Gabby Barrett goes from 'American Idol' to country fame: 'It doesn't feel real'

In 2018, Gabby Barrett finished third on “American Idol.” 

In 2019, she self-released “I Hope,” a scorching revenge anthem that doubled as her first post-"Idol” single. 

And, in 2020, at age 20, she’s a platinum-selling singer conquering the country radio charts and preparing to release her major label debut album, “Goldmine.” 

One could argue that, for Barrett, the last year was as successful as any burgeoning singer could "hope" to experience. 

“It doesn’t even feel real sometimes,” Barrett told The Tennessean. “The best way to put it is it doesn’t feel real because I remember so vividly the emotions of a few years ago when I was just starting from scratch, performing anywhere I possibly could. Grocery stores, you name it. A few years later, things have just become crazy.” 

Anchored by the record-setting success of her crossover hit “I Hope,” Barrett releases the 13-track “Goldmine” on Friday via Warner Music Nashville. With Barrett co-writing a dozen album songs, “Goldmine” taps into the country, pop and R&B influences that helped raise the Pennsylvania native and shape her debut sound. 

It’s an album “made up of very much who I am,” Barrett said. 

“You’ll get to see what I’ve been thinking and going through and who I am (for) the past two years,” she said. 

Plan A 

Raised as one of eight children — including half-siblings — near Pittsburgh, Barrett started singing in a local gospel choir at age 9. She began boiling her musical melting pot early in life, with her dad playing R&B and rock ‘n’ roll hits of the 1970s and ‘80s, while mom provided a country music soundtrack. 

She remembered gravitating toward classic country — Marty Robbins, Glen Campbell, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn — during her youth. 

“When I heard it from a young age,” Barrett said, “there’s something about country music that just captures you in a different way than any other genre.” 

Barrett graduated from church choir to singing solo at age 11, when she started performing in restaurants and on grocery store stages. Barrett’s dad, Blase Barrett, took on a role of manager and record label “all wrapped in one,” she said. 

She knew from childhood that there wasn’t a plan B or plan C, only plan A: singing. 

“Me and my dad discussed from an early age that this is what we’re gonna do,” Barrett said. “We’re gonna do this and make something from it.” 

As a teenager, she won local talent searches, scored backstage compliments from Smokey Robinson, opened for Keith Urban and utilized her growing independent platform to share an anti-bullying message. 

In 2018, Barrett climbed the ranks of ABC reality competition “American Idol,” covering Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and more. She said a third-place finish — behind winner Maddie Poppe and runner-up Caleb Hutchinson — didn’t deter her aspirations. 

“I don't think you have to win to be successful in the music industry,” she said. 

More:Nashville artists to watch in 2020: Gabby Barrett, Devon Gilfillian, Kalie Shorr and more

‘This monster song’ 

And, not long after exiting the “Idol” stage, Barrett found success in Nashville. 

She enlisted co-writers Zachary Kale and Jon Nite (Barrett doesn’t have the “natural gift” of walking in with a hit song, she said, but nonetheless found her voice alongside a collective of Music City writers) to birth “I Hope” — a song that deceivingly builds a good-for-you love story, only for Barrett to deliver six words that’d be echoed as a rallying cry for unhealed heartbreak: “And then I hope she cheats.” 

The chorus sings, “I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans/ I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand/ I hope she's wilder than your wildest dreams/ She's everything you're ever gonna need/ And then I hope she cheats/ Like you did on me.” 

Warner Music Nashville shipped “I Hope” to radio last year, where it pushed up the Billboard Country Airplay chart until reaching No. 1 in April. 

“I don’t feel like that comes for everybody, where you get this monster song on your first try,” Barrett said. “It’s absolutely crazy.” 

And listeners this summer continue to flock to Barrett’s unapologetic “I Hope.” In late May, it became the first song by a female country artist to earn more than 10 million on-demand streams in a week; at publication time, the song returned to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Streaming Songs chart, its 10th overall week in the top slot. 

“I Hope” works because it’s “relatable to every single person on the planet,” Barrett said. 

“The way that the song was formulated catches people off-guard a little bit and makes you want to listen to it more,” Barrett said. “You’re thinking maybe it’ll be a hopeful song, how the music goes and the melody goes, it drags you in to keep listening to it. And then his power chord hits, it’s this immense left turn at the end of the chorus. Like, ‘Goodness, I wasn’t expecting that.’ ” 

‘Goldmine’ 

“I Hope” and the subsequent remix featuring pop singer Charlie Puth offer a jumping-off point for Barrett’s debut, “Goldmine.” 

After opening the album with her smash debut single, Barrett reminds listeners that “You can do anything/ Anything you want to” with the empowering “Footprints on the Moon”; she shows her formidable vocal power with the rock-tinged title track; and, on the tender-hearted “Hall of Fame,” she sings about a love that should “go down in history.” 

Calling back to her gospel roots, Barrett enlisted contemporary worship outfit Shane & Shane for a Christian duet, “Got Me.” The song features a co-write from Barrett’s musician-husband Cade Foehner. 

On “Got Me,” the pair sings, “Nothing can separate me from amazing grace/ Jesus, you're all that I need … 'Cause you're good/ And a God who's got me.” 

The song shows Barrett’s faith, she said. Barrett would listen to Shane & Shane, whom she described as her favorite Christian artist, regularly during her “Idol” run. 

“I thought it was the perfect time … especially with a body of work that’s explaining who I am,” Barrett said. “It’s such a huge part of me.” 

As for her favorite “Goldmine” song? That’s like picking a favorite child, she joked. 

The answer, for now, might be “Footprints on the Moon.” Barrett reunited with the “I Hope” writing team for the song, another tune with a “powerful” message, she said. 

“That’s another very special song,” Barrett said.