Record-breaking debut, RIAA-certified hits, 1.2B streams and sold-out tours fuel Wetmore’s breakout year
“I pretty much knew I wanted to be an artist, and I wanted to be on a stage singing songs in front of thousands of people. That was my main goal. Uh, obviously songwriting was like right there, but I just, I wanted to be an artist. And I think I first knew that when I was kind of talking to this girl a couple of years ago and you know, this is when I was living back home and she ended up going to a Luke Combs concert and I was broke back then so I couldn’t afford tickets. And so I wasn’t at the concert, and I remember seeing her snap story or whatever, Instagram story and it was Luke Combs on stage, and I remember looking at it. I was like, that looks like the coolest thing in the world. I want to do that. And I was already writing the songs at this point, you know, trying to perfect my craft and I was kind of lost at the moment, but you know, seeing seeing Luke up there do his thing, I was like, damn, that’s that’s what I want to do. And so that’s what I started chasing. And then I started falling in love with the idea more and more. And uh that’s when I moved to Nashville.”
Country’s hottest rising star Tucker Wetmore has been nominated for New Artist of the Year at the 2025 CMA Awards. The milestone marks Wetmore’s first CMA nomination and arrives just a year and a half into his career, underscoring the speed and scale of his meteoric rise. The 2025 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on ABC Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. CT and stream the next day on Hulu.
Wetmore’s record-breaking debut album What Not To (Back Blocks Music/MCA/Mercury Records), released in April, made history as the biggest country album debut from a new artist in 2025. The album debuted at the No. 15 spot on Billboard’s all-genre 200 Albums chart and helped propel Wetmore to over 1.2 BILLION total global streams in just over a year. His first No. 1 at Country radio, “Wind Up Missin’ You,” is already RIAA 2x Platinum while breakout single “Wine Into Whiskey” has achieved RIAA Platinum status. His current single “3,2,1” is continuing that momentum, climbing inside the Top 20.
Adding to his CMA nomination, Wetmore’s 2025 has been stacked with career firsts. In July, the ACM New Male Artist of the Year nominee became the first celebrity face of Wrangler’s All-Terrain Gear collection, starring in the brand’s new outdoor campaign, Unplugged. He also teamed up with BigXthaPlug on the rapper’s recent album I Hope You’re Happy with the track “About You” and performed and presented at the 2025 ACM Honors.
On the touring front, Wetmore has already played to hundreds of thousands of fans across the U.S., U.K. and Europe in 2025, selling out his first headlining shows and joining superstar Thomas Rhett on the Better In Boots Tour running through September. Wetmore will return this fall with another round of headline shows.
Critics have underscored the impact of his breakout: Billboard praised Wetmore as “one of country music’s brightest new stars” and declared his debut album was “poised to be a star-maker.” People added he’s “showing no signs of slowing down,” while NYLON deemed him as “country music’s most promising newcomer.” American Songwriter affirmed the album was “a statement articulating who he is as an artist and person… that he is here to stay.”
Already dubbed ‘One to Watch’ by Billboard, MusicRow, VEVO, Spotify and the Grand Ole Opry, Wetmore has emerged as “one of the buzziest new-school acts in country” (HITS). For updates, tour dates and announcements, keep up with Wetmore on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and his website at tuckerwetmore.com.
ABOUT TUCKER WETMORE:
With a warm vocal cut from the woods of the Pacific Northwest and an easy instinct for modern grooves, Tucker Wetmore has emerged as one of country’s most dynamic new stars. An ACM Awards-nominated singer-songwriter and headline performer who has already surpassed 1 billion career streams, the chart-topper has taken just a few years to leave a lasting mark. Raised in Kalama, Washington, the piano-playing student of country, rock, reggae and more wrote his first song after a college football injury, reaching Nashville in 2020. Kicking off his career with back-to-back Platinum “Wine Into Whiskey” and 2x Platinum debut No. 1 “Wind Up Missin’ You,” Wetmore landed on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 in 2024 with both tracks, showcasing a serene, sawtoothed-country buzz. After two features on the Twisters soundtrack, his first Grand Ole Opry appearance and a sold-out headline tour debut, Wetmore released his debut album What Not To to wide acclaim in 2025, wrapping hard-won life lessons in laid-back singalongs, and soul-scouring balladry. Already a veteran of major tours alongside Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Jordan Davis and more, Wetmore spent this summer on the road with superstar Thomas Rhett, following his first headlining shows across the U.S., U.K. and Europe. He’ll return to the highway for festival and headline dates across the U.S. this fall as he remains a standout “one to watch” by Billboard, MusicRow, VEVO, Spotify and the Opry.
