Birth date: July 8, 1961
Birthplace: Clinton, Oklahoma
Raised: Moore, Oklahoma
Height: 6 ft. 4 in.
Hair: blond
Eyes: blue
Hat size: 7 3/8
Parents: mother Joan and father Hubert �H.K.� Covel, who died in 2001 when his pickup truck was struck by a hit-and-run driver. �My mother sings like a bird. She�d sing those Patsy Cline and Skeeter Davis records when I was a kid. That�s where my singing comes from. But I got my writing talent from my dad. He had a way with words. Any wit you hear in my songs comes from him.�
Siblings: sister Tonni and brother Tracy
Family: wife Tricia, married March 24, 1984; daughters Shelley, 22, and Krystal, 17; son Stelen, 5
Residence: a 160-acre horse farm near Oklahoma City. In his home state, Toby points out, �you can get good chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy on about every corner.�
Musical influence: �I doubt anyone�s had more impact on me than Merle Haggard. He�s not only one of the greatest country singers there�s ever been, but he�s a great writer.�
Favorite performers: Jimmy Buffett, Bob Seger, John Prine, Roger Miller and Guy Clark
Previous jobs: rodeo hand, oil-rigger, defensive end for the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers
His rule for writing ballads: �Say something to a woman that a guy would never have the guts to say out loud to her.�
Favorite song: Boz Skaggs� �Look What You�ve Done To Me�
Favorite movie: Field of Dreams, the 1989 baseball fantasy starring Kevin Costner
Favorite teams: L.A. Dodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Oklahoma Sooners
Hobbies: hunting, fishing, golf, collecting baseball cards and memorabilia
On his career: �It�s hard not for me to sit here confidently, and be cocky, and say I know where my niche is and how to make it work. I�ve been told �no� so many times, and when the wash is done, it�s, �No, you were right.��
Awards: ACM awards for Top Male Vocalist (2000) and Album of the Year (2000, for How Do You Like Me Now?!); CMA award for Male Vocalist of the Year (2001)
Heavy rotation: Billboard magazine named Toby�s �Should�ve Been A Cowboy� the most played song of the decade in the �90s, and �How Do You Like Me Now?!� was the most played song of 2000.
Billboard Top 5 singles: �Should�ve Been A Cowboy� (No. 1, 1993); �He Ain�t Worth Missing� (No. 5, 1993); �A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action� (No. 2, 1994); �Wish I Didn�t Know Now� (No. 2, 1994); �Who�s That Man� (No. 1, 1994); �You Ain�t Much Fun� (No. 2, 1995) �Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You� (No. 2, 1996); �Me Too� (No. 1, 1997); �We Were In Love� (No. 2, 1997); �I�m So Happy I Can�t Stop Crying,� a duet with Sting (No. 2, 1998); �Dream Walkin�� (No. 5, 1998); �How Do You Like Me Now?!� (No. 1, 2000); �Country Comes To Town� (No. 4, 2000); �You Shouldn�t Kiss Me Like This� (No. 1, 2001); �I�m Just Talkin� About Tonight� (No. 1, 2001); �I Wanna Talk About Me� (No. 1, 2001); �My List� (No. 1, 2002); �Courtesy of the Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)� (No. 1, 2002); "Who's Your Daddy?" (No. 1, 2002)
Current Single: "Rock You Baby"
Next Single: Beer For My Horses (a duet with Willie Nelson)
Current Album: Unleashed
Write to:
Toby Keith Fan Club
c/o Kay Johnson
P.O. Box 8739
Rockford, IL 61126
Born: August 25, 1970
Birthplace: Framingham, Massachusetts
Raised: Holliston, Massachusetts
Hair: red
Eyes: hazel
Height: 5 ft. 3 in.
Parents: father Vincent and mother Mary. They divorced when Jo Dee was 4.
Siblings: older sisters Terese and Marianne; older brother Vincent
Marital status: engaged to her tour manager, Don Muzquiz, who proposed to Jo Dee in a wooden castle at a Nashville playground
Musical influences: Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, The Judds, Dottie West
First band: The Jo Dee Messina Band, formed when she was 16, with brother Vinnie on drums and sister Marianne on bass. She sang songs by Reba McEntire, Juice Newton, Lorrie Morgan, Patsy Cline and rocker Bob Seger, among others. �I remember performing for a guy who was screaming at himself and a woman who was dancing with a Miss Piggy doll. That was it,� Jo Dee recalls of one of the band�s less illustrious gigs. �And we played for five hours!�
Her arrival in Nashville: In October 1990, Jo Dee lit out for Music City in a Pontiac Sunbird with $500 in her pocket. In Nashville, she befriended another struggling singer, Tim McGraw, and the two encouraged each other through the lean years. By 1995, Tim had hit the top of the charts and Jo Dee signed a deal with Curb Records. And their friendship has continued, with Tim co-producing all of Jo Dee�s albums.
