Country music singer/songwriter and Middle Tennessee State University alum, Michael Hardy (better known by his stage name of just HARDY), had the privilege of his returning to his old school a few months back to give the commencement address to over 2,000 graduating students.
On top of speaking to the first class of 2024, the country/rock singer finally received his diploma in person, 11 years later after not attending his own graduation.
During his speech, HARDY detailed his first encounter with a then-nobody, Morgan Wallen:
“About 8 years ago, my publisher called me and he asked if I wanted to write with this artist – someone who was brand new, someone I had never heard of before. I was a young songwriter, hungry to write with the biggest writers in town and to be honest the last thing on my mind was giving my time to someone that I might not have anything to gain from. But reluctantly I said yes.”
He then goes on to highlight his achievements, thanking Wallen for helping to kickstart his music career and how his reluctant “yes” paid off in a big way:
“That was in 2016. Two years later, I wrote my first #1 song, recorded by that artist. Later I landed a record deal and my first full-length tour opening for that artist...
To this day I have gotten 16 cuts, I’ve written three #1s for that artist, I’ve toured with him in the biggest stadiums in the country, some of the biggest stadiums in the world, and I can confidently say he had a huge hand in helping me start not only my songwriting career but my artist career as well and there is a very good big none of that would’ve happened if I would not have said yes to writing with my friend Morgan Wallen”
It’s hard to imagine where either of these artists would be if Hardy never agreed to write with Morgan. Watch the videos from his commencement speech here: