Country singer/songwriter Nate Smith may have emerged onto the scene a few short years ago, but 2024 proved to the world that this is only the beginning for the 39-year-old.
After amassing nearly 2 billion career streams, three No. 1 records with “Whiskey On You,” “World on Fire” and “Bulletproof,” a sold-out headlining tour and slots on Morgan Wallen‘s One Night At A Time World Tour, it’s only fitting that the vocal powerhouse would be named ACM New Male Artist of the Year, Billboard‘s Rookie of the Year and Amazon‘s Breakthrough Artist for 2024.
“It’s actually crazy. I need to like, honestly, write it all out because so many things have happened,” Smith tells Celeb Secrets host Juliet Schroder of his recent accomplishments in an exclusive interview.
To close out an incredible year, Nate earned a nomination for New Artist of the Year at the 2024 CMA Awards. While fellow artist Megan Moroney may have snagged the title, it was still a special night for the star-in-the-making. Teaming up with the show’s official whiskey partner Crown Royal, Nate highlighted the story of veteran Scotty Hasting‘s life-changing journey from Purple Heart recipient to one of country music’s own.
During an intimate conversation which was shown on the big screen at the Bridgestone Arena, Hasting shared how the support of CreatiVets led to him writing his first debut single and making his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Amid roaring applause and a standing ovation, Nate announced a $50,000 donation to CreatiVets on behalf of Crown Royal.
“The CMA [Awards] were so much fun. Getting to present was a really, really, really big deal,” Smith said with a smile. “You see people on TV doing all that, and you’re like, ‘oh my gosh.’ And then you’re doing it, you know? So it was pretty awesome and a good thing to be partnered with.”
NATE SMITH
Crown Royal’s involvement with CreatiVets is something that hits home to the “Fix What You Didn’t Break” singer, as he reveals to Celeb Secrets that his father served in the military in the early 1990s.
“So my dad is a veteran. I remember when he went away to war, he was gone for a year. I was probably like maybe six years old or something like that. I remember the moment that he came home and I got hugged him and I was like, ‘he’s okay. Everything’s fine’ you know? Anytime I see videos like that, where the kids get reunited with their families in the military, it always makes me really emotional. It’s just something that I have a lot of love and passion for because it’s so personal to me,” Nate recalls.
“This was an easy no brainer for me when they asked me to be involved. I was like, ‘absolutely,'” he continues.
As to how he likes his Crown Royal, Nate laughs and says it’s “a great sipper.”
Following the success of his sophomore album California Gold and his sold-out headlining tour this year, Nate will take his limited time off to not only celebrate the holidays with his family, but also breaking out the guitar to write songs for a new project in 2025.
Revealing to Celeb Secrets that he’s been “pouring my heart and some different struggles I’ve been having into songs,” the 39-year-old is happy to be writing songs by himself again that he hops to record in January and February.
“It’s really therapeutic,” he tells us about this new writing process.
“With this next project, I want to give people even more substance. I want to give them something even more real than I’ve ever put out before from my own life and things that I’ve struggled with and going through mentally. There’s creativity flowing, but I’m also having some therapy where I’m thinking about things that happened and how to explain that in a song.”
For more on Nate Smith’s partnership with Crown Royal and his current projects, make sure to watch our full interview below and don’t forget to let us know what you think by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecretscountry.
