2025 Impact NextGen Honoree: Shannon Saunders

SHANNON SAUNDERS
Agent, Head of Nashville International
WME

THUNDER DOWN UNDER & LONDONERS
Luke Combs shakes up Australian stadiums, while Zach Bryan headlines BST Hyde Park in London.

Country music continues on a red-hot tear across the U.S. and the world, and WME’s Nashville outpost remains a heavy hitter, with a stable of top talent of all types finding success on the road.

“This year was full of a lot of great firsts, including the first country stadium tour in Australia with Luke Combs, and Zach Bryan selling out two nights at BST Hyde Park,” says Shannon Saunders, 37, who heads the agency’s Nashville International office, taking American country music abroad in a big way.

Heading Down Under was not a mere stepping stone either, with Combs selling out multiple stadiums as much as 70,000 tickets per night, with doubles in Brisbane ($7 million grossed per night), Sydney ($9 million per night) and Melbourne ($8 million) as well as two more nights at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

“I’ve been inspired by the overall power of a song or performance to create an experience or shape a memory,” says Saunders, who started at WME in 2010.

“We have more resources at our fingertips than ever before, allowing us to be better informed and able to adapt faster to the rapidly evolving marketplace.”

She says she learned a lot from her first manager, who “taught me integrity, clear communication and how to advocate for my team.”
Saunders’ role sees her focusing on growing international touring opportunities for the agency’s roster, which includes additional powerhouses like Lainey Wilson, Thomas Rhett, Jon Pardi, Miranda Lambert and many others, with the Nashville headquarters headed up by Joey Lee, Jay Williams and Becky Gardenhire.

Back home, Saunders says she was impressed by WME client Eric Church’s gig at the new Pinnacle at Nashville Yards, which she
described as “an iconic journey through the new album and the classics, with unforgettable arrangements.”

Lainey Wilson continues her worldwide dominance, and this spring played more than eight countries in Europe after crisscrossing the world multiple times in recent years.

Having attended the storied music business program at Belmont University in Nashville, Saunders says, “I hope my lasting impact will be that I’ve led with empathy, fostered growth, and championed diverse voices in every project,” adding that it’s important to
“embrace differences; learn from each other without needing identical beliefs.”