Kacey Musgraves has forged a reputation as a fearless musical communicator, an an entertainer who focuses on making her shows engaging, visually impactful, and as creative as her songs. As an artist and songwriter has been lauded by the Grammys (she’s won eight trophies, most recently best country solo performance for “The Architect”), the CMAs, the ACMs and numerous other awards. She’s earned five top-five debuts on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart.
Musgraves has also built this career on a bedrock of songwriting.
Musgraves is a primary writer — and sometimes the sole writer — on many of the songs populating her projects. Her album Golden Hour was one of the few country albums to win the overall album of the year trophy at the Grammys. Her unique viewpoints also vibrate through projects like 2024’s Deeper Well, the acerbic Hot Country Songs top 15 hit “Merry Go Round” and the balmy top 20 hit “Rainbow.”
Over the years, the Texas native has eschewed influence from streaming or radio trends, preferring to craft unfiltered, open-hearted songs that express her artistry and perspective, including the dance-fused “High Horse,” the industry-busting “Good Ol’ Boys Club,” and the genre-challenging, LGBTQIA+ supportive, CMA Award-winning “Follow Your Arrow.”
But Musgraves’ potent pen has crafted songs beyond her own solo catalog of hits, including songs such as her Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping, Grammy-winning Zach Bryan collaboration “I Remember Everything.” And long before that Bryan collaboration, Musgraves had already proven her adeptness at writing for other artists. Given her deep introspection, and a way with lyrics that can be razor-sharp or of the softest shades, it’s notable that a crop of women country artists have also chosen to record Musgraves’ songs.
Below, we look at songs Musgraves has written for other artists:
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Deana Carter, “That’s Just Me” and “I Don’t Want To”
Musgraves and Carter co-wrote a pair of songs that were included on Carter’s 2014 album Southern Way of Life.
Carter previously told radio.com of writing with Musgraves, “I’ll never forget the minute I walked in the door to our first writing session and she’s in the room sitting there with her guitar, and she had it in open tuning. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! This one knows what she’s doing…’ Writing with her really did remind me of the point in my 20s where I used to write totally free. I would write everything and anything, no genre. That was really exciting to walk in that room.”
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Miranda Lambert, “Mama’s Broken Heart”
Musgraves teamed with Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally to pen this smash about taking a modern approach to coping with timeless heartache. The song reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, and was nominated for song of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, while it earned Country Music Association nominations for single of the year and music video of the year, and a Grammy nod for best country solo performance.
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Martina McBride, “When You Love a Sinner”
This song from McBride’s 2011 album Eleven was written by Musgraves with Chip Boyd and Jay Clementi. It’s a clear-eyed look at the heavy cost of trying to give too much of oneself in the process of supporting a self-destructive lover. In a 2013 interview with American Songwriter, McBride called “When You Love a Sinner” “one of my favorite songs on the record as far as songwriting. I wish I could write a song like that.”
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Nashville Cast, “Undermine”
Musgraves wrote this song with Trent Dabbs, and it was featured in season one of the country television drama Nashville, performed by Charles Esten’s character Deacon and Hayden Panettiere’s character Juliette. The song was also featured on the compilation album The Music of Nashville.
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Gretchen Wilson, “Get Outta My Yard”
Musgraves teamed with her frequent collaborators Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark for this song on Wilson’s 2013 album Right on Time.
“I can’t believe [Kacey] didn’t want that song,” Wilson previously told Nu Country TV. “She had it on hold for her album and I had it on second hold. I was just sitting here with my fingers crossed. I thought there was no way she’s not gonna put this song on her record — it’s too good a song. When they called up and said, ‘It’s not gonna make the cut,’ I jumped for joy.”
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