What Were Country Stars’ Jobs Before They Became Famous Singers?
Many of country music’s biggest stars had other jobs before they found fame. That fact shouldn’t surprise anyone, as it’s notoriously difficult for new artists to break out in the music industry.
However, the types of jobs some of your favorite country stars worked in their pre-fame days may come as a surprise. While some worked at McDonald’s or a bar, others had more unusual jobs, such as emptying toilets or impersonating a celebrity.
Keep reading to see a list of 11 country stars’ pre-fame jobs and what they thought about those roles!
Listing 11 Country Stars’ Pre-Fame Jobs…Some Are Quite Unusual
Cody Johnson – Prison Guard
Before becoming a CMA Award-winning country artist, Cody Johnson was a prison guard at John Wynne Unit in Texas. He started working at the maximum security facility when he was only 18 years old.
Johnson’s father worked for the prison system, so he followed his lead. As he told Westword in 2017:
“I followed in those footsteps, because it was a steady paycheck and there was always a job there. You grow up quickly when you’re eighteen and working in the prison system.”
Johnson played music in his free time. Everyone around him could see his talent and passion, and the prison warden encouraged Johnson to pursue a career in music.
“He said that I could always go back there if I fell flat on my face,” Johnson said. But as we now know, he never needed to go back.
Eric Church – Salesman
North Carolina native Eric Church knew he wanted to be a singer and songwriter. He also knew he needed the funds to support his dream career. So he took a job as a salesman for the Shop at Home Network. He ended up working the “graveyard” shift from midnight to 8 AM.
iHeart Country quotes Church describing the work as “awful.”
“So the schedule was bad enough,” he said. “However, what I had to do at the job…I sold knives from midnight to 7 or 8 AM And, anytime somebody calls you at 3 or 4 AM and needs 200 knives for $19.95, it’s automatically an alarming situation.”
Church admitted he didn’t last long at the job—not because of the grueling schedule or the alarming number of knives he was selling, but because he actively encouraged prospective customers not to buy from him.
“So the reason the job didn’t last long for me is that I was maybe the worst salesman in history because I ended up talking a lot of these people out of it. I’d say, ‘I’ll tell you what man, go to bed, call me, I’ll be here in the morning. If you get up in the morning and want these knives you call me back.’”
Church said they “got rid” of him after that. Thankfully, things worked out for him in the end, as he’s now a Grammy-nominated artist and CMA Entertainer of the Year.
George Strait – Served In The Army
George Strait served in the military years before he became known as “The King of Country.” He enlisted in the United States Army in 1971 (at age 19) and was stationed at Scholfield Barracks in Hawaii.
Strait started playing music in an Army-sponsored country group named Rambling Country. The band even got the opportunity to play a few shows off base.
Strait was honorably discharged from the Army in 1975. He returned to his home state of Texas, and enrolled at Southwest Texas State University. While in college, he continued playing music in a local country band.
He released his debut solo single in 1981 and now has 60 chart-topping country hits to his name.
Kane Brown – FedEx Delivery Driver
Unlike some of the other artists in this list, Kane Brown didn’t originally dream of becoming a country music star. In fact, as he told PEOPLE in 2018, he always pictured himself as an athlete. He played multiple sports in high school and “was always one of the best players on the team.”
But when Brown realized he wasn’t going to earn a college scholarship, he changed course and decided to join the Army. However, that plan changed too.
“I ended up doing my test and I was about to get sent off,” he said. “They told me I had to get my tattoos removed first. I was like, ‘Hell no!’ So then I ended up getting a job at FedEx.”
Brown devoted himself to his work with FedEx, and aimed to be one of the best drivers. To him, the idea of a music career wasn’t even on the able at that time.
Still, Brown always loved country music, and he started sharing cover songs on YouTube. His boss could see how talented he was, and pushed him to quit FedEx in pursuit of a music career.
“My manager was like, ‘It’s time for you to quit,'” Brown recalled. “I was like, ‘What the h—?’ I was nervous.”
As we now know, Brown had nothing to be nervous about. He now has multiple #1 songs to his name and two of his singles have been certified Diamond by the RIAA.
Carly Pearce – Cleaned Vacation Rental Properties
Carly Pearce spent nearly ten years trying to make a name for herself in “Music City” before she caught her big break. In order to make ends meet, Pearce took a job cleaning Airbnb vacation rental properties in Nashville.
“I cleaned AIRBNBS in Nashville for a few years, and people are nasty,” she once told CMT’s Cody Alan. “Gross! I would clean these massive homes for bachelor and bachelorette parties would be, and I would have to bake cookies for them and leave them. Oh, I did all kinds of things!”
Pearce said one thing that stuck with her from the job was “just how disgusting people are.“
“Like, it forever changed my thought on how I leave a hotel room, or how I leave an Airbnb, or how I leave a fitting room because somebody has to clean that up,” she said.
