HunterGirl (real name: Hunter Wolkonowski; born May 22, 1998), is a 25-year-old songstress from Gruetli-Laager, a town in Tennessee. The singer participated in the 20th season of the talent reality show, American Idol in 2022 and finished in 2nd place.
A Tennessee native, HunterGirl has climbed over from country music to position herself right in the middle of the mainstream music spotlight. Although she reluctantly decided to join the show, American Idol has definitely proven to be the best possible platform for the hitherto unknown singer to launch her career from.
Citing the musical influences of other great artists like Julia Michaels and Dolly Parton as her inspiration, there is no doubt that her incredible journey to stardom has only just started. All the details on HunterGirl’s music career, family life, and background information are available in this article.
Summary of HunterGirl’s Biography
- Full Name: Hunter Wolkonowski
- Nickname: HunterGirl
- Gender: Female
- Date of Birth: May 22, 1998
- HunterGirl’s Age: 25 Years Old
- Ethnicity: White
- Nationality: American
- Zodiac Sign: Gemini
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Religion: Christianity
- Marital Status: Single
- HunterGirl’s Parents: Urla Wolkonowski (mother)
- Siblings: Rylan Wolkonowski (sister)
- HunterGirl’s Height in Inches: 66 Inches (5 feet 6 inches)
- HunterGirl’s Height in Centimeters: 170 cm
- HunterGirl’s Weight: 69 kg (150 lbs)
- Eye Color: Hazel
- Hair Color: Blonde
- HunterGirl’s Instagram: @huntergirlmusic
- Twitter: @huntergirlmusic
- Facebook: Hunter Wolkonowski (HunterGirl)
- YouTube: @hntrgrl1031
HunterGirl Was Born 25 Years Ago in Tennessee
HunterGirl is 25 years old. She was born Hunter Wolkonowski on May 22, 1998, by her mother, Urla Wolkonowski, in the town of Gruetli-Laager, Tennessee. These days though, HunterGirl refers to herself as a resident of Winchester and most recently, Nashville, both also in Tennessee. She is American by nationality and was born into a strict Christian family. She is also part of the Caucasian race and a Gemini.
HunterGirl’s hobbies include writing songs, playing the guitar, and listening to music. According to information written on her website, she started to sing publicly when she was just three years old at her grandfather’s church. Fast forward to six years later, and she was already flexing her skills as a songwriter at the age of nine.
By the time she was 11, HunterGirl had mastered how to play the guitar as well as accompanying the instrument with her voice. And so, it was time for the world to see her full talent and she began to sing regularly at her church.
She Was Born and Raised in a Military Family
Many credible sources report that the singer was raised in a military home. There is no information available about who her father is or even his name but as mentioned earlier, her mother’s name is Urla Wolkonowski.
If the report that suggests she was brought up in a military home is true, then it means that at least, one of her parents was in active military service while she was a kid – and from all indications, that parent appears to be her father, which may be why very little is known about him. HunterGirl was raised along with her little sister named Rylan Wolkonowski.
She started going to music talent competitions when she was 11 years old and won a lot of them, including the Nashville Songwriter Association International award, and the “Nash Next” Songwriter award. In high school, HunterGirl joined her very first music band at the age of 14. This made her develop a traveling habit as she began to perform at a variety of events like churches, country fairs, and others – with the band.
When she was 15, HunterGirl took home the Texaco Country Showdown winner’s pride in 2014. She obtained her first college degree in Music Business from the Middle Tennessee State University. She specifically attended Music Business School at the prestigious university.
Her college experience consisted of performing at Broadway shows every day of the week for four years. She allegedly worked from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. every single day, writing songs and creating melodies for the songs.
Is HunterGirl Her Real Name?
Although the name is an offshoot of her real name, HunterGirl is not the name her parents gave her at birth. The American Idol finalist was born Hunter Wolkonowski. The moniker “HunterGirl” was given to her by her classmates and teachers.
Since the name ‘Hunter’ is majorly associated with the male gender, HunterGirl revealed that she would find herself at school among other male students with the same name, but there was always a consistent difference—she would always be the only girl bearing that name.
So in order for her teachers to be more direct when referring to her, they usually called her “Hunter the girl”, which later became shortened to “HunterGirl.” She then decided to make this her stage name as well, since it was a pretty unique name. Once she did, the confusion that usually arose whenever she was called up while attending auditions was almost completely mitigated. And that is how the nickname came to stay.
HunterGirl Got the World’s Attention After Her Electrifying Appearance on American Idol
In 2022, HunterGirl was part of the 20th season of the talent reality show, American Idol and by May, she had positioned herself as one of the contestants gunning for the first position. With performances of songs by Bruce Springsteen, Randy Travis, Luke Bryan, and Rascal Flatts, she secured a top-three position.
She performed an original song written and produced by herself, titled Red Bird, and eventually came second place, losing the winning position to Noah Thompson. Since then, there has been an obvious difference in her career trajectory post-American Idol, a testament to the show’s unmatched platforming abilities.
What most people don’t know is that HunterGirl almost didn’t want to get on the show at first. She had only thought about it as a rite of passage she felt she had to undergo as a singer. But when she got an email inviting her to audition, she lost all her confidence. Luckily for her, she got the push she needed after an American Idol producer walked up to her during a music rehearsal and encouraged her to audition in February 2022.
The singer revealed that that was her second prompt in two days to join American Idol. The show, of course, ended up being a blessing for her. It gave her the much-needed exposure and encouraged her to build up an impressive music resume. The Tennessee singer-songwriter ended up as the first runner-up and now, her music is everywhere it needs to be.
The singer has not wasted her opportunity at all. From creating multiple profiles on TikTok, Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook, to booking gigs, HunterGirl’s mainstream career has begun in earnest.