Favorite colors: purple and black
Favorite flower: pink roses
Favorite movie: Steel Magnolias
Favorite actresses: Julia Roberts, Sally Field
TV roles: In 1999, Jo Dee played country singer Tammy McGraw on an episode of Nash Bridges, and in November of that year she portrayed a down-on-her-luck factory worker on Touched By An Angel.
Favorite activity: laughing. �I have several different laughs,� she says. �From a really loud, obnoxious one to a unique giggle. Somebody told me that I had a thousand laughs, one for every occasion.�
On her fans: �Everything we get out of life is a privilege, not a right. The fact that the fans are so supportive is a blessing, because nobody owes me anything. I�m overwhelmed because I can�t believe it�s me who has this incredible support. It just blows me away.�
Awards: ACM award for Top New Female Vocalist (1998); CMA Horizon Award (1999)
Billboard Top 10 singles: �Heads Carolina, Tails California� (No. 2, 1996); �You�re Not In Kansas Anymore� (No. 7, 1996); �Bye-Bye� (No. 1, 1998); �I�m Alright� (No. 1, 1998); �Stand Beside Me� (No. 1, 1999); �Lesson In Leavin�� (No. 2, 1999); �Because You Love Me� (No. 8, 2000); �That�s The Way� (No. 1, 2000); �Burn� (No. 2, 2001); �Downtime� (No. 5, 2001); �Bring On The Rain� (No. 1, 2002)
Current Single: "Was That My Life"
Current Albums: Burn & A Joyful Noise (her first Christmas album)
New Album: Delicious Surprise (in stores Summer 2003 from Curb Records)
Write to:
Jo Dee Messina Fan Club
P.O. Box 3149
Brentwood, TN 37024
Raised: Ada, Oklahoma
Hair: brown
Eyes: blue
Height: 6 ft. 5 in.
Family: mother Dorothy, father Dick and sister Endy
Residence: a ranch west of Nashville. To kick-start life on the farm, Blake bought 32 chickens, 12 turkeys and two ducks. �It�s like a bad episode of Green Acres,� he jokes. �I�m out there trying to learn how to drive a tractor, learning about stuff I always wanted to do. I just want to be somebody who has some land and works on it�whether it�s figuring out how to work my plow or deciding if I need to separate my roosters from my hens!�
Earliest performance: When he was 8 years old, Blake�s mother entered him into the talent portion of a local beauty pageant. �I was totally embarrassed and humiliated and I didn�t want any of my friends to know about it,� he says. �I told my mom I didn�t want to sing anymore because it�s too embarrassing.�
His arrival in Nashville: A teenage Blake was part of the entertainment lineup at an Ada, Oklahoma, show honoring songwriter and native Oklahoman Mae Boren Axton, who co-wrote �Heartbreak Hotel.� Mae was impressed with what she saw and convinced Blake he needed to move to Nashville. Blake followed her advice, and in June 1994, two weeks after graduating high school, he headed for Music City. �I called Mae when I got to Nashville. I asked her what she wanted me to do now,� Blake recalls. �Well,� answered Mae, �you can come and paint my house for me.�
Musical influences: Earl Thomas Conley (Blake�s �all-time musical hero�), Travis Tritt, Hank Williams Jr., Dan Seals
Favorite album: Earl Thomas Conley�s Greatest Hits (1985)
Favorite song: �What I�d Say� by Earl Thomas Conley
Career highlight: co-writing the song �All Over Me� with Earl Thomas Conley; �I got up extra early that morning so I would be awake and alert,� he recalls, �and I was so nervous I must have drank two pots of coffee. So when I got to his house, the first thing I did after meeting him was ask him if I could use his bathroom. When I got in there, the only thing I could think of was, �I�m using Earl Thomas Conley�s toilet!��
Favorite color: blue
First Opry appearance: May 5, 2001
First time recognized in public: �At a Hardee�s somewhere between Kansas City, Kansas, and Manhattan, Kansas. It was a good feeling,� he admits. �But it�s an adjustment. I�ve gotta learn to straighten up a bit!�
Favorite food: Stuffed Crust Pizza from Pizza Hut
Favorite movies: McLintock!, the 1963 slapstick Western starring John Wayne, and Dumb & Dumber, the 1994 slapstick comedy starring Jim Carrey
Billboard No. 1 single: �Austin,� which topped the charts for five weeks and tied with Billy Ray Cyrus� 1992 smash �Achy Breaky Heart� as the longest-running No. 1 song for a new male singer.
