“My whole life is a breakup song,” jokes Thomas Day. Though he’s only 19, the Brentwood, Tenn. native has had his fair share of heartbreaks. Lucky for him, he has a pretty great outlet: Songwriting.

“Music is like a cheat code to finding my emotions,” Thomas says. He adds with a laugh, “Half the time I'm running from my emotions. The only way I can really deal with any emotion is to write songs.”

Before he started writing his own music, Thomas knew that heartfelt songs were what he connected with most. His earliest memories include listening to Maroon 5’s Songs About Jane in the car with his dad and singing The Beatles’ “Yesterday” (“probably my favorite song ever,” he gushes). Growing up in a musical family and getting his start in musical theater, Thomas says he realized that music was his future when he was just 9 years old.

But once he hit his teenage years, he found that his passion wasn’t exactly accepted by his peers. “I used to get made fun of for doing music,” he recalls. He found another outlet in football, becoming his high school’s star kicker, which landed him multiple college scholarship offers upon graduating earlier this year.

Even as things took off with football, Thomas never let go of his musical dreams. He credits his “ex-ex-girlfriend’s ex-ex-boyfriend” for pushing him to create an Instagram page dedicated to his music, where his cover of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” helped him grow a loyal fan base. Joining TikTok in the summer of 2019, Thomas quickly found that his covers of super-honest artists like Lewis Capaldi, Sam Smith and Bruno Mars -- three of his biggest inspirations -- were captivating hundreds of thousands. That following has since turned into nearly five million followers and more than 56 million likes, proof that there’s something special in the way he delivers a song.

Thomas’ aspirations were further affirmed when he tried out for America’s Got Talent in early 2020. He received a standing ovation for his haunting rendition of Finneas’ “Break My Heart Again,” after which judge Heidi Klum commended him for singing “a schmaltzy song.” Despite his athleticism and heartthrob appearance, the fresh-faced teen asserts, “don’t be deceived.”

“It's funny, people are like, ‘It's a very brave choice to be so vulnerable with your music.’ But I’m the most vulnerable, emotional human being you'll ever meet. Like, somebody could step on a bee and I’d start bawling,” he laughs. “Nothing touches me more than writing a good song or hearing a great melody. Writing a song that helps somebody get through something, that's the best feeling.”

With that mindset, Thomas decided to turn down his football offers and fully commit to music, signing with Sony Music Nashville in July 2021. As the label’s first full-fledged pop artist, Thomas plans to keep diving deep into his vulnerability. A self-taught pianist, he promises many piano-driven ballads, beginning with “Softly,” a passionate display of his powerful vocals -- and, fittingly, a breakup song.

After “Softly,” Thomas will release “Overplayed,” another downtempo tune that laments a previous relationship through analyzing a new one. While he promises his music won’t always be heartbreaking ballads, he playfully admits he has a certain goal: “I hope people cry.”

More seriously, Thomas is aiming to make a lasting impact. “I hope my music helps people express themselves in a way they've never done before that helps them with any trauma that they've been in,” he says. “I feel like emotions are what guide everybody now, and emotional music kind of takes that to the next level. As long as it connects to you, it can make a huge difference.”