Randy Travis was born on May 4, 1959, as Randy Bruce Traywick. He was the second of six children. His father, Harold, raised turkeys, bred horses, and ran a construction business, and his mother, Bobbie, worked in a textile plant. Randy's father always wanted him to become a country singer, filling the house with the sounds of Hank Williams and Stonewall Jackson albums. Harold bought his four sons western outfits and guitars, and promoted them locally as the Traywick Brothers. By the time Randy was 10 years old, he and his brother, Ricky, had their own duo, playing throughout the South at fiddler's conventions, private parties, VFW halls, and anywhere and everywhere they could draw a crowd. Even at his young age, Randy's voice startled people with its resonance. But he dropped out of school in the ninth grade, and after that, fast cars, drinking, and drugs led to a series of scrapes with the law.
At age sixteen, Randy entered a talent show, hosted by Country City USA, as a soloist. After winning the competition hands down, he was invited to play regularly at the famed nightspot. In 1981, Randy made the move to Nashville, commuting regularly to Charlotte to perform at Country City USA. AT The Nashville Palace, where Randy worked cooking catfish and washing dishes, as well as singing on stage, it wasn't long before he had developed a following there as well, changing his stage name to Randy Ray. The exposure led to appearances on Nashville Now and Nashville After Hours. In 1983 while performing at the club, Randy recorded his first album independently and called it "Randy Ray - Live at the Nashville Palace".
Turned down by nearly every record label in Nashville, often more than once, Randy was finally signed to Warner Brothers Records in 1985. Record company executives changed his name to Travis, and Randy Travis's first recorded effort for his new label was "Prairie Rose", on the soundtrack to the film, "Rustler's Rhapsody". It was followed by the release of the album "Storms of Life" in 1986, and the rest is country music history.
The first single, "On the Other Hand", was a perfect slice of Randy Travis's authentic country talent. "1982" followed, and with that hit, Randy established himself as a singer and performer in the grand tradition of George Jones, Lefty Frizell , Merle Haggard, and a handful of others. The success of both singles led to wide-spread demand for live shows, and Randy Travis next set out on an extensive and on-going tour, taking him across the United States and Canada before record-setting crowds.
Soon it seemed every award in the music business had Randy Travis's name on it. A string of country chart-toppers ensued, and by the end of the decade, Randy's record sales topped 13 million copies. During a break from touring in 1991, Randy married his long time manager and friend, Lib Hatcher , in a quiet ceremony on the island of Maui, Hawaii.
Randy Travis balances a full-time music career with a full-time acting career. In addition to guest appearances on TV's Matlock, Touched By an Angel, and Texas, his film credits include The Rainmaker (starring Jon Voight , Matt Damon, and Danny DeVito ), Frank and Jesie (Bill Paxton and Rob Lowe), Black Dog (Patrick Swayze ), and Fire Down Below (Steven Seagal ). He's also featured with Antonio Banderas , Ellen Barkin , Lily Tomlin, and Bob Hoskins in the upcoming White River Kid. Randy recently completed filming in a starring role in the upcoming Miramax/ Dimension film Texas Rangers with James Van Der Beek , Dylan McDermott, and Usher. He also finished work on Major Remo , an independent film documentary featuring legendary film actor, Charlton Heston . Randy Travis's future film work includes the independent films, John-John In the Sky, and The Long Ride Home.
While Randy Travis has long been known as an artist whose life-affirming songs celebrate the better angels of human nature, it's only in his new Atlantic Records/Warner Brothers gospel release, "Inspirational Journey," that this underlying theme of contentment finally takes center stage.
RANDY TRAVIS
Inspirational Journey
"I have to like the songs. I don't know any other way to make a record. Weather I'm looking for a country song or a gospel song or something in between, the writing just has to be good all the way through. I might listen to two hundred songs before I find one I can't really live without. So to me it really doesn't seem strange at all that it took four years to finish my first gospel record."
"I was out of control as a teenager," Randy admits. "You take a kid who's somewhat crazy anyway and load him up with drugs and alcohol on a daily basis and you get an interesting specimen. I was always getting into fights and scrapes with the law. I was caught breaking and entering one time, stealing a van another. I totaled four cars, a couple of motorcycles, even a horse and buggy, and I always walked away from it. I have no idea why I wasn't killed, except that I know God was looking out for me. "
"Back in my younger, wilder days, I thought I was having fun - but most of the time I was actually miserable. I looked at religion as a prison. When I finally turned towards God, though, I started finding a freedom to enjoy my life without all that guilt I used to carry. These songs reflect where I am now, but they also reflect some parts of the road that got me here."
It's not enough to say that he's one of the most popular artists in the history of country music. Fifteen years ago, album sales of 100,000 were considered high for a country artist and the whole genre seemed to be desperately trying to reinvent itself in the pop-music mold. That was when Randy Travis released his debut--Storms of Life--a debut that went quadruple-platinum and that was, by any measure, pure and unapologetic country. ("With this voice, what else was I supposed to do?" Randy asks with a laugh.)
Three Grammys , five CMA Awards, eight Academy of Country Music Awards, 10 American Music Awards, 11 albums, and 21 million units later, it's no exaggeration to say that Randy Travis altered the artistic course of the whole industry, bringing it back to a place of credibility and authenticity that had seemed in danger of slipping away altogether.
But for Travis, success was never measured in terms of such fame, fortune and awards. Success for him was always something a little more inward and elusive. "I've known some very financially successful people," he says, "who were also some of the most unhappy people I ever met in my life. To me, true success in life has come to mean peace and contentment. I'd take contentment over a million dollars any day of the week."
While Randy has long been known as an artist whose life-affirming songs celebrate the better angels of human nature, it's only in his new Atlantic Records/Warner Brothers gospel release, Inspirational Journey, that this underlying theme of contentment finally takes center stage.