This song is my guilty pleasure. Made by a man with an intriguing backstory.

Randy was born in Marshville, NC.

In his teens, Randy was arrested multiple times for things like burglary and auto theft. The judge told him, one more time and your gone for a long time, so he straightened up his act and finally followed his dads advice and pursued music.

Randy Travis then became a country music star in the 80’s. A part of the Neotraditional country wave of that time and was a reaction to the “outlaw movement/urban cowboy” country music. Overall he’s sold 25 million records, won 7 Grammys and been inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame.

In the 90’s his sales declined after Garth Brooks came in (at first a neotraditionalist too) and ushered in a “stadium Rock” era of country.

He did find some late career success such as “Three Wooden Crosses” in 2002, a song I vividly remember my mom playing when I was a jit because of its imagery of death

He even took part in acting in movies such as:
The Rainmaker (1997) with Matt Damon, Black Dog (1998) with Patrick Swayze, Texas Rangers (2001) with James Van Der Beek, National Treasure 2 (2007)

In 2010, his 19-year marriage ended in divorce.

My mans was down bad.

Here let me get the wiki:

On August 7, 2012, state troopers in Grayson County, Texas, responded to a call that an unclothed man was lying in the road. Troopers reported that they arrived to find Travis unclothed and smelling of alcohol. The Texas Highway Patrol said that Travis crashed his car in a construction zone, and that when they attempted to apprehend him, Travis threatened the lives of the troopers. Travis was subsequently arrested for driving while intoxicated and terroristic threat against a public servant. He posted bail in the amount of $21,500. Earlier in the same evening, just prior to the DUI arrest, Travis allegedly walked into a Tiger Mart convenience store naked, demanding cigarettes from the cashier, who in turn called the authorities. According to the store clerk, Travis left the store upon realizing he did not have any money to pay for the cigarettes.

He tried to fight in court but….

On January 31, 2013, Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in his August 7 incident and received two years' probation, a $2,000 fine and a 180-day suspended jail sentence.

After all this, in July 2013, he suffers a stroke ruining his voice and ability to walk. So he undergoes rehabilitation for 3 years and tries to come back to touring but still has limited speech and singing ability and suffers from anxiety.

3 more years go by and he’s back to touring and making music again, but, ya know, not like back in the 80’s.

He has a great voice. Country goat

Had no idea he was such a hard ass