Hunter Hayes Releases Evergreen, a Genre-Mixing Leap Forward, and a 2026 U.S. Tour
Photo Credit: Noah Tidmore
Hunter Hayes returns with Evergreen, his first full-length album in three years today. In conjunction with the project, which is his most stylistically adventurous record yet, the Louisiana-born multi-instrumentalist kicks off an extensive 2026 North American tour on March 25th in Hopewell, VA.
Recorded with Co-Producer, Alex Flagstad, Evergreen finds the five-time Grammy nominee building on his reputation for blurring the lines of country and pop, and experimenting with elements of indie rock, R&B, folk and new sonic landscapes. According to Hayes, the album was inspired by notes he wrote to himself from a future version of who he hoped to become.
“I wanted to make a project from the future,” Hayes says. “It’s full of hope, optimism, light and love… an escape from reality as well as a new way to appreciate the good things in our everyday life.”
If advance singles from Evergreen like the warm and curiously optimistic “Around the Sun,” the soulful “Every Piece” and the dynamic and hook-laden “Wait” are any indication, Hayes has entered a chapter defined by emotional clarity and some of his most assured songwriting yet. He frames Evergreen as a kind of reset, an album that digs into themes of renewal, self- discovery, compassion, vulnerability and presence, as grounding forces for growth.
Across the track-list, he questions the narratives he built his career on, unpacking ideas and expectations around self-worth, performance and masculinity. He steps into a version of himself that feels more expansive, and in turn, reaps strong rewards. Simply stated, it’s the most wide-open he’s ever sounded.
Hayes will hit more than 20 cities across the United States, including New York, Portland, Chicago, Atlanta, and Nashville on his upcoming Evergreen Tour. Bedroom Pop favorite BLÜ EYES joins the tour’s first stretch, while rising New Jersey Americana singer Franklin Jonas supports the Midwest and Southern leg.
Photo Credit: Noah Tidmore
Now more than a decade removed from his breakout and still committed to evolution rooted in authenticity, Hayes has racked up more than 3 billion global streams, seven gold singles, and 10 platinum certifications—not to mention tours with Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood along the way. If Evergreen, as he puts it, is a postcard to himself from the future, he’s never been more ready to answer it.
