INTERVIEW
Hannah George | 25/07/2025
For Tanner Adell, success is more than just a single moment. With over 270 million global streams under her belt, Tanner has had a year full of career highs. From performing at The GLAAD Awards to presenting the Rule Breaker Award to Megan Moroney at the Billboard Women in Music Awards 2025.
As she prepares to hit seven cities across the US, including Nashville, Atlanta and Houston for The Giddy Up Tour presented by Crown Royal, Tanner reflects on the milestones that have shaped her journey. Reminiscing on the experience of being featured twice on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, she continues to look ahead to a summer packed with major festivals, including Lollapalooza, Madcool, Roskilde Festival, BST Hyde Park, and TRNSMT.
Tanner speaks of the foundational role her family’s support and unconditional love have played in her life - how their constant encouragement and her own journey of self-discovery have empowered her to embrace her most authentic self. When it comes to sharing the most personal parts of her life through storytelling and songwriting, she says the evolving nature of boundaries has helped her find balance. For Tanner, contentment has come from a deeper place. And this is only the beginning of her story.
"I've always loved having creative control and I've always kind of done my own thing. There's something about a major label deal that just feels suffocating, like there are so many rules that you have to follow,” she says.
She continues, “You can probably tell by my music that I'm not exactly a rule follower. Not fully being in control or owning all of my music outright was kind of a challenge for me. I'm now fully independent again, and I thoroughly enjoy the freedom that comes with it. There are a lot of strings that are attached when you sign with a label, and I don't want any of those."
Being an independent artist in the age of social media platforms like TikTok is no easy gig. Tanner gives a frank a frank assessment of what the landscape looks like for emerging musicians in 2025, and why participation is often non-negotiable. "In 2025, TikTok is expected to dominate the music industry. Regardless of whether you're signed to a major label or an independent one, TikTok is a considerable benefit.”
“It's a huge advantage for artists with a small budget, or no budget at all, because it provides free marketing. You can reach millions of people without spending a dime."
Tanner acknowledges that there are pros and cons, but ultimately, if you're going to use TikTok, it’s worth doing it on your own terms with full creative control. Being an artist with a strong social media presence comes with its difficulties. But for Tanner, setting boundaries was something she hadn't fully realised she'd already done.
"There is definitely a wall there that I didn't realise I had," Tanner explains. "I thought I had been really open and vulnerable, but I didn't truly experience vulnerability until that story."
Having crossed that boundary on her own terms and placing her personal story at the forefront of some of her music, Tanners has found a deeply supportive response with fans who’ve connect with her on a more intimate level.
"I've heard many amazing stories that've come out of that, from people who relate to them."
But it's a learning curve, she admits.
"I think I'm learning. I feel like your boundaries probably shift and change as you grow, and things might bother you now that didn't bother you six months ago. But I'm just trying to stay present. Every day, I'm learning new boundaries. I think that is something that changes."
Wearing her heart on her sleeve as she writes, it’s no surprise that fans form strong emotional connections with her music. But I'm curious whether that same connection has brought comfort to her younger self. I ask what she would say to her younger self if she could go back in time to her formative years.
"I would just show myself pictures of everything in my life that I'm doing now, in the hope that that would be enough for me to keep going. I've always had a clear vision of my future and what I wanted it to be.”
“I don't think I would have ever stopped. I think I would have always ended up here. So, it's hard to say what I would say when I go back, because even as a kid, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve."
As someone who knows that determination makes all the difference, especially on the days when getting out of bed is a struggle, Tanner also knows that resilience is essential. Both allow you to adapt, which is crucial in an industry that can change overnight.
In an era where artists are increasingly confident in making creative decisions and sharing their stories on their own terms, Tanner reflects on how authenticity has never been more vital.
"I think we're definitely in an age of independent artists who are writing for themselves. We have a lot of really amazing songwriters. That's why we're getting people like Chappell Roan and Conan Gray, who are telling their stories in enjoyable and expressive ways. Still, their emotions and their feelings are shining through."
It feels like a world away from the early 2000s.
