Hayden Silas Anhedönia, more popularly known by the stage name of Ethel Cain, was the first openly-transgender music artist to have her album featured in the Billboard 200’s Top 10! Preacher’s Daughter, Ethel Cain’s freshman album, was ranked at number ten on Billboard’s Top 10 nearly three years after its initial debut. This can be connected to the recent release of the Preacher’s Daughter vinyl, which was highly anticipated by fans. At first, the vinyl was released on January 17, 2025, but due to selling out quickly and increased demand, the vinyl was manufactured and sold for a second time on April 4, 2025. The craze surrounding the vinyl release may be responsible for the sudden popularity that Preacher’s Daughter gained.
Who Is Ethel Cain?
Ethel Cain is a stage name for the music artist Hayden Silas Anhedönia. Hayden is a popular American singer, songwriter, record producer, and model. She was born on March 24, 1988, making her 27 years old, in Tallahassee, Florida. She was then raised in a small town called Perry, Florida. Throughout her music-making career, Hayden has had many aliases that she would release music under before using Ethel Cain. However, she doesn’t associate with those aliases or those works anymore due to the evolution and growth within herself, music, and style.
Ethel Cain’s music can be classified as Alternative, Indie, Rock, Dark Ambient, or Americana. Hayden enjoys exploring different styles of music. Earlier this year, she released an album that is fully Dark Ambient. She has also released EPs before her debut album, Preacher’s Daughter, came out. These EPs include Carpet Bed EP, Golden Age, and Inbred. These EPs are mostly Alternative, Indie, and/or Rock. Ethel Cain’s songs and lyrics tend to express and address many uncomfortable topics, which other artists often shy away from when creating music. She has made songs that describe family and childhood trauma, along with addressing conflicts with religion.
The Preacher’s Daughter Album
Preacher’s Daughter is an Alternative, Indie, and Rock album that was released by Ethel Cain on May 12, 2022. Preacher’s Daughter is a concept album, meaning that the album’s storyline is completely fiction and not based on a real person’s life experiences. Preacher’s Daughter follows the life of Ethel Cain, the 20 year old daughter of a preacher who lives in the South, who has gone through many hardships throughout her childhood. The story follows Ethel’s struggles that occur later in life, due to the way she was raised. Preacher’s Daughter mainly focuses on the positive and negative effects of relationships, love, religion, and death.
To explain how she personally connects to the story of Ethel Cain, Hayden has mentioned before that some pieces of the storyline can be related to her own life, specifically the parts about her childhood. For Hayden, this album was a way of showing how a girl who grew up under unfortunate circumstances could continue to live her life. Responding to the backlash that she received for the concept of her album, Hayden expressed that in some ways, this album was showing how her life could have turned out if she hadn’t overcome the hardships from her childhood and if she proceeded to follow the path of misfortune.
There are many characters that are indirectly introduced throughout the duration of the album. The listeners hear about three of Ethel’s love interests and how their relationship affected Ethel’s life. These love interests were Willoughby Tucker, Ethel’s first love, who was with her in her teens, Logan Phelps, her second boyfriend, who was portrayed as dangerous, and Isaiah Abram, Ethel’s third and final boyfriend, who ultimately led to her death. The last two boyfriends, Logan and Isaiah, had many songs that described their dynamics, while Willoughby did not.
What’s Next For Ethel Cain?
Three years after Preacher’s Daughter, Hayden is planning to release her Sophomore Album, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, in August of 2025. This album will focus on Ethel Cain and Willoughby Tucker’s love story, ultimately expanding the knowledge that fans have collected from A House In Nebraska, the only song from Preacher’s Daughter that directly references their relationship/love. Along with the album, Ethel Cain is going on tour later this year. Hayden has also mentioned that she is in the process of writing a book that explains the Preacher’s Daughter storyline in its entirety.
Ethel Cain being the first openly-transgender music artist to have her album, Preacher’s Daughter, featured on Billboard 200’s Top 10 is a huge accomplishment and is just the start of her rising popularity. With many upcoming projects, Ethel Cain is expected to have a very impactful and eventful year.
