Natalie Hemby first gained notice as a hit songwriter for Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, and Toby Keith, penning the hits "White Liar," "Only Prettier," and "Automatic" (all recorded by Lambert), "Pontoon" and "Tornado" (two hits by Little Big Town), and "Drinks After Work" (Keith). After establishing this résumé, Hemby struck out as a recording artist, releasing her debut, Puxico, early in 2017. Her mainstream breakthrough as a performer arrived when she joined forces with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires as the Highwomen, a supergroup whose eponymous debut topped Billboard's Country Albums chart in 2019. The Highwomen paved the way for Hemby's second solo album, 2021's Pins and Needles.

Hemby was born in Nashville, Tennessee on March 24, 1977. She was consumed with music as a child and went professional in the mid-2000s, signing a publishing deal at 19 and landing her first song in 2006 when LeeAnn Womack recorded "The Bees" on Call Me Crazy. Two years later, Eli Young Band cut "Mystery in the Making," but Hemby's true breakthrough came in 2009, when Miranda Lambert co-wrote four songs with Hemby for Revolution, including the hit "White Liar." That year also saw Hemby collaborating with Amy Grant, but Lambert was Hemby's ticket to the big time, with the singer reuniting with the songwriter for "Baggage Claim" on 2011's Four the Record. Hemby had several hits in 2012 with Little Big Town -- the biggest were "Pontoon" and "Tornado" -- and in 2013, she wrote songs with Sheryl Crow, Brett Eldredge, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, and Toby Keith, with the latter sending "Drinks After Work" into the country Top Ten. In 2014, she reunited with Lambert and Little Big Town for several songs on Platinum and Pain Killer, and after another good year as a writer in 2015, she began to transition to performing. Early in 2017, she released Puxico, her first album. It landed in the Billboard country Top 40 and Americana/Folk Albums Top Ten.

In April 2019, Hemby emerged as part of the all-star quartet the Highwomen with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires. At the time, singer/songwriter Carlile was fresh off winning three Grammy Awards, Morris was at the vanguard of country-pop, Shires' following was growing thanks to the atmospheric Americana of 2018's To the Sunset, and Hemby's reputation as a songwriter was thriving thanks to her contributions to Lambert's The Weight of These Wings (2016), Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour (2018), and the soundtrack to A Star Is Born (2018). "I'll Never Love Again," a collaboration with Lady Gaga for A Star Is Born, earned Hemby her first Grammy award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

The Highwomen debuted at Loretta Lynn's 87th birthday concert at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, with their Dave Cobb-produced eponymous debut album following on Low Country Sound/Elektra that September. It topped Billboard's Country Album chart and went to number ten on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, Hemby's songwriting credits continued to turn up on hits such as Jon Pardi's "Heartache Medication" and Kelly Clarkson's "I Dare You."

Hemby signed with Fantasy Records, which released Pins and Needles in October 2021. The album was produced by her husband, Mike Wrucke, who'd previously helmed albums by Miranda Lambert and Pistol Annies. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Marcy Donelson, Rovi