On Friday, Oregon-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Max McNown released the honest new single ‘Heart You Didn’t Break‘, following his stellar, back-to-back sold-out shows at Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium – LISTEN HERE / WATCH HERE.
Thematically, McNown says, “It touches on the common truth: A man is only as strong as the woman and family who lift him up. The song is a plea that no matter what this life brings, someone will prioritize who I am beneath the artistic brand, a prayer that those I love will ‘protect my soul’ in the midst of chaos.”
In an exclusive interview with American Songwriter, McNown expresses his desire for his loved ones to not only focus on his career. “As beautiful as it is and as lucky as I am to live it—please remain focused on my heart and protect who I am,” says McNown. “… I had this entire life before. Now I’ve entered this new world, and it’s very easy to lose yourself in this world. It’s basically just asking my wife, ‘Hey, could you look after my soul? Can you look after who I am, beneath the brand, beneath the stage presence, and protect Max?'”
As part of the ongoing ‘Cost of Growing Up Tour’, the 24-year-old artist will perform additional sold-out shows in Lexington and Oklahoma City in the States, plus play upcoming festivals including Lone Star Smokeout, Stagecoach and State Fayre in the UK in June.
Max McNown’s rise has been meteoric. He has gone from teaching himself how to play the guitar within months and busking around SoCal just a few years ago, to auditioning (and gracefully turning down) a major TV talent show and gaining a legion of supporters on TikTok (currently has 2.6M followers). Since blazing his own path as a singer-songwriter, the Nashville-based artist’s breakout hit ‘A Lot More Free’ has gone RIAA Certified Platinum in the US, amassed over 360M worldwide streams to date, and made its Billboard Hot 100 debut, which launched him to the top of Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart. Featured on his 2023 debut EP and his 2024 full-length Wandering album, it also peaked in the Top 10 at Hot AC Radio, Top 20 at Pop, and Top 30 at Triple A, plus landed at #1 on TikTok’s Breakthrough USA chart, #2 on iTunes Country chart, hit the Spotify Viral 50 Global Playlist, and even got a nod from Kelly Clarkson when she performed the song on her Kellyoke series on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
The rising star’s follow-up track, ‘Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)’, which is the lead single from his 2025 sophomore album Night Diving (The Cost of Growing Up), also went double Platinum in the US, and landed McNown his highest charting position on the Billboard Hot 100 (at #26). The song, which amassed 480M+ worldwide streams to date, spent 36 weeks on the Hot 100 chart. It also landed him his first entry onto the Spotify US Top 200 Chart (#120 peak), #6 at Country Radio, Top 30 at Pop, #8 at Hot AC, Top 20 AC, plus #1 on iTunes Country Songs Chart, and Top 5 on iTunes All Genres Chart. A consistent chart-climber across genres, McNown proves to be a true, multi-format artist.
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