaba inWicked.[18]
In early December 2008, Sugarland received three Grammy Award nominations and performed on the 51st Annual Grammy Awards show on February 8, 2009. They won awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group.[19]
On January 18, 2009, Nettles performed at theWe Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, singingJames Taylor's "Shower the People" withJames Taylor andJohn Legend.[20]
On February 11, 2009, Sugarland received two nominations from theAcademy of Country Music for Top Vocal Duo and Vocal Event of the Year for "Life in a Northern Town".[21] During the broadcast of the April 5, 2009 awards show, Sugarland was presented with the Vocal Duo of the Year award, endingBrooks & Dunn's nine-year run.[22] Nettles also received a Milestone award, presented to her byReba McEntire.[23]
ABC broadcast the first CMA Country Christmas, hosted by Nettles, on November 29, 2010. Nettles and Sugarland partner Kristian Bush kicked off the evening with their rendition of "Winter Wonderland", backed byLittle Big Town. The pair returned to the stage later in the program to perform the hymn "Come, O Come Emmanuel", just before the "Jingle Bell Rock" group grande finale of the 90-minute special.[24] Until 2016, Nettles was the sole host of Country Christmas but was replaced byReba McEntire for the 2017 show.
After a five-year hiatus while Nettles and Bush recorded solo projects, Sugarland officially reunited in 2017 at the51st Annual Country Music Association Awards and announced that they were working on new music together.[25] The lead single off their sixth studio albumBigger, “Still the Same" was released on December 21, 2017.[26]
In 2009, Jennifer Nettles performed at theKennedy Center Honors forBruce Springsteen and a second time in 2011 forNeil Diamond.[27][28]
In 2012, Nettles appeared as a judge on the ABC singing competition seriesDuets alongsideKelly Clarkson,John Legend andRobin Thicke. The show was cancelled after one season.
Nettles announced in May 2013 that she would begin working on a solo album.[29] Her first solo single, "That Girl", was released in August. Nettles co-wrote the song withButch Walker, andRick Rubin produced it. The album, also titledThat Girl, was released on January 14, 2014 afterRay Price'es death.
On June 4, 2014, Nettles performed "All of Me" withJohn Legend andHunter Hayes at theCMT Music Awards.
In July 2015, Nettles parted ways with Mercury Nashville. Nettles then signed withBig Machine Label Group. Nettles announced that she would be going on the "Playing With Fire Tour" with Ryan Kindler and Brandy Clark as her opening acts. The tour was then extended by CMT and promoted as "CMT Presents Jennifer Nettles with 2016 Next Women of Country Tour" with Brandy Clark and special guest Lindsay Ell and Tara Thompson for over 30 dates across the country starting in January 2016. Nettles then released a music video for her song "Sugar", she would be performing this song, which is off her upcoming album, at the 89th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the Domino Sugar float. Nettles then released the first official single, off herupcoming album with Big Machine, "Unlove You" which she debuted onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on November 24. In March 2017, Nettles made her international solo debut at theC2C: Country to Country festival.[30] For six years in a row she has hosted theCMA Country Christmas on ABC. In 2018[31] Jennifer Nettles duetted with Josh Groban on his "Bridges" and "Bridges Live" albums with the Groban-penned song "99 Years". In December 2019 Nettles ended her solo deal withBig Machine Records but her duoSugarland signed an exclusive deal with Big Machine.
To coincide with the sixteenth anniversary of the9/11 attack, Nettles released a song called "King of the City", which tells the story of an immigrant who lost his life during the tragedy. Of the track, Nettles said "it has been so long since I started writing this song, but I was only able to finish it in the last year. I was inspired by the political tensions in our country right now. I want to humanize the immigrant story as an American story, and allow people a different narrative from what they might, or might not, be seeing on the news or in their communities".[32]
Nettles made her acting debut in theNBC television movie,Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors portrayingDolly Parton's mother. It premiered on December 10, 2015. She reprised her role in the sequelDolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love which premiered on November 30, 2016.[33]
In February 2015, Nettles joined the Broadway cast ofChicago, where she played the role of Roxie Hart for a limited engagement.[34] In April 2016, she had a role on theWGN America seriesUnderground. Her role was as a wife and mother who became a mental patient.
Since 2019, Nettles has portrayed Aimee-Leigh Gemstone, the deceased matriarch (featured in flashbacks) of a fictional Southern evangelical family in HBO’s dark comedy seriesThe Righteous Gemstones. She also co-starred in the dramaHarriet, about abolitionistHarriet Tubman, playing Eliza Brodess. The film was directed byKasi Lemmons.[35]
She played the lead role of Jenna in the musicalWaitress on Broadway from October 19 to November 25, 2021.[36]
Nettles plays Miranda, the mother of a young girl named Katherine, who is possessed by a demon after performing aséance, in the 2023 filmThe Exorcist: Believer.[37]
Nettles plays Maryanne, the ex-wife of Hub Halloran, in the 2025 Amazon Prime seriesThe Bondsman.[38]
Nettles has lent her time and talent to support various non-profit organizations. Nettles has been a longtime supporter of the Shalom foundation.[39] She raised more than $120,000 for the foundation in 2007.[40]
In 2008, she launched Common Thread, a series of musical events enabling artists to come together to share music and raise money for their favorite charities. The first three Common Thread concerts included performances by Nettles, Sugarland partner Kristian Bush,Emily Saliers, andAmos Lee and raised funds for theAmerican Cancer Society,American Liver Foundation,Honor the Earth, and Intercultural Family Services.[41]
Following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Nettles and Sugarland partner Bush sang on the remake ofWe Are the World as part ofArtists for Haiti.
