“Excited but very anxious to say the least for this next chapter.”
If you have ever started a new job, moved to a new city, or opened your heart again, you know that feeling in your bones. Hope in one hand. Fear in the other.
That is where Zach Top and his girlfriend, Mississippi model Amelia Taylor, are standing right now. His classic country sound is finally breaking through. “Lonely for Long” is turning strangers into fans. At the 2024 CMA Awards, he stepped onto the red carpet as a New Artist of the Year nominee. She walked beside him for the very first time.
The night before, he joked that she would “stun everybody” and that he hoped people would look at her instead of him. He was not wrong. Amelia grew up in Grenada, earned a scholarship to Mississippi State, and now works on runways and billboards for brands across the country. One quiet TikTok soft launch in November 2024 turned their private love story into something the whole internet wanted to talk about.
Since then, it has been airports, arenas, and a chocolate springer spaniel named Otis who has his own fan base. It has also meant hate, harsh comments, and people who forget there is a real young woman behind the screen. Amelia has started to speak up, calling out the signs and the jokes that cross the line.
Zach Top and his girlfriend Amelia Taylor made their red carpet debut at the CMA Awards!
That first red carpet was just the beginning of their “excited but anxious” chapter. One year later, Zach walked back into the CMA Awards with the same old soul sound, but a very new kind of pressure. This time, he was not only a nominee. He was the name everyone whispered for New Artist of the Year.
Zach Top Forgot to Put Down His Beer When Winning the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year
Long before the trophy, Zach stood in the wooden circle at the Grand Ole Opry, singing “I Never Lie” like he had something to prove. No tricks. Just voice, fiddle, steel, and a heartbreak story straight out of the ’90s. That song would later be up for Single and Song of the Year, but here you can hear it before the headlines.