Meet Maddox Batson, a country Justin Bieber in the making

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Maddox Batson was recently in a West Hollywood recording studio, casually spinning in his chair while his mother, who also manages him, discussed their upcoming schedule.

The young country singer, a teenager who recently turned sixteen, has been in Los Angeles for about a week, writing songs with several producers and songwriters. He prefers working in LA because the dry air is good for his voice and helps him achieve a more pop-influenced sound compared to Nashville. He’s flying back home tomorrow for a short visit before continuing his tour with a performance in Indiana, traveling by tour bus with his dog.

“Humphrey is my best buddy,” says singer Batson, referring to his dachshund. He brought Humphrey onstage with him during his first headlining show in Tuscaloosa in 2024. Batson’s mother, Salina, remembers the moment fondly: “He’d just gotten Humphrey as a surprise gift from his sister and held him up in the air, just like the opening scene of ‘The Lion King.’”

Humphrey has quickly become a popular favorite among fans, according to Batson. His team is even working on a Humphrey plush toy to sell at the merchandise booth. He jokes that they expect to make a large profit from it, predicting it will be a very popular item.

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Country music has a history of launching young stars. From Tanya Tucker, who had a hit song at age 13 in 1972, to LeAnn Rimes in the 90s and Taylor Swift in the early 2000s, the genre often welcomes teen talent. More recently, in 2018, 11-year-old Mason Ramsey became an internet sensation after a video of him yodeling Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” while at Walmart went viral, eventually leading to a record deal.

Right now, country music isn’t about lighthearted romance. The Billboard country albums chart is led by Zach Bryan’s album about his difficult breakup with Brianna Chickenfry, who has publicly accused him of emotional abuse. Following Bryan are three albums by Morgan Wallen, all of which portray him as somewhat controversial, and a greatest hits collection from Jason Aldean, known for being outspoken and combative.

At just sixteen, Levi Batson is gaining popularity with upbeat and family-friendly country-pop songs. Tracks like “God Talkin’” – which playfully describes finding love in someone’s eyes – and “Girl in Green,” accompanied by a cheerful music video filmed at a school dance, are helping him connect with fans alongside rising stars like Ty Myers and Waylon Wyatt.

Just over a year after joining Warner Records, Batson has built a large social media following, with over 3.5 million on TikTok and a million on Instagram. He also gained significant recognition last year, opening for Lainey Wilson on tour and being named to Billboard’s 21 Under 21 list, alongside artists like Sombr and Katseye.

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Batson recently released his new song, “Any Other Night.” The track has a smooth, R&B sound reminiscent of Baby Bash and Frankie J’s classic “Suga Suga.” It’s about being so interested in someone that you’d leave anything – even hanging out with friends – if they called. The song’s catchy beat and Batson’s rapping style show how easily different music genres blend together these days thanks to streaming.

I remember MGK saying something really cool – that there aren’t really genres in music, just good songs and bad ones. I was at the studio with my mom and sister, Loren, and my cousin Alex was there too. He actually just finished school at Mississippi State, and we immediately put him to work as our road manager!

Now that our conversation is over, the Batsons are trying to figure out where to have their last dinner in Los Angeles. They already went to Nobu one night and ordered from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Kitchen another night. Salina really enjoyed Goop, saying, “The food is amazing – I wish they’d open a location in Nashville! It would be a huge hit.”

Wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and cowboy boots, Batson explained his take on musical genres. He described it as a scale, with ‘zero’ being a neutral point. He said anything leaning towards ‘two’ would be full-on country, like the music of Zach Top, a neo-traditionalist artist reminiscent of the 90s. On the other end, ‘negative two’ would be pop music, like Sabrina Carpenter. According to Batson, as long as an artist falls somewhere within that range, they can be considered both country and pop.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck believes newcomer Batson, whose full name is Maddox, has the potential for a career as successful as Justin Bieber’s. He thinks the company’s strategy will help Batson reach similar levels of fame.

Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, I was all about sports, especially basketball. I was pretty good, actually – averaging around 35 points a game in middle school! But unfortunately, I developed Osgood-Schlatter disease in my right knee. It’s something a lot of young athletes deal with – basically, painful inflammation right below the kneecap where you’re still growing.