In February 2012, Nettles was one of a group of celebrities who walked down acatwalk in red dresses for the 'Heart Truth Red Dress Collection' show, part ofNew York Fashion Week. She wore aDavid Meister dress.[42]
In November 2019, Nettles attended theCMA Awards wearing aChristian Siriano design with a hot-pink train. The train had a hand-painted graffiti painting by Alice Mizrahi and a message stating "play our [expletive] records; Please and Thank You", and the backside said "equal play". Nettles' outfit was in protest of country music radio stations not giving equal play time to female artists.[43]
At the 2020CMT Music Awards, she was recognized for her activism in the fight for equal play with the first CMT Equal Play award.[44]
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1991 | For Your Love / You're the One
|
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1996 | The Sacred and Profane |
| 1998 | Hallelujah |
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Story of Your Bones |
| 2002 | Gravity: Drag Me Down |
| 2002 | Rewind |
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [45] | US Country [46] | CAN [47] | UK Country [48] | |||
| That Girl |
| 5 | 1 | 22 | — |
|
| Playing with Fire |
| 10 | 2 | 39 | 4 |
|
| To Celebrate Christmas |
| 66 | 13 | — | 18 |
|
| Always Like New | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| I Can Do Hard Things |
|
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2003 | An Acoustic Evening with Jennifer Nettles |
| 2004 | An Acoustic Evening with Jennifer Nettles II |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [53] | US Country Airplay [54] | US Bubbling [55] | |||
| 2013 | "That Girl" | 37 | 37 | — | That Girl |
| 2014 | "Me Without You" | — | 50 | — | |
| 2016 | "Unlove You" | 24 | 26 | 16 | Playing with Fire |
| "Hey Heartbreak"[56] | — | — | — | ||
| 2019 | "I Can Do Hard Things"[57] | — | — | — | I Can Do Hard Things EP |
| 2021 | "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat"[58] | — | — | — | Always Like New |
| "Wait For It" | — | — | — | ||
| "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
| Year | Single | Artist | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US Country Airplay | US | US AC | CAN | NOR | IRE | NZ | SWE | SPA | |||||
| 2006 | "Who Says You Can't Go Home" | Bon Jovi | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Have a Nice Day | |
| 2010 | "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" | Artists for Haiti | — | — | 2 | — | 7 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 15 | — | |
| 2014 | "Christmas Day" | Michael W. Smith | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Spirit of Christmas | |
| 2015 | "Here It Is Christmas/Baby, It's Cold Outside" | Kenny Rogers | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Once Again It's Christmas | |
| 2020 | "Do What You Can" | Bon Jovi | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2020 | |
| 2024 | "Never Been Over" | Darius Rucker | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country [59] | US AC | |||
| 2016 | "Little Drummer Boy" (featuringIdina Menzel) | — | 12 | To Celebrate Christmas |
| "Do You Hear What I Hear?" | — | 20 | ||
| "O Holy Night" | 46 | — | ||
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Who Says You Can't Go Home"(with Bon Jovi) | Anthony M. Bongiovi |
| 2010 | "We Are the World 25 for Haiti"(as USA for Haiti) | Paul Haggis |
| 2013 | "That Girl"[60] | Philip Andelman |
| 2014 | "His Hands"(withBrandy Clark)[61] | Shaun Silva/Valarie Allyn Bienas |
| 2015 | "Sugar"[62] | Declan Whitebloom |
| 2016 | "Unlove You"[63] | Trey Fanjoy |
| "Hey Heartbreak"[64] | Shane Drake | |
| 2020 | "Do What You Can" | |
| 2021 | "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors | Avie Lee Parton | Television movie |
| 2016 | Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love | ||
| 2019 | Harriet | Eliza Brodess | |
| 2023 | The Exorcist: Believer | Miranda West | |
| TBA | Heartland | TBA | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | CMT Crossroads | Herself | Episode: "Bon Jovi and Sugarland" |
| 2010–16 | CMA Country Christmas | Herself/host | 7 specials |
| 2012 | Duets | Herself | 9 episodes |
| 2016 | CMT Crossroads | Herself | Episode: "Cheap Trick and Jennifer Nettles" |
| 2016 | Underground | Charlotte | Episode: "Cradle" |
| 2018 | The Launch | Mentor | Episode: "Ain’t Easy" |
| 2019–25 | The Righteous Gemstones | Aimee-Leigh Gemstone | 13 episodes |
| 2020 | Puppy Dog Pals | Capo (Voice) | Episode: "Music City Mishap" |
| 2021–22 | Go-Big Show | Herself/Panelist | |
| 2023 | The Masked Singer | Herself/Guest Panelist | Episode: "Sesame Street Night" |
| 2023–24 | Farmer Wants A Wife | Host | |
| 2025 | The Bondsman | Maryanne Dice | 8 episodes |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Retrieved August 27, 2010.
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