Meghan was born on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket to Kelli (Jekanowski) and Gary Trainor. The couple own a boutique there,
Jewel of the Isle, that specializes in Nantucket theme jewelry.
Meghan told The Daily Beast that when she was a baby, her mom would sing her lullabies and "get totally freaked out" when she started singing them back in harmony.
She started writing songs at the age of 11. Two years later, Meghan's parents brought her a computer enabling the teen to compose her own songs. She also attended many music festivals during her free time throughout the country.
When Meghan was 17 she won the Sonicbids 2011 Tennessee Concerts Song Contest with her tune, "You're Good With Me."
Meghan got signed to a songwriting deal with Big Yellow Dog in Nashville around her 18th birthday, while she was still in high school. Her early songwriting credits included co-penning "DJ Tonight" and "I Like the Sound of That" for Rascal Flatts' Rewind album and the title track of Disney starlet Sabrina Carpenter's EP, Can't Blame a Girl for Trying.
Big Yellow Dog was run by producer Kevin Kadish, Meghan's co-writer on "
All About That Bass." The pair pitched the song to other artists, but there were no takers. It was Epic Records boss L.A. Reid who persuaded Meghan to record the tune herself.
"Most of these other artists' A&R teams said they couldn't do anything with the song because they didn't have [the right] artist," Meghan explained to
Vanity Fair. "That was the problem - there weren't any singers at the time [who fit the song]. Adele was the only one, but she wasn't rapping and singing sassy songs with swears in them. But I'm down - I get all the performing royalties!"
"All About That Bass" spent eight weeks at #1 in the US and also and topped the charts in a number of other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Meghan told Digital Spy how her social life has been affected since she became famous. "I was always known as the social butterfly that was friendly everywhere, but I still can't hang onto some friends because they don't get it," she said. "They don't get that I'm on a plane for 10 hours then I land and I work for 12 hours so I can't text you back, and you'll lose a person from not texting. It's sad if they can't understand and you have to let them go."
Speaking with Seventeen magazine, Megan revealed that she used to have trouble looking at photographs of herself. "When I saw photos of myself, I would think, I look awful," she said. "There's a double chin! I never thought I'd be a pop star. I don't look like Rihanna."
"Then after the video for 'All About That Bass' came out… when I was signing autographs, this girl came up to me bawling and said, ‘You make me feel pretty again. Thank you.' It really resonated with me that this girl was so gorgeous, and she didn't even know it. It's a mental thing."
"Just recently I was thinking, 'I'm confident now, and I look good,' and that's because I've started saying those words out loud more. So now when I see pictures, I'm like, ‘Oh my God, why would I hate myself at all? I look incredible in that picture!'"
Trainor won the Grammy for Best New Artist at the 2016 ceremony. After her victory, John Legend, who won the award in 2006, assured her that there was no "Best New Artist Curse."
Meghan Trainor got married on her 25th birthday, December 22, 2018. She tied the knot with Spy Kids actor Daryl Sabara in the backyard of the couple's Los Angeles home. Their son Riley was born in 2021, followed by another son, Barry, in 2023.
Her second album, Thank You in 2016, didn't meet the lofty expectations set by her debut, and she started having debilitating panic attacks. She was eventually diagnosed with panic disorder, which she managed with medication and therapy. She's been open about her struggles in an effort to help others who are dealing with the condition.
Trainor earned a cadre of new fans on TikTok in 2022 when her song "
Made You Look" took off on the platform with the help of influencer Chris Olsen, who is in the video. With Olsen's help, she started posting frequently on TikTok and built a huge following.
Growing up, Trainor and her family held DIY disco parties in the living room. Her dad would set up disco lights, and the family would dance together. When she became a mother, Trainor filled her kids' playroom with disco lights as a tribute to those memories.
Trainor got a trainer who trained her to get healthy in 2024 with the help of the weight loss drug Mounjaro. By October 2025, she had
lost about 60 pounds, sparking a backlash from fans who prefer her with full bass. Trainor answered the criticism with her song "
Still Don't Care."
