What Is Jennifer Nettles’ Net Worth?
Jennifer Nettles is an American country music singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer who has a net worth of $20 million. Jennifer Nettles is best known as the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland (along with Kristian Bush), and she has had a recurring role as Aimee-Leigh Gemstone on the HBO series “The Righteous Gemstones” since 2019. With Sugarland, Jennifer has released the albums “Twice the Speed of Life” (2004), “Enjoy the Ride” (2006), “Love on the Inside” (2008), “Gold and Green” (2009), “The Incredible Machine” (2010), and “Bigger” (2018) and singles such as “Baby Girl,” “Something More,” “Just Might (Make Me Believe),” “Want To,” “Stay,” and “All I Want to Do.” As a solo artist, Nettles has released the albums “That Girl” (2014), “Playing with Fire” (2016), “To Celebrate Christmas” (2016), and “Always Like New” (2021), and she collaborated with Bon Jovi on the singles “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” (which won a Grammy) and “Do What You Can.” As an actress, Jennifer has appeared in the film “Harriet” (2019) and the TV movies “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” (2015) and “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love” (2016), and she has performed on Broadway, starring as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” (2015) and Jenna in “Waitress” (2021). Since 2021, Jennifer has served as a judge on the TBS competition series “Go-Big Show.”
Early Life
Jennifer Nettles was born Jennifer Odessa Nettles on September 12, 1974, in Douglas, Georgia. Jennifer attended Coffee High School, then she studied anthropology and Spanish at Agnes Scott College, graduating in 1997. In 2018, Nettles gave the commencement address at her alma mater and was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Laws. During her youth, she performed at her church and school assemblies as well as in community theater, and in 1986, she joined the Georgia 4-H Club’s Clovers & Company performing arts group. As a college student, Jennifer formed the band Soul Miner’s Daughter with University of Georgia student Cory Jones, and they released the albums “The Sacred and Profane” (1996) and “Hallelujah” (1998) and were invited to play at Lilith Fair’s Atlanta stop in 1999. That year Nettles formed the Jennifer Nettles Band, which won Mars Music’s “The Big Deal $100,000 Music Search” and released three studio albums.
Career
In 2003, Nettles formed Sugarland with Kristian Bush and Kristen Hall, and they signed with Mercury Nashville Records in 2004. They released their debut album, “Twice the Speed of Life,” on October 26, 2004, and it reached #3 on the “Billboard” Top Country Albums chart and #16 on the “Billboard” 200 chart. The album was certified 3× Platinum in the U.S. and Gold in Canada, and the singles “Baby Girl,” “Something More,” and “Just Might (Make Me Believe)” reached the top 10 on the “Billboard” Hot Country Songs chart. Hall left the band in 2006, and Jennifer and Kristian continued as a duo. Sugarland’s second album, 2006’s “Enjoy the Ride,” went 3× Platinum in the U.S. and reached #2 on the Top Country Albums chart and #4 on the “Billboard” 200 chart. The singles “Want To” and “Settlin'” topped the Hot Country Songs chart, and “Stay” reached #2 on the chart and won two Grammys. Sugarland’s third album, 2008’s “Love on the Inside,” reached #1 on the “Billboard” 200 chart and the Top Country Albums chart and went 2x Platinum in the U.S. and Gold in Canada. The duo had three consecutive #1 singles with “All I Want to Do,” “Already Gone,” and “It Happens.”
In 2009, Sugarland released the studio album “Gold and Green” and the live album “Live on the Inside.” “Gold and Green” reached #3 on the Top Country Albums chart, and “Live on the Inside” hit #1 on the “Billboard” 200 chart and the Top Country Albums chart. In January 2009, Nettles performed the song “Shower the People” with James Taylor (who had a hit with the track in 1976) and John Legend at “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.” In 2010, Sugarland released the #1 album “The Incredible Machine,” which featured the 2× Platinum single “Stuck Like Glue.” In August 2011, seven people were killed and more than 45 were injured after high winds caused an outdoor stage to collapse at a Sugarland concert at the Indiana State Fair. Two months later, they held a benefit concert in the victims’ honor, and by November 2011, 44 lawsuits had been filed against the duo and organizations that were involved with the concert. Sugarland went on hiatus in 2012, and they would not release another album until 2018’s “Bigger.”
In 2012, Jennifer was a judge on the ABC singing competition “Duets.” Her debut solo album, 2014’s “That Girl,” reached #1 on the Top Country Albums chart and #5 on the “Billboard” 200 chart. Her second solo album, 2016’s “Playing with Fire” reached #2 on the Top Country Albums chart and #4 on the UK Country Albums chart. A few months later, Nettles released the holiday album “To Celebrate Christmas,” and she followed it with “Always Like New” in 2021. In 2019, she began playing Aimee-Leigh Gemstone on the HBO series “The Righteous Gemstones” alongside Danny McBride, John Goodman, Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, and Walton Goggins. Jennifer plays the deceased matriarch of the Gemstones, a family of televangelists, and appears in flashbacks. The show was renewed for a third season in January 2022, and it earned a Hollywood Critics Association Award nomination for Best Cable Series, Comedy later that year.
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Personal Life
Jennifer married Todd Van Sickle in February 1998, and they divorced in March 2007. Nettles then wed Justin Miller on November 26, 2011, and they welcomed son Magnus on December 6, 2012. Jennifer is a supporter of the Shalom Foundation, whose mission is to “bring healing and hope to underprivileged children in Guatemala by providing free, life-changing medical and nutritional care to those who need it most.” Nettles has raised money for the foundation, donated a portion of Sugarland ticket sales, and visited the organization’s Moore Pediatric Surgery Center in Guatemala. In 2008, she launched the concert series Common Thread to bring musicians together to raise funds for charities that were important to them. Common Thread concerts raised money for the American Liver Foundation, Intercultural Family Services, American Cancer Society, and Honor the Earth. Jennifer participated in the recording of the “We Are the World” remake after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and she walked the runway in a 2012 “Heart Truth Red Dress Collection” fashion show.
Awards and Nominations
Nettles has been nominated for six Grammys, winning Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” (shared with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora) in 2007 and Best Country Song and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals for “Stay” in 2009. Her other nominations were for Best New Artist in 2006, Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for “Life in a Northern Town” (shared with Little Big Town and Jake Owen) in 2009, and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “It Happens” in 2010. Jennifer won Academy of Country Music Awards for Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Stay” in 2008, and she was honored with the Crystal Milestone Award in 2009. She also earned Academy of Country Music Award nominations for Vocal Event of the Year for “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” (2006), Single Record of the Year for “Baby Girl” (2006), and Video of the Year for “Stay” (2008). In 2016, Nettles received a MovieGuide Award nomination for Most Inspiring Performance in Television for “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors,” and in 2019, she earned a Hollywood Music In Media Award nomination for the song “Misbehavin'” from “The Righteous Gemstones.”
With Sugarland, Jennifer has received 18 Academy of Country Music Award nominations, winning Top New Vocal Duo or Group in 2006, Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Stay” in 2008, Top Vocal Duo in 2009, and Duo of the Year in 2011. The band has also earned 17 Country Music Association Award nominations, taking home the prize for Vocal Duo of the Year in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 and Song of the Year for “Stay” in 2008. Out of 18 CMT Music Awards, Sugarland has won four: Duo Video of the Year for “Want To” (2007), “Stay” (2008), “All I Want to Do” (2009), and “Stuck Like Glue” (2011). In 2020, Nettles received the CMT Equal Play Award for her “commitment to equal female representation across the board in the music industry.”