Cam Artistfacts

Cam song list

Cam Artistfacts

November 19, 1984
Cam has a really cool middle name, but doesn't use it: Marvel (named for her grandmother, Marvel Sinclair). She first started performing using her real name, Camaron Ochs, which is how she's credited on her 2010 debut album, Heartforward, but she shortened it to Cam soon after to make it more memorable.
She first found success as a songwriter, co-writing the 2013 Miley Cyrus song "Maybe You're Right." That helped her land a record deal, and in 2015 she released her debut album, Untamed. She co-wrote every song on the set.

Other popular singers who first made their mark as songwriters for other artists include Kesha, Bruno Mars and Sia.
Her 2015 single "Burning House" is her most popular song. The lyrics came from a vivid dream where her ex was in a burning house and she rushed in to try and save him. Cam didn't end that relationship on good terms, and she thinks the dream was her mind sorting out her feelings of guilt.
Cam is one of the more educated singer-songwriters on the scene. In 2006 she graduated from the University of California, Davis with degrees in both psychology and Italian. She then entered the field of psychology research before switching careers to music with a move to Nashville in 2012.
Much of songwriting is studying the human condition, and Cam did lots of that before moving to Nashville. When she worked at a UC Berkeley research lab she was part of a study that tracked married couples over decades to understand relationship dynamics and conflict resolution. At Stanford's Culture and Emotion Lab, she researched how different cultures express emotions.
Cam loves to travel and has been to lots of interesting places. In college she spent time in the Netherlands and in Italy; after college she did volunteer work in Nepal.
She co-wrote five songs on Beyoncé's 2024 landmark album Cowboy Carter, including "Daughter," which she also co-produced. Her contributions earned Cam her first Grammy Award when it won Album Of The Year in 2025.
Along with Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town, Cam is in the curly hair club, a rarity in country music where straight locks are the norm. It requires a lot of maintenance but it gives her confidence and helps her stand out.
Cam is often seen wearing yellow, which reflects her personality. "It's my little sunshine that I get to bring everywhere," she told Taste Of Country.
She got married in 2016 and had a daughter, Lucy, in 2019. Lucy helped inspired Cam's 2025 album All Things Light. "One of our chickens died, and she asked me, 'What is death?'" Cam told People. "This is me pulling together all of my experiences, stories and questions and weaving them into a security blanket she can turn to."
In 2017 Cam gave a TEDx Talk called "Life can be tough. Music can help." Here's a quote: "I think the purpose of music is to let us explore some of these emotions we're not allowed to really talk about in everyday life - like guilt, and rage, and grief."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Slow HandThe Pointer Sisters

"Slow Hand" was a #1 Country hit for Conway Twitty in 1982, a year after The Pointer Sisters recorded it.

The OneMemphis Bleek

Rapper Memphis Bleek's 2005 album track "The One" is notable for featuring a then-unknown Rihanna on the hook. It was the Barbadian singer's first-ever major-label appearance.

Here Comes Your ManPixies

"Here Comes Your Man" is the closest the Pixies came to a hit in America. It was rumored to be about a drug dealer, but Black Francis says it's just a story about some hobos who travel by train and die in an earthquake.

VoodooGodsmack

The line, "I feel the snakebite enter my veins," led many to believe the Godsmack song "Voodoo" is about drugs, but it's really about Wiccan ritual, inspired in part by the Wes Craven movie The Serpent and the Rainbow.

Strawberry Letter 23The Brothers Johnson

"Strawberry Letter 23" by The Brothers Johnson was written by Shuggie Otis, whose girlfriend would send him letters written on strawberry-scented paper.