Ashley Gorley is the most commercially successful songwriter of all time. The Kentucky-native has written an unprecedented 80 No. 1 radio singles and nearly 500 releases with artists including Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Chris Stapleton, Jelly Roll, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, Bon Jovi, and Weezer. Most recently, Gorley co-wrote 10 songs on Post Malone’s debut country album including the global hit, “I Had Some Help,” featuring Wallen, which topped the Billboard Global 200, Hot 100, US Radio Songs, Pop, Adult Pop and Country Airplay charts. Gorley’s 9th chart-topper of 2024 and his most recent hit, the poignant “I Am Not Okay” written with and recorded by Jelly Roll, depicts the challenges of mental health in an honest light. The commercial success of the song provides a platform for further mental health advocacy for fans and members of the music community alike.
Last year (2023), Gorley celebrated multiple weeks as Billboard’s No. 1 Hot 100 Songwriter, all-genre. His GRAMMY-nominated hit with Wallen, “Last Night,” reigned as Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Song for a record-setting 16 weeks, proving to be one of the biggest country crossover hits of all time. In the same year, Gorley was awarded ACM Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year with Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me At Heads Carolina;” landed ASCAP Country Song of the Year with Wallen’s “You Proof;” and was awarded 2023 Songwriter of the Year (all-genre) by Variety in their year-end prestigious Hitmakers issue. Gorley was also honored as NSAI’s Songwriter of the Decade for 2010-2019, and is a ten-time ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year.
Gorley attended Belmont University and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1999. Since graduating, he has continued to give back to the University through leading seminars, mentoring students, and serving as a professor. He is a songwriting advocate who has met with the Library of Congress and Senators to support songwriters' rights and the Music Modernization Act. In 2011, Gorley formed his own publishing and artist development company, Tape Room Music. Writers for Tape Room have celebrated 50 No. 1 songs, including 2018’s ASCAP Country Song of the Year, “Body Like A Back Road,” 2021’s ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC Country Song of the Year, “One Of Them Girls,” and 10-week Country Airplay number-one hit, “World On Fire.”