Stephanie Wright

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF A&R, UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP NASHVILLE

A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Stephanie Wright came to the music business through her cousins in the platinum-selling sibling trio SHeDAISY. Jump-starting her career by landing a job as the executive assistant for former Capitol Records President/CEO Pat Quigley, she moved to the A&R department at Mercury Records, a division of Universal Music Group, in just two years. Now with 18 years inside what became the UMGN A&R department, she has risen to the ranks of Senior Vice President.

Over multiple corporate mergers and closures, Wright held several positions. She served as the executive assistant and production coordinator for then-staff producer Keith Stegall, who was recording new albums by artists such as Alan Jackson and Jamie O'Neal. She added A&R administration duties to her workload when David Conrad was appointed as Universal's VP of A&R in 2002. She also worked closely with legendary A&R executive Mary Martin during her tenure with the label. Wright became a full creative employee when DreamWorks merged with Universal and James Stroud took the helm; recognizing Wright's song sense and artist communication skills, he moved her into a more creative position.

Wright found "Last Call," which earned Lee Ann Womack a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Female Vocal Performance and heralded the arrival of Shane McAnally as a major songwriting force. Shortly thereafter, she helped sign a young singer/songwriter named Kacey Musgraves, whose 2013 debut album Same Trailer Different Park went won a GRAMMY Award for Best Country Album and is now certified gold. Musgraves’ career has grown to international prominence. The United Kingdom's C2C Festival headliner's follow-up Pageant Material received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album and her March 2018 release Golden Hour debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart as well as No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.

After Wright saw former football player Sam Hunt at a songwriters' round in Nashville, Universal signed the groundbreaking artist. His critically-acclaimed debut Montevallo is one of country's biggest recent success stories, certifying RIAA triple platinum sales and earning the singer multiple GRAMMY nominations, including Best Country Song.

In 2015, Wright was named VP of A&R for Universal Music Group Nashville, working with a roster that now includes Musgraves, Hunt, Little Big Town, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and others.

In addition, she's been involved in album projects from Billy Currington, Gary Allan and Maddie and Tae among others.

Being ahead of the curve allowed Wright to pair Lauren Alaina with an as-yet-discovered Meghan Trainer and Jesse Frasure for Alaina's hit “Road Less Traveled.” Wright’s other recent signings are rising singer/songwriters Brandon Lay, who toured in 2018 with Kenny Chesney, Jordan Davis, who marked his first No. 1 with “Singles You Up” from his debut Home State, CMA KixStarter artist Kassi Ashton, Pandora's 2019 Country Artists to Watch Adam Hambrick and 2019's CMT Next Women of Country touring artist Clare Dunn. Wright is always looking for the next great song, writer and artist.

A 2017 and 2018 Nashville Business Journal Woman of the Year honoree, Wright has recently joined the TJ Martell Foundation’s Southern Region Board of Governors. When she's away from work, Stephanie enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband Brian and three children.