She jokingly added, “The things that I saw may have scarred me.”
All of that hard work eventually paid off. Today, Pearce is a Grammy-winning country artist and member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Luke Combs – Bouncer
Luke Combs is a certified country music superstar. But before becoming one of the biggest stars in the genre, Combs worked as a bouncer at a bar.
Combs told the story about his past job on The Ty Bentili Show. He lived above a small bar in the town of Boone, North Carolina, while he was in college, which was the same time he started teaching himself how to play guitar.
Living above the bar made it easy for Combs to go downstairs and work shifts as a bouncer. He also “swept the floor a lot” and helped clean up all the “horrible” stuff on the ground after closing time.
After working as a bouncer at a tiny bar in North Carolina, Combs now has his own bar in downtown Nashville. It’s called Category 10, and it opened in 2024.
Faith Hill – Worked At McDonald’s
Country music star Faith Hill worked a series of jobs before she became famous. She worked as a secretary and also sold T-shirts for Reba McEntire during her early years in Nashville.
But before that, Hill’s first job was working at a McDonald’s in her home state of Mississippi.
“Fries, burgers, cash register — I did it all,” she said, as quoted by Taste of Country. “I hated it. God bless the people that work there.”
Years later, Hill starred in the 2015 movie Dixieland, which was shot in Pearl, Mississippi. Funny enough, the production used a car previously owned by her boss at McDonald’s!
“There were a lot of people that I knew who were hired locally to help on the set,” Hill told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “Actually, my first job was working at McDonald’s, and the car that we were using on set was owned by my first boss. I hadn’t seen him in 25 or 30 years!”
Needless to say, Hill’s come a long way since her McDonald’s days!
Thomas Rhett – Laid Hardwood Floors
Thomas Rhett, the son of country music singer-songwriter Rhett Atkins, didn’t immediately follow his footsteps into the music industry. In fact, his first job was helping his uncle lay hardwood floors.
“I did that for three summers in high school and a little bit into college,” he told the Associated Press during an interview in 2019. “It taught me a lot.”
But Rhett knew that laying hardwood floors was not the best job for him in the long term. As he told Women’s Wear Daily in 2013.
“I hated manual labor…And I’m not a 9-to-5 job guy either, my brain is too scattered. I have to do something at all times, so I figured I’d do something in entertainment.”
He started writing songs, and the rest is history!
Dierks Bentley – Emptied Toilets
Dierks Bentley had a pre-fame job that really stunk (pun intended).
As he shared with The Boot, Bentley spent one summer working at Lake Powell in his home state of Arizona. While Lake Powell is known as a gorgeous vacation destination, Bentley’s job was less than glamorous.
He emptied and cleaned the 250-gallon portable toilets in the rental houseboats on the lake. “It usually had a week’s worth of ‘stuff’ in there from the 10 to 12 houseboat guests,” he said.
One time, the machine he used to empty the toilets malfunctioned. The machine sent the hose and all the “stuff” flying through the air, and Bentley tried his best to avoid it. However, he failed.
“I tried to outrun the rain,” he said, remarking that he “got nailed.”
Thankfully, Bentley’s toilet-emptying days are behind him. He’s now a Grammy-nominated country star and a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Martina McBride – Sold Merch For Garth Brooks
Before she became a famous country star herself, Martina McBride had a job selling merchandise for Garth Brooks!
McBride’s husband, John McBride, was Brooks’ production manager. McBride was waiting tables and singing demo recordings, but she still didn’t know many people in the music industry.
Wanting to travel with her husband, she asked if there was a job for her among Brooks’ crew, too.
“So he went to Garth’s merch guy, [and asked] if I could come out and sell T-shirts,” McBride recalled in a conversation with Gayle King. “…and so I did.”
McBride eventually secured a record deal of her own. Brooks offered her some advice about being a singer before he asked her to be an opener on his tour “for the whole next year.”
Now, McBride is a star in her own right and is known as one of country music’s greatest female vocalists.
Lainey Wilson – Hannah Montana Impersonator
Before she became famous, CMA Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson worked as a Hannah Montana impersonator for five years.
For those who don’t know, Hannah Montana was a show that ran on the Disney Channel from 2006 to 2011. It starred Miley Cyrus as the title character.
“I did birthday parties, fairs, festivals—I went everywhere as Hannah Montana,” Wilson said in a 2020 video for Radio Disney Country.
Wilson would sometimes open her Hannah Montana shows as herself, giving her the chance to share her own songs.
Wilson eventually brought things full circle when she sang “The Best of Both Worlds” to honor Miley Cyrus at the Disney Legends ceremony in 2024. Watch that performance below.
Were you surprised to learn what your favorite country stars’ jobs were before they became famous?