Tanner Adell Talks Being an 'Enigma' in Country, Working with Beyoncé and Stepping Back from Mormonism (Exclusive)

Tanner Adell is just getting started.

Featured as one of PEOPLE’s 2024 Ones to Watch in Music, the Nashville singer-songwriter has taken country music by storm with her genre-bending sound, bold fashion choices and unapologetic demeanor.

“I try to be on the more unique side of country music. It’s definitely not traditional, but I’m just expressing myself, you know? I’m not trying to be this or that, it’s who I am,” Adell, 28, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Last year, Adell was featured on Beyoncé’s Grammy-nominated album Cowboy Carter. She sang on “BLACKBIIRD” alongside Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts and Tiera Kennedy. Her song “Too Easy” also made it to the stars Twisters sound track.

Now the “Whiskey Blues” singer is on the road for her sold-out Buckle Bunny tour — in support of her 2023 debut album — through Dec. 13.

Her musical accomplishments aside, there’s a lot to know about Adell. She was adopted at birth and raised in the Mormon church (which she has since left). And despite her confidence on stage, Adell grew up as a shy girl who, despite how hard she tried to fit in, always stood out.

Meet the rising country star below.

Tanner Adell Shares the Moment She Knew She Had to Do a Country Version of Beyoncé’s ‘Drunk in Love’ (Exclusive)

How did you get into music?

It was always my dream, but as a child my parents always encouraged me to sing in church and join the school choir. I was very shy, but my dad always tried to get me to audition for the school musical. I’d try a cute side part, and I’d always end up with the lead part in the chorus. I tried to fit in, but it never worked.

I had a voice teacher that I got my freshman year of college, and she kind of drilled it out of me. My voice coach said, ‘You shouldn’t be in school. You can already do these things. School won’t help you with what you should be doing, which is to go out and be an artist full-time.’

She helped me decide, “Where do I go to get this?” There are only a few places you can go if you want to do music full-time, and if you want to do country music, Nashville ended up being the way to go. I mean, it’s amazing here. I’ve been here for three years.

How did you find your sound?

Honestly, it’s not something I’ve tried to do. I think I’m very confident in my music and lyrics. So whenever I was in the room with the producers or the other writers, I was very, I guess, open with my opinion about what I wanted it to sound like. And it took me a while to find people who could really do what I wanted to do in Nashville. I’m kind of an enigma; this has never been done before, what I’m doing, especially with a woman.

Trial and error. I have stuff that leans on the country side, a lot more country, and stuff that leans a lot more on the pop side, and stuff that’s kind of a perfect blend.

Who was your first live music experience?

Oh, it was One Direction. It was my best friend’s birthday and her parents bought her 10 tickets to One Direction and she took a bunch of us. We were probably 11 years old, maybe very young. … I cried. they are great. I watched their documentary a few weeks ago when Liam passed away, and I mean, they’re just amazing. I think the first one was great [concert] … They took my virginity with live music!

The country music community is so tight-knit. Who is someone you found a friend in?

A lot of people come to mind. One, Lainey Wilson. We just hung out a lot this year. We are both on Twisters soundtrack, and so we did a few things together. To be able to sit down with her and just be a woman in country music, it doesn’t matter what color you are, but just being a woman in country music is really hard. Girls get less radio play and less opportunities and opportunities to tour. She worked hard to get where she is now, and is now one of the leading women in country music. When I’m sitting I can talk to her, she’s someone I can text anytime if I need something, I could call her frustrated or excited. She was there for me.

Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy at the CMT Music Awards.

John Shearer/Getty

How did you react when you found out that you will be singing on “BLACKBIIRD”?

I was shocked, excited, but at the same time, I had a pretty big hunch that she was probably going to include some girls from Nashville, and I thought there was a good chance it was going to be me. I was excited, but also as if I had somehow planned it.

How did that process go?

I can’t speak to the process, but it’s more personal than anything. It wasn’t like an ad on Craigslist.

What was the best part of that experience?

I think it came at such a good time for me. I’ve been working really hard here and growing what I believe is a really dedicated, sweet and passionate fan base. So there were a lot of people who were already fighting for me and on my side. When Beyoncé dropped those two songs at the Super Bowl, the fan reaction was immediate…my fans were blown away by it. It was interesting to see in that month between the Super Bowl and the album…how my community grew, but also connected in a way.

I think it’s also kind of a different experience that I’ve had with it. I haven’t been discovered outside of the album. I was already minding my own business, and it was the greatest common sign in the world.

Tell me about your latest song, “Religion”.

It was a really specific experience. It took that song, I wrote it in one day, but it took almost a year to fully realize that idea. I had an experience that forced me to start over with everything I believed in. I was raised a strict, religious Mormon, and I came to some realizations that kind of blew up my entire belief system.

During the year [I] was medicinal, i [it] it was in my mind, it was all I thought about, I would just randomly burst into tears about it, and about a year later was when I wrote “Religion”.

It was a healing year for me, and it was just the right time, with the right person. I wrote it with a girl named Parker, and she also had some religious trauma and helped me through that year, and she’s also a writer. We got together and she said, “Are you ready to write about what you’ve been through?” And I wasn’t. I said, “No, but maybe we should.” And we wrote that in a couple of hours together.

Tanner Adell attends the 2024 BET Awards.

Amy Sussman/Getty

Are you still part of the Mormon Church?

No, I don’t exercise. My family is still working out, but they love me and support me just the same, and they’re my biggest fans, and they love coming to my shows, and they’re just proud of me, and proud that I’m living my dream.

I think everyone goes through whatever they have to. My story is long and complicated, but I have four brothers and sisters. We are all adopted, and I was adopted in this situation, that’s how I was brought up. But I think it gave me a lot of self-discipline. I think I’m a very hard worker because of that, and I’ve had experiences with the church that have made me who I am today.

What was your adoption experience like?

I was as old as a day. I was very young. The deal was made before I was born.

I’m one of five. Both my parents are white. All my siblings are biracial. It wasn’t planned, it just happened that way. My parents couldn’t have children of their own and they adopted, even though my mom always wanted kids…she always wanted to adopt, and then she ended up adopting five babies. None of us are related by blood or similar, but yes, we all have our own little thing.

My family found me three years ago, my biological family. So everything is new to me and I’m learning.

What are you currently working on?

I’m a workaholic. It is very difficult for me to stop and not do something. In the middle of everything I’m doing right now, I’m writing an album. So I’m working on it and hopefully it will be early next year.

It was worked on, really focused writing, for about a year. And there are a few songs that I wrote that I didn’t know if they would ever see the light of day because they are very personal, and very dark and deep, but they will be on this album. They will tell my story.

What does “your day” look like?

Oh, a day off. I smoke weed and play my Nintendo Switch. That’s my ideal day off.

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Source: HIS Education