Look what God gave him! Thomas Rhett’s family has stolen hearts across the world since he hit the country music scene in 2012.
Born Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. in March 1990, the Grammy nominee is the son of fellow country singer-songwriter Rhett Akins and Paige Lankford (née Braswell). Thomas and his sister, Kasey Akins, grew up in Nashville, where he later attended his mother’s alma mater, Lipscomb University, to study communications. He ultimately dropped out of college at the age of 20 to pursue a songwriting career.
After penning tracks for artists including Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line, Thomas signed a recording contract of his own with Big Machine Records’ The Valory Music Co. imprint. He released his debut single, “Something to Do With My Hands,” in 2012, followed by his first hit, “Beer With Jesus.”
That same year, Thomas married Lauren Akins, whom he met in elementary school and briefly dated in high school before they rekindled their romance in 2011. Lauren, who graduated from the University of Tennessee with a nursing degree, went on to star in the music video for Thomas’ highest-charting single to date, 2015’s “Die a Happy Man.”
The couple became parents in 2017 when they welcomed two daughters back-to-back. They adopted Willa Gray from Uganda that May, and found out in the middle of the process that Lauren was pregnant. She gave birth to Ada James that August. Their arrivals inspired another one of Thomas’ hits, “Life Changes.”
“I remember the day I told my daddy and mama, ‘You’re gonna have a grandkid’ / ‘Yep, from Uganda, that’s right, we’re adopting, and she is the cutest little girl that you’ve ever seen,’” he sang in the 2017 song from the album of the same name. “While I was wrapping my head around being a dad / A big wrench got thrown in the plans we thought we had / Now Lauren’s showing, got one on the way / Yeah, that’s two under 2 / Hey, what can I say?”
Thomas and Lauren welcomed a third daughter, Lennon Love, in February 2020.
Scroll down for a comprehensive guide to the Akins family!
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