Thomas Rhett is celebrating two big milestone anniversaries this year. The award-winning singer-songwriter marks the 10th anniversary of the release of his debut EP, a self-titled project that released this week in 2012. The five tracks appeared on his debut full-length album, It Goes Like This, more than a year later. Rhett said, as he reflected on the past decade of his career, that he doesn’t entirely know how he can explain his path to massive success (though he noted his hard work and credited people who believed in his vision). He said in a recent statement shared by his record label:
“Yeah, I really don’t know, to be honest with you. I mean, hard work for sure, and I think having people that believed in a vision. I feel like any young artist that comes to me and says, ‘Man, what do I do in this situation?’ It’s like, if you’ve got a gut then you’ve got a vision. And I think trusting people that believe in that and help you accomplish that… Cause I look back at so many weird, pivotal moments in my career, like releasing a certain song that was really off kilter, and my manager looking at me being like, ‘Hey, this might not work. Are you okay with that?’ And then internally, you go, I am. Because it’s all about risk and reward, and some of the decisions we made happened to be more reward than they were a risk. And if I got deep I could go back and name 10 or 12 those moments where it kind of felt like this is kind of crazy, this is pretty off kilter, but I already saw this in my brain, so let’s go execute it. And I just feel like I’ve been really fortunate to work with so many amazing songwriters, where when I came with a vision for an album or a vision for a tour, the band was on board, the writers were on board. And I think it really does take a team of people believing in something kinda crazy. And yeah, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years, cause it feels like it was kinda yesterday. But good grief, 10 years later, four kids later, it’s just kind of a whirlwind to look back at it all. And I truly feel like I’m kinda just gettin’ revved up, in a strange way.“
Soon, Rhett will also celebrate his 10-year wedding anniversary with his wife, Lauren Akins. The milestone anniversary comes in October. Last year, Rhett shared an adorable throwback photo from 2011, writing in his caption: “I'm thankful to God every day that You said yes to marrying me! …I can't wait to see what the next 50 years has to hold for us.” Posting a photo from their wedding day, Akins added that she’s “so grateful for this life with you and our babies.” Since tying the knot, the couple welcomed four daughters: Willa Gray (6), Ada James (5), Lennon Love (2), and Lillie Carolina, who was born in November.