Canadian Country Music Hall Of Famer Michelle Wright’s Newest Album “Milestone”

Norman van den Wildenberg | August 30, 2022 | Release | No Comments

Sixteen-time Canadian Country Music Association award winner and BFD/ Audium Nashville recording artist Michelle Wright premiered her tenth studio album “Milestone”. The album features her most recent releases, “Small Town”, an autobiographical track she co-penned with Danielle Bourjeaurd and Rick Ferrell, and “Heartbreak Song”, a smoky, pensive tune she wrote with Adam Wakefield of Texas Hill. Milestone serves as both a reflection on Michelle’s incredible career and a sign of the sound and stories she continues to share with her fans. From her first U.S. major label release in 1990 to her Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame induction in 2011, she has countless, well-deserved accolades that have all led to this project.

Like so many country artists, Michelle Wright cut her teeth playing six nights a week in clubs throughout Canada. In 1988, after teaming with Savannah Records President Brian Ferriman, Savannah Records released her first CD, Do Right By Me, in Canada. Michelle and her band set off to tour North America. Do Right By Me was a major hit in her homeland, with seven charting singles and over 40,000 copies sold. That success opened many doors, landing her a deal with the brand new Arista/Nashville label. Arista/Nashville made Michelle one of its flagship artists, and, in 1990, they released her first U.S. album, “Michelle Wright”. American audiences enthusiastically responded to ‘that girl singer from up north with the snow in her videos.’ Her first single, “New Kind Of Love”, became her first top thirty American hit single. 

In 1992, Arista released her second CD “Now & Then”, producing a total of six singles including “One Time Around”, “Guitar Talk”, “He Would Be Sixteen”, and the song that changed everything, “Take It Like A Man”. After the latter was release in February 1992, Michelle became the first Canadian-born artist in the modern era of country music to have a Top Ten hit in America. She went on to secure a number one video on CMT-USA (also for Take It Like A Man) as well as winning the Academy of Country Music’s ‘Top New Female Vocalist’ award. The song also catapulted Michelle to superstardom, receiving a total of twelve music industry awards, including the 1993 Canadian Country Music Association’s Fans’ Choice Entertainer of The Year Award, and double platinum honours for ”Now & Then” the same year. 

Her career has been a dream come true. Her total of twelve album releases have sold millions of copies and produced twenty‐five Top Ten radio hits. She went on to win a total of 16 CCMA Awards. Michelle enjoys an international career that has seen her grace concert stages across North America, Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia. To date, she has garnered forty major awards, including her 2011 induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

‘Making this record, I drew on all of my country influences and those R&B/Motown sounds. Blending these influences is a natural, authentic way to express me in my music. It always has been that way and always will be.’
Michelle Wright