From Randy Travis’ early days, when his earthy baritone earned him comparisons to George Jones and Lefty Frizzell, to his country-gospel albums of recent years, he’s never strayed far from his roots. Randy’s arrival in the mid-’80s heralded a New Traditionalist phenomenon and paved the way for the county boom of the following years.
The Opry knew Randy was the real deal. Besides, he’d been discovered practically across the street at the Nashville Palace.
Randy’s manager, Lib Hatcher, managed the nightclub, and Randy worked as a dishwasher and short-order cook. Occasionally, he’d lay aside his grease-stained apron and emerge from the kitchen to sing a song that invariably would drive the hard-core country patrons wild.
Randy signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1985. His first single for the label, “On the Other Hand,” received little response, but the follow-up, “1982,” kicked his career into high gear. George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and other Opry legends voiced their support for the plainspoken young man from North Carolina. They had found someone to carry the torch into the future.
In 1986, a re-released “On the Other Hand” went to No. 1. So did “Diggin’ Up Bones.” By the end of that year, just as “No Place Like Home” was hitting the charts, Randy found a new musical home – the Grand Ole Opry.
Randy’s Storms of Life album, released in 1986, sold more than 3 million copies. His next collection, Always & Forever, spent 10 months at No. 1, won a Grammy, and sold more than 5 million copies. By the time Randy turned 30, he’d sold an estimated 13 million albums. Today, that total stands at 21 million, making him one of country music’s best-selling acts ever.
To date, Randy has had 29 Top 10 hits, 16 of them No. 1s, including the Country Music Association Single of the Year “Forever and Ever, Amen” and Song of the Year “Three Wooden Crosses.” His awards include four Grammys, nine trophies from the Academy of Country Music, and five from the CMA. He has appeared in more than 20 feature films, including The Rainmaker, Maverick, and Fire Down Below, and made guest appearances on such TV shows as Matlock and Touched by an Angel.
Randy married his manager in Hawaii in 1991. In recent years, he has reigned in the hectic pace of his career and now balances his time between recording, acting, and touring.
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