Jennifer Nettles Leaves Universal Music Group
After more than a decade, Jennifer Nettles has announced that she is parting ways with Universal Music Group.
"I want to thank Universal Nashville for 11 wonderful years," the singer tells Billboard in a statement. "This change is the first step on a path I've been wanting to take. I am so excited about the next part of my journey, and I invite my fans to stay tuned."
This announcement comes less than a week after Universal released Nettles' latest single, the sugar-and-spice-filled "Sugar."
Nettles first signed to Mercury Nashville (a division of Universal Nashville) as part of Sugarland in 2004. In May of 2013, she announced her plans to record a solo record, That Girl, which was released in January of 2014.
That Girl didn't do well at radio, but it seems that Nettles was not deterred, as "Sugar" was supposed to be the lead single from her sophomore debut album. There are no further details available about that project, nor about its future now that Nettles has left UMG.
Though Nettles has departed Universal Music Group as a solo entity, Mercury still holds the rights to any future Sugarland projects, a rep confirms to Billboard. In April, Nettles said that Sugarland was "not done."
"Creatively, I’d be curious to see now what we’re going to make when we hang out together again, because we have so much more life experience," she said at the time.