Some fuckboy in Oklahoma just might be the reason Elizabeth Nichols pursued a music career.
A couple of years ago, the witty Louisville native was studying for her MBA in Australia, homesick and spiraling over some guy who’d broken her heart.
“He was pissing me off, so I thought it would be so funny to write a country song about him and send it to my friends, and they were like, ‘Wait, this is kinda good,’” she tells Rolling Stone. “So I made a TikTok account, blocked everyone I knew, and started posting myself writing one song a day, alone in my room. And people liked it.”
Her quiet little revenge hobby turned into a full-blown life detour. As recently as January, Nichols was in her first year of law school, planning her professional career. Instead, she “took a break to try music.” Well, she’s still “taking a break” if you ask the school at which she was enrolled. But Nichols ended the year by debuting at the Grand Ole Opry and going viral for the razor-sharp wordplay that defines her lyrics.
In some songs, she’ll sing about horny men à la Sabrina Carpenter; in others, she’ll take political talking points and twist them into something both clever and analytical at the same time. After Charlie Kirk was killed, Nichols posted a song with lyrics like, “You’re not pro free-speech, you just like to talk,” and, “If a family mourns and you celebrate/If your empathy can’t reach all graves/Then you’ve become/What you say you hate.” There was a dig for everyone. On any side.
“My goal in my songs is not to make people think like me. It’s to make people think,” she says. “If it’s making people think, it’s accomplishing my goal. If people like that, I’m glad. If they don’t? I’m still glad.”
Some of her barbs are so smart they go straight over some folks’ heads, and Nichols loves that. Starting conversations is the whole point. “I’m not everybody’s cup of tea, and that’s alright,” Nichols says with a shrug.
Her new single “Oh the Things Men Do” dropped earlier this month and finds her singing about the stunts guys will pull to get laid. An epidemic of shitty men is inspiring a lot of her songwriting, but she also thrives in talking about current events. Most recently, Nichols perked up ears with her song “Might Go MAGA” — a satirical ode about being willing to go full MAGA for a man.
“I won’t hear him talking ’bout ‘the Mexicans’ / And how we should pray for them / Right before he says we should deport ’em,” she sings, later adding: “Sell my rights, wear the whites / As long as there’s no prenup / Why would I work 9 to 5 / And think when I don’t have to?”
Nichols says her writing has resulted in some angry online reactions. But even that doesn’t shake her. “Anger is a feeling,” Nichols says. “I’m glad people share their opinions. It’s a free country… It’s an honor that someone takes time out of their day to think about my song. Even if it’s negative.”
But she does have one rule she lives by: no over-explaining. Which means you won’t find her fighting in the comments to defend herself. “Harper Lee never released a guide explaining the symbols in To Kill a Mockingbird. She just puts out the book, and part of the beauty is that it’s up to the audience to interpret and question, and think for themselves, and then come to conclusions,” Nichols explains. “I appreciate having that opportunity as a listener, so that’s why I never argue or fight to change someone’s mind.”
She even combs through TikTok’s filtered comments and manually approves the negative ones. “It would be inauthentic of me to change my music to be scared of how people would react,” she says.
Last month, Nichols realized a dream when she made her Grand Ole Opry debut. Her family used to drive from Louisville to Nashville to watch live performances of the 100-year-old radio show, so stepping on the Opry stage was a milestone moment.
“It was like my wedding. I was wearing the most expensive, most beautiful [dress] I’ve ever got the privilege to wear. My hair was humongous,” she says. “But I said, ‘You can only have one Opry debut, but I could have a few weddings.’”
Nichols performed “I Got a New One,” her first single released a year ago about finding a new dude after he didn’t like a dress she wore, and an unreleased song called “Birthday Candles,” written about her mom, who died when Nichols was 11. “Birthday Candles,” like much of her catalog, tackles grief and heartbreak but with a touch of levity, as she tells a man who’s broken her heart that nothing will ever hit as hard as wishing on her birthday “for my mom to get better.” “I’ve never sung it before so it was a little risky because I’m already emotional. But it was the best decision I made,” she says.
Nichols is gearing up for a big 2026. She’s on the Stagecoach lineup for April, and she’s planning to release her debut album sometime in the new year. She’s already written 300 songs for the album and is starting to pick the “very best” for the final track list.
“I write a lot about my troubles with men,” she says. “But I think the theme of the album is just wit.”
