All About Thomas Rhett's Parents, Mom Paige Lankford and Dad Rhett Akins (Who Has Written Some of Country Music's Biggest Hits!)

Rhett Akins and Paige Lankford welcomed country music superstar Thomas Rhett in 1990

Thomas Rhett’s parents — Rhett Akins and Paige Lankford — are his biggest fans.

The “Make Me Wanna” singer-songwriter grew up on the outskirts of Nashville alongside his younger sister, Kasey Lee. Most of their early childhood revolved around their father’s rising country music career and busy touring schedule. As a result of life on the road, Akins and Lankford divorced in 1999 and remained on friendly terms. (Each of them later remarried and welcomed additional children of their own.)

“We’ve always kept it amicable, and like even now, we spend Christmas together and go on ski trips and to the beach,” Lankford told Today in December 2020.

Since he was a child, Thomas Rhett has had a front-row seat to country music fame, and while Akins is still a notable voice in the industry, he’s acknowledged that it’s now his son’s career “taking off.”

“I remember going to see you when you were still playing like little theaters and stuff, and every night the crowd just seemed to get bigger and bigger,” he recalled while appearing on Thomas Rhett's Apple Country Music radio show, Where We Started Radio with Thomas Rhett in March 2022.

Of their father-son episode, Thomas Rhett told PEOPLE, “Getting to hear his perspective on both of our careers, listening to him share stories I have never heard and getting to play some of our favorite country songs was just an incredible experience that I will now get to cherish forever."

Here’s everything to know about Thomas Rhett’s parents, Rhett Akins and Paige Lankford.

Akins is a successful singer and songwriter

In the mid-'90s, Akins became a country music sensation with the release of his hit song, “That Ain’t My Truck,” from his 1995 debut album A Thousand Memories. The following year, Akins earned his first No. 1 song, “Don’t Get Me Started,” off his sophomore album, Somebody New.

Apart from his impressive solo singing career, Akins has also made a name for himself as a talented country songwriter. According to his website, he’s written over 30 chart-topping hits, including Luke Bryan’s “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” Blake Shelton’s “Boys ‘Round Here” and Jason Aldean’s “When She Says Baby.”

In September 2019, the Academy of Country Music honored him with the first-ever songwriter of the decade award. Over two years later, Akins was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in November 2021.

To celebrate the accomplishment, Thomas Rhett honored his dad with a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. “I can’t express how amazed I am at your talent, creativity, drive ... I have learned so much from you and will continue to learn from you,” he captioned a photo of them at the inductee event. “It’s mind blowing that we get to work together as songwriters and we have such a blast doing it.”

Akins and Lankford raised Thomas Rhett in Nashville

Akins and Lankford share two children together: son Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. and daughter Kasey Lee Akins.

When Kasey was a few weeks old, the couple decided to put down roots in Nashville, where Akins could continue to pursue his music career.

“When we first moved to Nashville, he took off on the road. My daughter Kasey was like 6 weeks old. Thomas Rhett was 4, and it was kind of crazy,” Lankford recalled to Today in December 2020.

She continued, "We would go out on the road with Rhett. But to me, that was harder than just staying at home with them."

They divorced in 1999

Thomas Rhett was 9 years old when his parents divorced, he told The Boot in July 2012.

Speaking to the Today show, Lankford opened up about her co-parenting journey with Akins. She noted that they prioritized maintaining respect for each other in front of their children.

"If you create problems there, it creates problems for your kids," Lankford added.

Following their divorce in 1999, Lankford remarried Tim Lankford, whom she welcomed her son Tyler with in 2005. Meanwhile, Akins married Sonya Akins (née Mansfield) and they announced the birth of their son Brody in 2020.

Thomas Rhett fell in love with life on the road as a kid

The “Die a Happy Man” singer got acquainted with life on the road from a young age. In a July 2012 interview with The Boot, Thomas Rhett said it wasn’t unusual for him to skip out on Friday classes and join Akins on the tour bus for the weekend.

“I loved going on the road,” he told the outlet. “I remember going with Dad up to Minnesota to a Vikings game when he sang the Anthem, or going out to California or Wyoming, and we'd stay an extra week and ski, that was really the perks of being part of that world."

Thomas Rhett leaned on his dad early on in his career

Although a country music superstar in his own right, Thomas Rhett is the first to admit that Akins helped launch his career.

In March 2023, Thomas Rhett headlined Europe’s biggest country music festival, C2C Country to Country, and swung by the U.K.’s Smooth Radio station to discuss the creative connection he has with his dad. Thomas Rhett opened up about his father's influence, including the impactful advice Akins gave early on in his career.

"My dad really did help me learn how to write songs," he said. "My dad was responsible for my first two No. 1 songs."

However, once Thomas Rhett started to get his bearings, Akins set him free to make his own mark in the industry.

“He was always there for advice, but he was like, ‘Hey, it’s time for you to go figure out who you want to go be,’” Thomas Rhett continued. “He was like, ‘Go find a bunch of other writers ... Go make friends with a bunch of artists ... and you all go learn from each other. You all go fail with each other. You all go succeed with each other.’ ”

Akins said he “almost threw up” the first time he heard Thomas Rhett on the radio

When Akins found out he would be the inaugural guest on the Where We Started Radio with Thomas Rhett radio show, he knew he had to come prepared with a good story. He reminisced on the time he first heard his son’s single “It Goes Like This” — which he had written — on the radio.

"I'll never forget Bobby Bones premiering it on his show, and I was in my truck,” he recounted. “He goes, 'Coming up, next we got the brand new one from Thomas Rhett, 'It Goes Like This,' and I literally pulled over on the side of the road and almost threw up."

The proud father said he was “so nervous” about how the song would be received because, as the songwriter, he didn’t “want my song to be the one that killed the career here.”

Thomas Rhett's mom had a “pinch me” moment during his first big concert

Since Thomas Rhett first picked up a guitar and sang into a microphone, Lankford knew he had an itch for performing.

During her interview with Today, she recalled having a “How did this happen?” moment in the middle of Thomas Rhett’s first big concert.

“I remember being at one of his first big stadium-type shows, and I’m screaming like a fan, but then you look around, and it’s all these people are here listening to your child,” she shared. “It’s a crazy, very surreal feeling.”

Thomas Rhett has several chart-topping hits with his father

The father-son duo have written several popular country music tracks. Together, they’ve collaborated on “It Goes Like This,” “Get Me Some of That,” “Star of the Show,” “What’s Your Country Song” and “Look What God Gave Her.”

More recently, they co-wrote “Slow Down Summer” and “Half of Me” off Thomas Rhett’s sixth studio album, Where We Started.

The previous year, in June 2021, the pair released “Things Dads Do,” an ode to their relationship and fatherhood. (Thomas Rhett and his wife, Lauren Akins, share four daughters.)

Around that same time, Akins opened for his son on the Center Point Road tour.

"My dad is always my first phone call for a bus trip or a writing session. But it was really cool that my dad got to tour with me last year because it made it really easy," Thomas Rhett told Good Morning America. “Every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, we would just wake up and write songs from 10 a.m. until showtime."