In 2007, Musgraves appeared on the fifth season of the USA Network singing competition Nashville Star, where she finished in seventh place.

Musgraves' second studio album, Pageant Material (2015), debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart and yielded the critically and commercially successful singles "Biscuits" and "Dime Store Cowgirl".

In 2023, she was featured on the single "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

Her sixth studio album, Deeper Well, was released in 2024 debuting at number 2 on the Billboard 200, with the single The Architect winning the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.

[18] She first learned to play music on the mandolin, then at age 12 started taking guitar lessons from a local musician named John DeFoore, which she later described as "one of the most important things that ever happened to me."

[18] In 2007, Musgraves competed on Season 5 of the singing competition reality TV series Nashville Star, where she placed seventh.

[28] Musgraves' two acoustic recordings for Triple Pop (covers of OneRepublic's "Apologize" and Miley Cyrus' "See You Again") are available on a digital EP released in 2012.

The song is included on her major-label debut album Same Trailer Different Park, produced and co-written by Musgraves, Shane McAnally and Luke Laird and released on March 19, 2013.

"[35] "Undermine", a song co-written by Musgraves and Trent Dabbs, was featured in one of the first episodes in the first season of the television series Nashville on October 17, 2012.

Musgraves provided backing vocals for "Bourbon in Kentucky", the lead single on Dierks Bentley's 2013 album Riser.

[5] In support of the album, Musgraves embarked on a Christmas-themed tour, complete with a strings section, an accordion, a bass, a saxophone, a clarinet, and backup singers.

[54] In 2017, Musgraves provided backing vocals on "All the Best", a John Prine cover, for Zac Brown Band's album Welcome Home.

[56] Musgraves appeared on the June 21, 2017, episode of Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry to receive a psychic reading and connect with her grandmother, Barbara Taylor, to learn more details about her death in a house fire.

[63] Musgraves premiered "High Horse", the third song from the album, on March 22, 2018, on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 Apple Radio show.

[66] On May 12, 2018, Musgraves was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, performing "High Horse" and "Slow Burn".

Through June and July, Musgraves was the opening act on the second North American leg of Harry Styles: Live on Tour.

[70] In April, Musgraves featured on a newly recorded version of "Neon Moon" with Brooks and Dunn for their duet album Reboot.

[72] In May, Musgraves made her Met Gala debut as a Barbie doll and afterwards announced she had signed with modeling agency IMG.

[77] On November 20, 2019, she debuted the song "Glittery" featuring Troye Sivan on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

[81] On May 29, 2020, Musgraves was featured on The Flaming Lips single "Flowers of Neptune 6"[82] and also provided vocals on two additional tracks ("Watch the Lightbugs Glow" and "God and the Policeman") on their album American Head, which was released on September 11, 2020.

On December 10, 2020, Troye Sivan released a reworked version of his song "Easy" which features Musgraves and was produced by Mark Ronson.

[87] On August 23, Musgraves revealed that her fifth album, now titled Star-Crossed, would be released on September 10, along with an accompanying 50-minute film which will be available for streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

[91] Musgraves collaborated with American country star Zach Bryan on the single "I Remember Everything" from his self-titled fourth studio album.

[98] She was a guest and interviewed for two hours on March 18, 2024, on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show; she performed three songs live with her band at Sirius' Nashville studio.

Musgraves listed albums by Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, Marty Robbins, Charley Pride, Roger Miller, and Jim Croce as influences on her sophomore album[104] and an interview of hers with Rolling Stone Country cited Ray Price, Julie Miller, and Loretta Lynn as being other influences.

[105] In a Billboard interview, Musgraves said that she is a Dolly Parton fan, saying "Beauty, sex appeal, brains, wit, humor, beautiful songwriting, meaningful songwriting, no apologies for who she is, LGBTQ advocate long before it was even a thing or trendy or whatever... She's fearless and I admire her spirit a lot and she's very kind.

"[106] Noncountry artists whom Musgraves has mentioned as influences include Cher, Selena,[107] Ryan Adams, Cake, Neil Young, Weezer, Imogen Heap, Bee Gees, Sade, and Electric Light Orchestra.

[112] Her music has tackled topics such as LGBT acceptance, safe sexual intercourse, recreational marijuana use, and questioning religious sentiment.

"[114] In 2014, in an interview with ABC Radio, Musgraves said she had been in a relationship with her bandmate Misa Arriaga for several years after first becoming friends and working together.