Latest Number One Single: �The Baby�
Current Album: The Dreamer
Write to:
Blake Shelton Fan Club
P.O. Box 682472
Franklin, TN 37068
Birthplace: Pyburn, Tennessee. �It�s a real redneck kind of place. If you don�t know how to stand up for yourself or have a big brother who was around all the time, you didn�t want to be there. But you wouldn�t believe the wisdom of those people. They�re simple people, but real wisdom is simple.�
Raised: Savannah, Tennessee
Height: 6 ft. 6 in. �Truthfully, I�d rather be about 6-foot-2. I always wanted to be shorted and stockier. I guess everybody wants something they don�t have.�
Parents: mother Bonnie, a homemaker; father Tom, a paper mill worker turned Methodist minister. �My parents were pretty strict. The tough part was knowing what I wanted to do and getting Dad�s blessing. He was one of the old-fashioned guys who believed you should hang on your regular check.�
Wife: Beverly, married May 12, 2001, at the Savannah, Tennessee, courthouse. A church wedding was set, but on their way to get their marriage license, the stressed-out couple decided to get hitched on the spot. �I looked at her and said, �Would it take some of the pressure off if we just want and got married now?� And she just looked at me and grinned, and shook her head yes. And I said, �Well, get your butt up them stairs and let�s do it!��
Residences: a townhouse in Nashville and a home in Savannah, Tennessee, where Beverly runs her restaurant, the Worleybird Caf�
Favorite food: Mexican
Education: Darryl graduated from the University of North Alabama, where he majored in biology and minored in organic chemistry.
Previous jobs: To fund his education, Darryl worked in a paper mill, as a construction worker and a commercial fisherman on the Tennessee River. After graduation, he worked as a research biologist, a science teacher, a car salesman and eventually started a successful paper-mill supply business�all while playing music in local honky-tonks. �I hated my job,� he admits. Finally his father gave him his blessing to pursue his dream: �If you�re as unhappy and miserable as you say you are,� he said, �go for it. Do this music thing while you�re still young.� Darryl quit his job the next day.
Musical influences: Keith Whitley, Merle Haggard, Vern Gosdin, Bob Wills
Favorite songs: �Sing Me Back Home,� �Mama Tried� and �Swinging Doors��all by Merle Haggard
Singer/songwriter: In the early �90s, Darryl was a $150-a-week songwriter for FAME music publishing in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. By mid-decade, he signed a songwriting contract with EMI in Nashville. �When I got to EMI, I felt in my heart that this was what to good Lord wanted me to do with my life. It allowed me to pour everything I had into music and never consider giving it up again.� By the close of the decade, Darryl had signed on as a recording artist with DreamWorks Records.
Hobbies: fishing, hunting, spending time at home
Billboard Top 20 singles: �When You Need My Love� (No. 15, 2000); �A Good Day To Run� (No. 12, 2001); �Second Wind� (No. 20, 2001); �I Miss My Friend� (No. 1, 2002)
Current Single: �Have You Forgotten?�
New Album: Have You Forgotten? (in stores May 20th from DreamWorks Records)
Current Album: I Miss My Friend
Write to:
Friends of Darryl Worley
P.O. Box 818
Savannah, TN 38372
Birth date: September 21, 1967
Birthplace: Jackson, Mississippi
Raised: Star, Mississippi
Height: 5 ft. 9 in.
