Rayna Jaymes

Rayna Alisia Jaymes (née Wyatt; previously Conrad) is a fictional character and one of two leads in the ABC/CMT musical drama series Nashville. Rayna has been portrayed by actress Connie Britton since the series' pilot episode, which aired on October 10, 2012.

Britton has received critical acclaim for her performance as Rayna. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and a Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.

Connie Britton was cast as Rayna Jaymes on March 6, 2012. Rayna was characterized as the "reigning queen of country," a 40-year-old country music superstar singer whose star is beginning to fade. The character of Rayna Jaymes is inspired from Britton's role as Tami Taylor on the TV series Friday Night Lights, with Nashville creator Callie Khouri creating the role specifically for Britton. Britton has stated that her performance as Jaymes is based on several country singers, including Faith Hill, Reba McEntire, and Bonnie Raitt. The Nashville writers also consulted country star Sara Evans when creating Jaymes' character so that her experience of being a working mother in the music industry could be accurately portrayed.

Rayna Jaymes is a nine-time Grammy Award–winner, fifteen-time CMA Award–nominee, who was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2005. She is the daughter of the late Virginia Wyatt and her husband, the late politician Lamar Wyatt (played by Powers Boothe) whom she was estranged from before he died due to him never approving of her career leading to her being kicked out at 16. Early in her career she dated songwriter and guitar player Deacon Claybourne at 16. In 1990, she released of her debut hit album Cowgirls Love Too Hard which featured the hit "Changing Grounds". The couple worked together for a large part of Jaymes' 90s catalogue as he was her lead guitarist for two decades on tour and a frequent collaborator. Jaymes' second album Southside of Love (1991) expanded her new age country sound that merged new age with traditional country. Jaymes' third album Home (1993) is recognized as one of the best country albums of the 1990s as it featured the iconic "No One Will Ever Love You". She followed this with the critically acclaimed Thoroughbred (1995) album which features the classic "The Last Stand". Her follow up album was the multi platinum Postcards from Mexico (1996). Ultimately Rayna had personal issues and had to break up with Deacon due to his destructive patterns after multiple iconic albums and tours worked on together. While Deacon was in rehab, Jaymes began dating and married financial advisor Teddy Conrad. The couple moved to a mansion in Nashville during the height of Jaymes music career and had two daughters together, Maddie and Daphne. Teddy though is not Maddie's biological father, she is Deacon's child, though Deacon and Maddie did not know until she was 12. Rayna's next album was the best selling female country album of the year, Sweet & Sorrow (1997). Her follow up displayed a newer image for the married woman and a increasingly mature sound for the hit album Platinum Sea (1998) which features the hit "American Beauty". Maddie was born in 1999, the same year as Rayna's smash album Until You Kissed Me & multi-platinum song "This Love Ain't Big Enough". Daphne was born in 2004, a year after the release of Jaymes' multi-platinum record Double Down featuring the fan favorite song "Already Gone" which peaked at No. 1 on the country and pop charts.

She followed this up with her greatest hits album The Best Of Rayna Jaymes (2006). 2008 was another very successful era for Jaymes with her multi-platinum Little Bits of Heaven. In 2010, she released her first self-titled album Rayna Jaymes and followed it up in 2012, with the gold selling Belt Buckle Blues featuring top 20 country single "It's My Life". Though the album was her first to miss the top 10 landing in the 20s and falling on the charts in its following week. She ultimately canceled her Belt Buckle Blues Tour and co-headlined with country-pop singer Juliette Barnes on the single "Wrong Song". It was an instant hit and the two co-headlined the Red Lips White Lies Tour. Rayna then began her own record label, Highway 65 Records in 2014, which she announced at the Grand Ole Opry. The Red Lips White Lies Tour was a sell out but was stopped at a halt after the death of Juliette's mother, the near death of Rayna's father, and then the near death car crash of Rayna with Deacon that led to her being in a coma for two weeks. Once she recovered she suffered from vocal damage and decided to take time off to spend with her daughters.

Though her follow up album was almost complete, her label wanted to rush release the album to capitalize on the publics re-found love for Jaymes after her near death accident. Against Jaymes demands the label had police seize Jaymes for the masters to her album, threw out certain tracks, produced an album cover which featured her coming out of fire, and re-titled it '"Rising Out of the Ashes"'. This led to her buying herself out of Edgehill Republic Records that year for a total of $20,000,000. The first release off of her label was her highly anticipated comeback album The Parts I Remember in 2015, which debuted at number 1 on both the Billboard 200 Chart and the Billboard Country chart. This album was recorded while under Edgehill and was her first album following her deadly car crash in 2013. The record ultimately was certified gold and its lead single "This Time" was certified platinum. She then went on to win five CMA's including 'Album of the Year', 'Song of the Year', 'Female Vocalist of the Year', 'Record of the Year', and 'Entertainer of the Year'.

In 2015, Rayna made the transition from singer to producer. She produced Markus Keens' first solo album which would later be certified platinum.

Rayna has a catalogue of hit song after hit songs which include "Already Gone," "This Time," "The Last Stand," "Stompin' Grounds," "Changing Grounds," "This Love Ain't Big Enough," "Postcards from Mexico," "Buried Under," "Ball and Chain," and "American Beauty." She also has a hit of ballads which she is well known for including "Sanctuary," "No One Will Ever Love You," "Don't Leave Without Me," "The Rivers Between Us," "This Could Be Us," "Stronger Than Me," and "Together We Stand."