Zachariah Malachi was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, the son of Tamara Smith-Welch and Martin Welch. Malachi did theatre as well as music on a local level throughout his youth and went onto having several bands including one with friend/guitarist/producer Jackson Smith. During his youth, he co-starred in a community production of "Grease". That led the path to revisiting his interest in live theatre by performing in high school productions "The Boys From Syracuse" and "Things Go Wrong". In his mid-twenties he starred as Dr. Franknfurter in a local production of "Rocky Horror Show". He moved in with the family of Jim Ed Brown in Nashville, Tennessee in early 2022 to pursue music full-time and had his first record produced by Grand Ole Opry band leader and star on Larry's Country Diner (2009), Jimmy Capps. During this time, he spent most of his time performing live on Lower Broadway with two different bands. He was cast in George & Tammy (2022) in late 2021.