"That time was filled with a lot of people who could sing, but it wasn’t necessarily something you could necessarily connect with. It's a very different game now. You have to be able to communicate with people, and someone giving you songs that you didn't write just isn't going to connect anymore.”
Although Tanner recognises that the music industry can be emotionally draining, her fuel comes from many places – chef among them, her fans.
"We're very emotional,” she says. “You're giving a huge piece of yourself too when you're writing and putting out music. I think it's really the fans that give you that energy back. At least for me, it's when I get to see the fans on tour and talk to them that I feel that."
Tanner lights up when speaking about her meet-and-greets.
“I love having meet-and-greets, because it feels like they're recharging that emotional battery that gets drained. I think it's essential to give as much as you take.”
But beyond the emotional energy her fans help replenish, it’s her family that Tanner credits for keeping her grounded. "I found what keeps me level and it's family." While balancing a busy career that constantly moves her from city to city, prioritising time with loved ones hasn’t always been easy. “I haven’t always been able to do that. It can be so hard between exhaustion, travel, and the fact that they live halfway across the country.”
Yet this past year marked a shift. "I've been in London, Germany, Scotland, and Belfast. They accompanied me for all of it. They came to all my shows. I’ve really just tried to include the people who raised me and taught me resilience and self-discipline, which has been so important to me. They're the reason I'm here.”
“It really helped balance my mental health, and I've seen a big difference. The ups and downs, the highs and lows, aren't as jarring as they were last year. I think this year I felt much more even keeled."
When the subject turns to family, the love in Tanner’s voice is unmistakeable. "I was raised really religious, and my parents still are practicing. And yet, all my siblings know this, so I can joke about it, but I’ve probably chosen one of the most radical paths out of all of us.”
“Still, they've just embraced it. They've come to all my shows. They're travelling with me. I played at Stagecoach last year, and they made sure to be there for it. They've shown me that a parent's love can be unmatched. Not everybody gets that, and that makes me really sad. I'm definitely grateful that I was adopted into a really, really loving, caring family."
When Beyoncé stepped into the country space, fans across social media were quick to rally behind one name: Tanner Adell.
"Ever since I started making music, I've always made country music. That's all I've ever done. And weirdly enough, the fans that created my community were already part of the Beehive."
So, when Beyoncé dropped ‘16 Carriages’ and ‘Texas Hold 'Em’, the internet erupted with fans overjoyed that Tanner had landed on the album, just as they had hoped. shouting from the hill tops on social media. "They were blowing up Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. I have a well-established fan base, which I've had for a couple of years now. So, there was a big push from them."
After putting out a tweet into the universe, it was a case of manifestation in full force. "I don't think Beyoncé doesn't hear about anything that doesn't happen,” Tanner jokes. “I mean, I literally sing lyrics including Beyoncé with a lasso — I'm sure she knew about that."
Reflecting on a year full of milestones and personal growth, I ask Tanner what’s truly brought her joy amidst all the chaos. "I think this year, for the first time, I'm really focused on just being happy,” she says. “Sometimes even though all of these things are amazing, it still doesn't bring you happiness. I found that even having massive numbers within music is not what makes me happy. It kind of goes back to prioritising my mental health and seeing my family more. That's when I'm happiest, and that's my newest goal.”
As her career continues to climb, Tanner is clear about the road she wants to walk. “What I really want for myself, going forward in this industry specifically, is not to get lost. It's easy to get caught up in the things that actually really don't matter.”
“Prioritising my happiness and finding those things that don't have to do with money, clothes, makeup or all of those things that make me happy on a very surface level. That's what's important when making me happy deep down. I don't want to hate myself in 10 years for those other things, and I'm really trying to get a hold of that now."
Photography Bri Elledge @brielledgephotography
Styling Dylan Wayne @dylway
Hair Isaac Davidson @isaacdavidsonhair
MUA Zac Hart @zacmakeup
Set and props Conor Faye @conorfaysetdesign
Digitech Brian Von Glahn @bvgdigital
Lighting Designer Sequoyah Wildwyn-Dechter @sequoyah.nyc
Studio photostudio.nyc @photostudio.nyc
Retouching @retouchconcept
Words Hannah George
