- Rhiannon Giddens has signed with WME for worldwide representation in live music and touring.
- The deal lands as she preps her seventh studio album, Hope Is the Thing With Feathers, out Sept. 18 on Nonesuch Records.
- She continues with Red Light Management for management, Paradigm Talent Agency for film/TV-theatrical, Aevitas Creative for literary, and Shore Fire Media for publicity.
- The news follows sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, plus her work as a music consultant and contributor on Ryan Coogler's Sinners.
Grammy- and Pulitzer-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens has signed with William Morris Endeavor (WME) for worldwide representation in live music and touring.
The deal lands as Giddens preps her seventh studio album, Hope Is the Thing With Feathers, due Sept. 18 on Nonesuch Records, where she remains signed.
The Greensboro-born banjo player and vocalist continues with Red Light Management for career management and keeps her existing deals with Paradigm Talent Agency for film/TV-theatrical representation, Aevitas Creative for literary representation, and Shore Fire Media for publicity.
Giddens’ recent run has been packed: she sold out Carnegie Hall, played two sold-out nights at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and served as a music consultant and contributor on Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. She also played banjo on Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Last year she headlined the Hollywood Bowl, and this summer she is leading a five-date run, American Tunes: Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, celebrating the American songbook.
The signing adds a Pulitzer-winning roots icon to a WME touring roster that’s been expanding fast in 2026. The agency recently landed Coi Leray for worldwide representation, and just weeks ago added rising Nashville trio Highway Home for worldwide representation.
With a new album on the way and a touring calendar already spanning concert halls, museums, and festivals, Giddens’ WME signing points to a bigger stage for her fall run.
Takeaways
This isn’t Giddens chasing a bigger name for its own sake. She kept her label, her manager, her publicist, and her literary and film reps exactly where they were, and swapped out only the piece of her team responsible for booking shows.
That’s a signal she wants more touring infrastructure, not a full team overhaul, right as a new album and a packed 2026 calendar arrive.
It also fits a bigger story about WME’s push into roots and Americana. Pairing a Pulitzer winner with recent signings like Highway Home shows the agency building real depth in a lane it hasn’t always been known for, right alongside its hip-hop and pop pushes with Coi Leray.
Will WME’s global network translate into bigger international stops for the Hope Is the Thing With Feathers rollout? Does this signal WME building a genuine Americana/roots footprint, or is Giddens a singular “get”? Could crossover moments like Sinners and the Beyoncé collaboration push her further into mainstream festival bookings?
