Megan Moroney Reflects On ‘Very Surreal’ Success Of ‘Tennessee Orange’ During No.1 Celebration In Nashville

Megan Moroney painted Nashville orange on Wednesday afternoon during her No.1 party celebrating her chart-topping debut single, “Tennessee Orange.” 

They Wore Tennessee Orange For Her

Friends, family, and music industry professionals gathered at SESAC’s office on Music Row donning their best orange tailgate attire for the celebration of the viral hit, penned by Moroney Ben Williams, David Fanning, and Paul Jenkins. 

Ahead of the party, which featured tailgate food, drinks, and a “Tennessee Orange” cake, Moroney and her co-writers reflected on the song’s success and the day the hit came to life. 

The Song Was Written In The Spring Of 2022

It was April 6, 2022, and miraculously, it was the one and only time the collaborators had written together.

“One for one,” they joked ahead of the No.1 party.  

The songwriters went on to praise Moroney and producer Kristian Bush for bringing the song to life and applauded the rising star’s ability to connect with her audience.    

“She jumped with it. I mean, she did a great job at marketing [it]. I give her all the credit for that. It’s like you can write a cool song that connects, but it was also with the right artist at the right time,” Fanning pointed out. 

She Didn’t Know She Had A Massive Hit On Her Hands

For Megan Moroney, having her debut single go No.1 is “very surreal.”

While chatting with Country Now and other media outlets, the Georgia native admitted she never thought the song would be at the top of the charts. 

“When I sat down and we wrote ‘Tennessee Orange,’ you are not sitting down being like, ‘okay, well there’s my first number one hit.’ You’re just writing…We just left that day and we’re like, ‘okay, cool. We wrote this song called ‘Tennessee Orange.’”

She Came Into the Writing Session With The Idea

Moroney entered the writing session with the line “I’m wearing Tennessee Orange for him” and took a chance on it even though she had never written with Fanning or Jenkins in the past. 

“I had a good feeling about that idea because when I come up with an idea that that has so much color already, I can picture how it’s going to go in my head and I’m like, ‘okay, this is going to be easy to write,” she explained. “I think other people would’ve maybe said, don’t bring that to two people that you’ve never written with before.”

The CMA New Artist of the Year nominee admitted she was “too excited” about the concept to wait.

“The gears were turning in my brain and I was like, I need to write it immediately. And so once I found out Ben was on the write, I was like, ‘Well, hey guys, you don’t know me and I don’t know if you care about football or anything about the SEC, but I went to Georgia and we’re going to write this love song and I want it to be a waltz.” 

A few months went by and Moroney and her team needed to release a song to Spotify. With football season on the horizon, they chose, “Tennessee Orange.” In a matter of 48 hours, the song was recorded, mixed, and mastered and began its meteoric rise. 

The song opened many doors for Moroney, including her record deal with Sony Music Nashville/Columbia Records and a nomination for CMA Song of the Year.  

Deluxe Album And Tour

Her debut album, LUCKY, dropped in the Spring, and last month, she shared the deluxe edition of the project with three new tracks. Moroney’s headlining, sold-out THE LUCKY TOUR is underway and her new single, “I’m Not Pretty” continues to climb the charts at country radio. 

This may have been Megan Moroney’s first No.1 party but it won’t be her last.