Before the world knew Megan Moroney as the country princess she is today, the Georgia native was simply the star singer of her college sorority.
It’s true that everyone has to start somewhere, and for Moroney, that claim to fame was at Kappa Delta at the University of Georgia. While pursuing a degree in accounting, the 2020 Bulldog graduate got her title as a “country singer” thanks to a push from her sorority sisters to perform in a pageant. In a 2022 interview with Bobby Bones on his podcast, BobbyCast, Moroney detailed her humble start to her career as the face of Kappa Delta for a Greek life pageant in which she competed against girls from other sororities.
“It first started with this like pageant that the sororities put on. And we needed a representative from my sorority. You know, no one wanted to do it because there was a talent section.”
Moroney had been posting covers online for years before this, so she was no stranger to showcasing her musical abilities, hence why she probably seemed like the perfect candidate in the eyes of her peers. Wildly enough, this brave endeavour happened when Moroney was just a young freshman.
“And I was a freshman, and they bribed me with Chick-fil-A gift cards to do it.”
Personally, this seems like a pretty compelling bribe, so it makes complete sense why she took a leap of faith. The pageant itself, however, was quite the undertaking. Not only did it have the daunting talent section, but it was full of the glitz and glam, strutting on stage and competing against professional girls. Still, she stepped up to perform Deana Carter’s ’90s classic “Strawberry Wine” alongside her dad, a longtime supporter of her musical dreams:
“I sang Strawberry Wine with my dad. So we sang that and I ended up winning this pageant and there was like real pageant girls that were in like Miss Georgia and I had to like walk up to a little microphone and do a spin, it was terrifying for me but I liked the talent part of it.”
If you’d like to hear what the audience and judges of the UGA Sorority Row pageant witnessed, Moroney performed another cover of the song a few years back, and it’s gold:
Knowing about Moroney’s pageant past adds a fun layer of context to “Miss Universe,” a track from her 2024 album Am I Okay?. It’s easy to imagine that her experience twirling on stage in front of glittering lights and beauty queens helped inspire the song.
While the 2018 version of Moroney was fearful of walking a stage, her current sold-out shows would say otherwise. In true pageant queen style, Moroney dominates the stage in poofy glittery dresses and high-to-the-heavens hair. Winning “Miss Sorority Row” didn’t just earn Moroney a crown; it helped launch her identity as a performer.
“So then I was really known as the country singer in the sorority because everyone was like Oh, she won Miss Sorority Row, and she sang Strawberry Wine, and so… country singer.”
With this reputation now set in stone, she went on to do a bunch of other gigs in college, such as the famous tale where she opened for Jon Langston in college, and Chase Rice so happened to be in the audience to hear her perform. This then led to her opening for him the following month at the Georgia Theatre with the stipulation that she write an original song (something she had previously never done before).
Luckily, this led to a very successful writing career, switching majors to UGA’s music business program, interning for Sugarland’s Kristian and Brandon Bush, and playing a number of shows around Athens throughout the following years. In just a matter of time, post-graduation, Moroney moved to Nashville, and the rest is history.
What began as a Chick-fil-A-bribed talent show gig has since blossomed into a full-blown career. With her Am I Okay? Tour continuing through summer 2025 and a third album expected later this year, Moroney’s momentum is only growing.
Check out the full list of upcoming tour dates:
6/20 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE Outdoors
7/17 – Milwaukee, WI – Eagles Ballroom
7/19 – Buffalo, NY – Outer Harbor Live at Terminal B
8/1 – Boston, MA – Roadrunner
8/2 – Boston, MA – Roadrunner
Watch the Interview Clip: