Raising Cane’s transformed its Athens, Georgia restaurant from its signature red to pink to celebrate the announcement of Megan Moroney’s new album, Cloud 9. The “6 Months Later” singer surprised fans with a special pop-up appearance, stepping behind the counter for a quick “shift” alongside Raising Cane’s owner and founder Todd Graves, as she steps into her pink era and leaves behind the royal-blue aesthetic of her Am I Okay? era.
Moroney stopped by the Raising Cane’s at 795 Baxter Street, just miles from her alma mater, the University of Georgia, and the same restaurant she frequented in college because it was close to her Kappa Delta sorority house. There, she served up Box Combos in the drive-thru, posed for photos and met with more than a hundred fans, as well as shared a few details with media about her upcoming third studio album.
“Megan and I both went to Georgia and this is where it all started for both of us, I had a dream to open a Chicken Finger Restaurant, and she had a dream to be a musician, and we’re living our dreams,” Todd Graves, also a University of Georgia alum, shared. “It’s great coming back to this place and partnering with Megan for the announcement of Cloud 9. Megan is an incredible artist, and she just wants to be here celebrating with her fans, so when she told me about her idea for a ‘pop up’ I loved it.”
The 28-year-old singer/songwriter admitted that it was “amazing and humbling” to return to Athens to commemorate the announcement of Cloud 9. “Anytime I come here, and I drive through downtown or down village, I’m just reminded that I used to be the sorority girl who would just make up songs in my sorority house and didn’t have anybody to listen to them at the time, really? So now it’s just humbling to be back,” Moroney explained.
The partnership was a dream come true and full-circle moment for Moroney. “When I sat down with my team early on, they’re like dream collaborations. I swear to God there’s a list, and Cane’s was at the top of my list,” she said with a laugh. “I truly love Cane’s. Natalie’s over here too, my best friend from college, and Kelly, we used to come here all the time. This feels really full circle. I was a Kappa Delta. The house is a little down the road down there, so that’s where my Cane’s obsession started… I used to walk here all the time. And this is just a lot of fun and I appreciate y’all so much. I’m really excited to be one-on-one with you guys celebrating the announcement of my new album and just know that I love y’all very much, and I appreciate y’all, and thank you, Todd, for putting this all together.”
Hundreds of fans lined up for hours, some even arriving the day before, wearing shades of pink and Moroney merch from previous eras. Many were students from the University of Georgia, all hoping for a chance to see the “Beautiful Things” singer. Just over a hundred fans were lucky enough to meet her and spend a few moments with her. Megan Moroney took her time with each fan, making the moment special as she chatted, posed for photos, and gifted every fan a pink Raising Cane’s hat, a signed poster, and a gift card.
“I love seeing my fans face to face and getting to interact with them as much as I can because I know that they’ve fueled this entire thing. I don’t get to play shows unless they show up. And they certainly show up,” Moroney added with a smile.
Donning a pink denim ensemble, Moroney began by sharing a few details about her forthcoming new album, Cloud 9, which arrives on Graves’ birthday: February 20, 2026. “So I don’t want to give away too much, but I do think that once you get to listen, you’ll understand that there’s a softness to this album that hasn’t been in my other albums, which is why I thought pink would be a great color. It’s definitely like a hot pink,” Moroney detailed of the Cloud 9 eras’ aesthetic. “So it’s still strong and empowering, but there is a softness to a lot of the lyrics. And I think that comes with the confidence that I’ve had that’s grown inside me over the past however many months that I’ve made this album. So it’s just me living life. I mean, I’ve got a song about the music industry and my experiences in that, and it feels, I guess, softer, but I think that comes from me being confident enough to know that it’s okay to be soft. You don’t always have to be on guard.”
The Georgia native teased that Cloud 9 will include collaborations with both a male and a female artist, though she didn’t reveal how many total collaborations will appear on the project, which she says will be her most confident work to date.
“Writing a song called Cloud 9 was not the vibes, but I feel like once I finally let go of what people think about me, I talk about confidence a lot, but I just feel like so myself and I don’t really care what people think about me anymore, even though it’s really hard when you have millions of people putting their opinion about you and your music and everything [online]. But once I got into a place where I was truly happy, I felt like I could write that song and yeah, it’s a happy song,” Moroney added of the title track.
