Mickey Guyton on Being a Country Music Trailblazer: ‘It Comes With a Price’ (Exclusive)

It’s not easy blazing a new trail in a genre as established as country music, but Mickey Guyton has made a name for herself doing just that. 

ET’s Rachel Smith was joined by the 40-year-old songstress at Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottoms Up Bar on Thursday ahead of her performance at CMA Fest in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was “coming in hot” to the musical festival and opened up about her musical journey and the excitement with her upcoming headlining tour.

Guyton made history as the first Black artist to ever earn a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album, and has always been vocal about the blatant racism she’s faced during her time as a singer, and how being a Black female artist has led to some in the industry unwilling to give her a chance, or questioning her ability to succeed. 

In March, after Beyoncé dropped her highly anticipated country album, Cowboy Carter, she paid homage to Guyton with a bouquet of white flowers and a sweet message. The Remember Her Name singer shared the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer’s sweet gesture with her fans on Instagram, revealing the note thanking her for making country music more accessible to fellow Black artists. 

“Mickey, Thank you for opening doors for me queen. Keep Shining. Love and respect, Beyoncé,” the note read.

Guyton was moved by the touching message.

“With opportunity comes possibility,” she captioned her post. “The possibilities are endless with you @beyonce. God gave me an assignment and I followed. May the doors continue to stay wide open.”

Speaking to ET, the GRAMMY nominee said the gift of recognition was doubled because of her respect for Beyoncé as “hands down one of the best performers of our lifetime.”

“People don’t realize [that] when you are considered a trailblazer — which, I didn’t consider myself that, but I guess I am,” Guyton admitted. “You don’t realize getting to these milestones in your life, it comes with a price.”

The singer pointed out how the “really bad things” she’s had said about her has affected her mental health. “I was just fighting for equality and that comes with a price when you’re putting yourself out there to try to bring people together and bring light to certain things that are hard in [other] people’s lives.”

But Guyton stressed that the buck doesn’t stop with her, saying that she continually does her best to be a “listening ear” for other Black artists making their mark on the music industry. 

“It’s important in life to have people that have your back in any aspect of your life, whether you are a musician or whether you’re in the corporate world,” she told ET. “It’s really imperative to have people that look after you.”

Now on the “up and up” from those experiences, Guyton is excited to celebrate new milestones in her career, including performing at the CMA Fest and her own tour.

“You know, I love live performances and I love performing live. That’s something that I’m really excited to just keep showing the fans, not everybody’s gotten to see that side of me,” Guyton told ET of her upcoming CMA Fest performance. “It’s really exciting to be able to give people what they want.”

And what the people want is more of Guyton! The singer has a new song debuting on Friday, which she teases is a “summer bop.”

“I wrote the song with Tyler Bird and Corey Crowder, and it’s just a good feeling song,” Guyton shared, adding that the new song celebrates her “amazing” relationship with her husband, Grant Savoy. 

“I just want to celebrate that and that’s kind of what the song is about,” she gushed. 

Guyton and Savoy have been together for over 14 years and welcomed their little boy, Grayson, in February 2021.

“I always play my jams for Grayson. He’s my barometer on whether or not I know a song is good or not,” Guyton said of her 3-year-old. “Motherhood [is] just like, you’re kind of reborn. When a baby’s born, a mother is born too, and getting to watch the person that you’ve grown to love so much before they were born live their life… It’s such a beautiful thing.”

The singer added, “I just appreciate moms so much more all around the world. What we go through on an everyday basis just to get up and going with a child is a freaking miracle. We’re miracle workers.”

It’s no surprise that Savoy and Grayson will join Guyton on several dates for her upcoming tour.

The 22-date tour will kick off on Sept. 18 at Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, followed by stops in New York, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Columbus, Buffalo, Toronto, Boston and Philadelphia before winding down on Nov. 9 in Lexington, Kentucky, at Manchester Music Hall.

While she’s excited for her family to join her as she embarks on taking her show on the road, the singer told ET that her son won’t be at all the shows. “Grayson might steal the show, so I can’t let him steal the show from me right now!”

Additional CMA Fest performers at Chevy Riverfront Stage this year include Megan Moroney, Breland, Brian Kelley and Gavin DeGraw.

For more country music exclusives, tune into Entertainment Tonight for Nashville Week. 

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