The diagnosis was devastating for me at first,” he explains, “because basketball was everything to me. But it actually inspired me to start making music.” He began posting videos of himself performing with his guitar-playing father on TikTok, and later broadened his content to include popular influencer-style videos, like one “get ready with me” clip that has received over 37 million views.

In early 2024, Batson’s hit song, “Tears in the River,” launched his music career, coinciding with his switch to homeschooling. He remembers a funny struggle with his new assignments: “They tried to make me do homework, and I resisted, but eventually I gave in,” he says with a chuckle.

I first discovered Batson through their track “Tears in the River,” which was seriously blowing up on Spotify – it actually hit the top 20 of the U.S. Viral 50 chart! That’s what got Warner Records interested, and they signed Batson in September 2024. They quickly released a song called “X’s,” and it’s a really cool story – it’s about a night out dancing where both people had ‘X’s’ drawn on their hands with a Sharpie to sneak into a club as minors.

Lana Del Rey and Quavo collaborated on a song called “Tough,” which has a country feel, and Batson helped write it. Both he and Del Rey performed at the Stagecoach festival in Indio last April. Unfortunately, Batson had to leave early for another show in Arizona and couldn’t see her performance live. However, he did watch videos of it, including the part where she talked about kissing Morgan Wallen and warned against riding ATVs with him in the West.

“I really didn’t see that coming,” Batson said. “It’s just… wow. I feel bad for him. And now she’s married to that guy who’s… well, a character? He’s great, though.”

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When asked about artists he looks up to, Batson cited Justin Bieber, One Direction, and the Jonas Brothers. He particularly praised the Jonas Brothers, noting they’ve made smart career moves since becoming popular in the early 2000s, recently even headlining arena tours. Batson emphasized that he values a long-lasting career. “I don’t want to be just a typical teen star who fades quickly,” he explained. “I want to stay relevant for a long time.”

A key difficulty when creating music for artists like Maddox is ensuring the songs don’t feel dated too quickly, explains Nashville producer and songwriter Jesse Frasure, who worked on “Any Other Night.” Because Maddox is young, even a year makes a big difference in what feels relevant to his life in the songs, and Frasure points out that a young artist’s voice is constantly changing as well.

Frasure admits the upbeat, carefree vibe of “Any Other Night” doesn’t quite fit with the more emotionally vulnerable style of artists like Wallen, Bryan, and Gavin Adcock. However, he believes people are craving some lighthearted, feel-good country music right now.

It remains to be seen if country radio will embrace Batson. Currently, radio programmers – who have a lot of power in deciding what country songs get played – haven’t shown much interest, and they have even more influence than pop radio programmers.

As a critic, I’ve been watching Maddox’s career, and it’s clear social media is the place to find his dedicated fanbase, as Warner’s Bay-Schuck pointed out. And Maddox seems totally comfortable with that! He’s still actively creating content, especially TikToks, because he genuinely enjoys that direct connection with the people who listen to his music. It’s refreshing to see an artist embracing that platform so wholeheartedly.

He enjoys being seen as down-to-earth and approachable. He wants people to feel comfortable enough to simply say hello if they met him. He’s planning a tour that starts next month in Florida, including a show at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on April 8th. He’s also working on his first album, which he hopes to release this year.

For many musicians his age, vinyl LPs feel outdated, but they’re personally meaningful to Batson. He especially loves albums like Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous,” Justin Bieber’s “My World 2.0,” and John Mayer’s “Battle Studies” – the last of which came out the year he was born.

He also mentioned Michael Bublé’s Christmas album, saying he knows all the lyrics. He thinks Bublé is great and recently learned that Bublé has a sponsorship deal with Rolex.

Batson glanced at his watch in the mirror while getting ready for pictures, admiring it briefly.

“There’s not a reflective surface Maddox passes that he doesn’t like,” Salina notes with a laugh.

How’s it feel to be roasted by his own mom?

“She does it all the time,” the singer answers. “I’ve learned to love it.”

“Gotta keep those feet on the ground,” Salina says.

“Yes, ma’am.”

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2026-01-22 14:33