She also reflected on how far she’s come since writing her first song at UGA only a few years ago before moving to Nashville in 2020.
“I’m assuming a lot of y’all are students and when I was a student at Georgia, the dream of doing this was definitely on my heart, but it felt so far away still. Even though I got to open for Chase Rice and play a couple times at the Georgia Theater as an opener… the reality was that I had no idea what I was doing yet. I literally was an intern at the Classic Center. I was on their street team, so I’d have to pass out flyers, and that was all just so that I could put that I worked at a music venue on my resume when I moved to Nashville,” Moroney continued. “So I think there are a lot of things that don’t sound that enjoyable that you’re going to have to do to make it happen in the long run, but it feels really crazy to be up here. It’s wild. When I moved to Nashville, I was like, you know what? I do have a marketing degree and a music business degree, so if the music thing doesn’t work out, I’ll still go be in the music industry. But I for sure am not going to be a country artist unless I go and put 100% into it. And it would’ve been okay if it didn’t work out because it wasn’t meant to be or whatever. But sometimes it is meant to be. And so I just want to encourage all of y’all to just go for it. I literally was y’all, if there would’ve been a country artist that came to Cane’s, I would’ve been front row too. So I see myself in a lot of you, and it’s really cool to be here.”
As two very successful people who turned their dreams into reality, Megan Moroney and Todd Graves also shared advice for those chasing their own.
“I think I would say to just do it until it works. Whatever it is… Even my first year, I’ll say that I moved to Nashville in 2020. There’s a time in the fall where I cried, and I just wanted to go home. Especially when you’re in the creative field… So I think just not giving up on it and believing in yourself more than anybody else. Do it until it works,” Moroney said before explaining, “And then also know that in the beginning there’s going to be a lot more costs than there are, and that’s emotional, physical, you know what I mean? I played a lot of free shows and stuff and did a lot of things that cost me money and where I didn’t get anything in return just to make it happen. So I think you just got to be willing to put your all into something and then don’t give up until it happens. And I think celebrate the little wins too along the way. I think, be a little delusional too. I think even when things feel like they’re going not well, you can’t talk to yourself like that. I’ve always said, you can’t let the highs be too high, or the lows be too low. You have a goal, and bad days are okay.”
Graves added, “I’ll just echo that. Think about how hard it’ll be to open that business. Then multiply that by infinity, and then if you’re committed to that, then you’ll never give up. So the main thing is to believe in yourself, but don’t give up. So many people stop because it’s so dang hard, and if Megan would’ve stopped, then we wouldn’t have our music. We wouldn’t have those things which inspired me. So believe in yourself, don’t give up. It’s going to be really, really hard, but don’t give up, and you’ll be a success.”
Moroney is also gearing up to take the stage at the 2025 CMA Awards in Nashville to perform “6 Months Later.” She is also going into the show as one of the most-nominated artists at the event, with six nods, including Single of the Year (“Am I Okay?”), Album of the Year (Am I Okay?), Song of the Year (“Am I Okay?”), Female Vocalist of the Year, Musical Event of the Year (“You Had To Be There” with Kenny Chesney) and Music Video of the Year (“Am I Okay?”).
“Even hearing all those nominations, I don’t feel like I would be as recognized in the industry if it wasn’t for y’all showing up the way you do for me. They see that y’all can pull all this off in less than a day and show up like this, and I don’t get to do this without you guys,” Moroney admitted. “So if you take anything from today, just thank you so much and don’t give up on your dreams because the impossible is very possible.”
Raising Cane’s has built a growing tradition of partnering with country music’s biggest stars ahead of milestone moments. In recent years, the restaurant brand has teamed up with artists like Luke Bryan, Koe Wetzel, Bailey Zimmerman, Post Malone and Parker McCollum for surprise in-restaurant “shifts,” fan pop-ups, and special events celebrating their success. Each collaboration delivers Cane’s signature energy and fun, creating unforgettable moments that bring together music fans and Chicken Finger lovers alike.
