Nashville-based artist Max McNown's rise has been meteoric, going from teaching himself guitar in just a few months to busking across Southern California to auditioning for, and ultimately turning down, a major TV talent show, all while building a massive following on TikTok, where he now has 2.6 million followers. Since blazing his own path as a singer-songwriter, the Oregon native's breakout hit "A Lot More Free" has gone RIAA Certified Platinum in the U.S., amassed over 360M worldwide streams to date, and made its Billboard Hot 100 debut at #97, which launched him to the top of Billboard's Emerging Artists chart. Featured in his 2023 debut EP and his 2024 full-length Wandering album, it also peaked in the Top 10 at Hot AC Radio, Top 20 at Top 40, and Top 30 at Triple A, plus landed at #1 on TikTok's Breakthrough USA chart, #2 on iTunes Country chart, hit the Spotify Viral 50 Global Playlist, and even got a nod from Kelly Clarkson when she performed the song on her Kellyoke series on The Kelly Clarkson Show.     

The rising star's follow-up track, "Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)," which is the lead single from his 2025 sophomore album Night Diving (The Cost of Growing Up), also went double Platinum in the U.S, and landed McNown his highest charting position on the Billboard Hot 100 (at #26). The song, which amassed over 455M worldwide streams to date, spent 36 weeks on the Hot 100 chart. It also landed him his first entry onto the Spotify US Top 200 Chart (#120 peak), #6 at Country Radio Top 30 at Top 40, #8 at Hot AC, Top 20 AC, plus #1 on iTunes Country Songs Chart, and Top 5 on iTunes All Genres Chart. A consistent chart-climber across genres, McNown proves to be a true, multi-format artist. 

Following his TV performances on The TODAY Show (watch here) and The Kelly Clarkson Show (watch here), and spotlight features as Billboard's Chartbreaker and an Artist to Watch in 2025 by Amazon Music, Holler, and other publications, McNown continues to receive high praise as one of the "brightest newly minted stars to come out of Nashville" (Grammy.com) and is poised to have a breakout year in 2026.