Cam (singer)

In 2010, Cam released her debut studio album titled Heartforward via the independent Rubber Room label. Credited to her full name of Camaron Ochs, the album contained contemporary pop songs.[2] Amber Schadewald of the San Francisco Bay Guardian called the album a brand of folk pop that "is light and sweet, with genuine lyrics that ask listeners to live with their 'heartforward'". Songs written for the project were based on experiences from her trip to Nepal. She promoted Heartforward through performances in Oakland and San Francisco, California, including shows at the Stork Club and Mama Buzz.[6]

Cam soon moved to Los Angeles, California, and began collaborating with songwriter and producer Tyler Johnson. She recorded some demos with Johnson in an attempt to attract Faith Hill, eventually leading to the recordings being heard by Tim McGraw's manager.[4] Her song "Fall Madly in Love with You" was chosen as a track for Cut to Impress, the 2013 debut album from Maggie Rose.[10][11] Miley Cyrus also recorded one of Cam's songs, "Maybe You're Right", on her 2013 album Bangerz.[12] The success of these songs led her to move to Nashville, Tennessee; there, began writing music for other artists, turning down a publishing deal in attempt to prove herself on her own.[4][13] She launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2013 to produce 10 songs with Johnson.[14] The campaign was supported by producer Jeff Bhasker, known best for his work with artists that include Beyoncé, fun., Bruno Mars, and P!nk.[4] The same year Cam toured Denmark and Sweden with Helsingborg band Karavan, having previously collaborated with Anders Mouridsen of the group while in Los Angeles.[12]

Cam released a single in 2013 titled "Down This Road" with the encouragement of manager Lindsay Marias. Through a photo posted on Instagram, local radio director Michael Bryan discovered the song and played it on the air. According to Cam, radio airplay of the single helped her choose which label she wanted to sign to. Ultimately, she chose to meet with Doug Morris, the director of Sony Music Entertainment. She flew to the label's headquarters in New York City to meet with him.[12] Using only an acoustic guitar, she sang a song she had already been developing, "Burning House". Morris started humming along to the chorus and stated, "This is the reason why I got into the music business." He would later ask her to perform the song at the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony.[15] She was soon signed to Sony's country division, Arista Nashville in 2014[16] and toured nationally with Dan + Shay that same year on their Where It All Began tour.[16]

In early 2015, Arista Nashville released Cam's first single for them, "My Mistake".[16] In March, the song debuted at No. 58 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.[17] The song peaked at number 52 only a few weeks later.[18] Still using her full name (Camaron Ochs) during the single's promotion, she ultimately shortened it to "Cam" because some people found her last name "too hard to pronounce".[5] "My Mistake" preceded Cam's debut EP, Welcome to Cam Country, released in March 2015. It contained four songs, with Bhasker and Johnson serving as producers.[19][20] It peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, No. 88 on the Billboard 200, and No. 5 on the Top Heatseekers survey.[21]

"Burning House" served as her next single. She performed the song live on the radio program The Bobby Bones Show, which attracted and fueled attention to the song.[1] Sony Music Entertainment, of which Arista Nashville is a division, then arranged a meeting and decided to release the track as a single on June 16, 2015, after the song had initial success on the iTunes charts.[7] "Burning House" became a top-five hit on the Billboard country songs and country airplay charts.[22] It also was the highest-selling female country song of 2015, selling more than 500,000 copies in the United States.[23] In addition, the song received a nomination from the 2016 Grammy Awards.[24] The success of the song led to the release of her first Arista Nashville album Untamed on December 11, 2015. Also produced largely by Bhasker and Johnson, it consisted of 11 tracks all co-written by Cam, including all of the songs from the EP.[25] It debuted at number two on the Top Country Albums chart and was the highest-selling debut country studio album of 2015.[22] Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 15 on their list of the "40 Best Country Albums of 2015". The magazine commented, "For an artist at the start of career, Cam already sounds like one of the most secure in the game."[24] "Mayday" was released as the album's third single in February 2016.[26] It was a minor Top 40 hit on the country charts, peaking at number 36 on Billboard Country Airplay.

In October 2017, Cam announced a new single titled "Diane".[27] She promoted the song with several live performances including on Good Morning America,[28] The Late Late Show with James Corden,[29] and as a duet with a contestant on season 16 of American Idol.[30] In April 2018, "Diane" was added to the BBC Radio 2 A-list and hit No. 1 on iTunes for 5 weeks. Also in 2017, Cam, along with Sam Smith and Tyler Johnson, co-wrote the song "Palace" for Smith's 2017 album The Thrill of It All and providing background vocals and guitar to the track.[31] The song saw international success and was highlighted in the Holiday "Sway" commercial for Apple which led to its reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Top TV Commercials Chart.[32] The widespread embrace of "Palace" included much international success, specifically in Japan, where Smith performed the song on multiple TV talk shows. Cam opened for Smith on the Summer US leg of his 2018 The Thrill Of It All Tour.[33] Cam has also shared the stage with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul Tour[34] as well as Harry Styles.[35]

In July 2018, Cam released "Road to Happiness", which did not chart,[36] and she parted ways with Arista Nashville.[37] In 2019, she provided vocals for Diplo's song "So Long" for his Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil album.[38]

On June 29, 2020, it was announced that Cam had signed a new partnership for radio promotion with Nashville-based Triple Tigers in a joint venture with her label RCA Records. "Classic" was released on July 17, 2020, as her first country radio single since "Diane" in 2017 and lead-off single to her third studio album,[37] The Otherside, which was released on October 30, 2020.[39] The previously-released tracks "Till There's Nothing Left" and "Redwood Tree" will also appear on the album.[37][40][41]