Thomas Rhett

Thomas Rhett grew up in the music industry by means of his singer-songwriter father Rhett Akins ("All About Tonight," "The Shape I'm In," "Farmer's Daughter"). His full name is Thomas Rhett Akins; he chose "Thomas Rhett" as his stage name because of the Atkins glut in country music (Trace, Rodney).

During high school, Rhett was part of a band named The High Heeled Flip Flops.

While studying business and communications at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Rhett formed a cover band and began playing frat parties and other gigs they could get. His father persuaded him to take the stage one night at a Nashville showcase, and EMI Music's Ben Vaughn, the same publisher who had signed his father many years earlier, offered Rhett a publishing deal.