Eyes: hazel
Hair: blond
Parents: Ted and Edna Perry
Siblings: older brothers Wesley and Steve
Husband: Tim McGraw, married October 6, 1996, in Rayville, Louisiana
Children: Gracie Katherine, born May 5, 1997; Maggie Elizabeth, born August 12, 1998; and Audrey Caroline, born December 6, 2001
Previous jobs: McDonald�s server (�Fries, burgers, cash register�I did it all. I hated it. God bless the people that work there.�), T-shirt seller at Fan Fair, receptionist at singer Gary Morris� music publishing company, clerical worker for Reba McEntire
First album owned: Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Volume 1
Musical influences: Patsy Cline, early Elvis, Reba McEntire, Elton John, Aretha Franklin
Early gig: As a teen, Faith joined The Steele Family, a gospel quartet in the style of The Kingsmen, and toured churches throughout the deep South.
Favorite albums: Aretha Franklin�s Aretha In Paris and Vern Gosdin�s Chiseled In Stone
Favorite movies: The Color Purple, My Fair Lady and Roman Holiday
Her weakness: �Shoes. To me, they�re a work of art.�
Faith on faith: �Having a backbone of spirituality makes me a little stronger. I pray a lot, and when I first moved to Nashville, that�s what kept me alive. I believed I was being taken care of. I apply it to my life every day.�
Charity: The Faith Hill Family Literacy Project, established in 1996
ACM awards: Top New Female Vocalist (1993); Vocal Event, Single, Song and Video of the Year for �It�s Your Love� (1997, with Tim McGraw); Female Vocalist of the Year (1998, 1999 and 2000); Single and Video of the Year for �This Kiss� (1998); Vocal Event of the Year for �Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me� (1998, with Tim McGraw); Video of the Year for �Breathe� (1999)
CMA awards: Vocal Event of the Year for �It�s Your Love� (1997, with Tim McGraw); Video of the Year for �This Kiss� (1998); Female Vocalist of the Year (2000)
Grammys: Best Female Country Vocal Performance for �Breathe� (2000); Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for �Let�s Make Love� (2000, with Tim McGraw); Best Country Album for Breathe (2000)
Billboard Top 10 singles: �Wild One� (No. 1, 1994); �Piece of My Heart� (No. 1, 1994); �Take Me As I Am� (No. 2, 1994); �Let�s Go To Vegas� (No. 5, 1995); �It Matters To Me� (No. 1, 1995); �Someone Else�s Dream� (No. 3, 1996); �You Can�t Lose Me� (No. 6, 1996); �I Can�t Do That Anymore� (No. 8, 1997); �It�s Your Love� (No. 1, 1997, with Tim McGraw); �This Kiss� (No. 1, 1998); �Just To Hear You Say That You Love Me� (No. 3, 1998, with Tim McGraw); �Let Me Let Go� (No. 2, 1999); �The Secret of Life� (No. 4, 1999); �Breathe� (No. 1, 1999); �The Way You Love Me� (No. 1, 2000); �Let�s Make Love� (No. 6, 2000, with Tim McGraw); �If My Heart Had Wings� (No. 3, 2001)
Current Single: �When The Lights Go Down�
Current Album: Cry
Write to:
Faith�s Friends
P.O. Box 24266
Nashville, TN 37202
Their name: The group was originally called The Osborn Sisters, then The Violets. But in the early �90s, the gals needed a change and took the name SHeDAISY, from the Navajo word shideezhi meaning �my younger sister.�
Family: father David, mother Robyn, older brother Cade, younger brother Clayton and younger sister Karli
Hometown: Magna, Utah. �Magna�s a rodeo town,� Kassidy says. �There are more big trucks, Wranglers, hats and belt buckles than you�ve ever seen.�
Musical influences: The Judds, Alabama, Patty Loveless, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Dolly Parton; �As kids we had to listen to what our parents would play in the eight-track player,� Kristyn says. �When people start saying they hear a bit of Wilson Phillips in our sound, they actually need to go back even further. Our parents made us sing all the Beach Boys and Beatles harmonies.�
Early performances: In their teens, Kelsi and Kassidy, backed by karaoke tapes, began singing duets at retirement homes and county fairs. After graduating from high school, Kristyn decided to join her sisters and brought a decidedly country bent to the act. Soon they were playing gigs in the Salt Lake area and all over the Western U.S.
Billboard Top 10 singles: �Little Good-byes� (No. 3, 1999); �This Woman Needs� (No. 9, 2000); �I Will�But� (No. 2, 2000)
Current album: Knock On The Sky
Latest Top 30 Single: �Mine All Mine�
Name: Kristyn Osborn
Birth date: August 24, 1970
Hair: blond
Eyes: green
Marital status: divorced Joel Stevenett in 2002
Hobbies: hiking, reading, computer art and eating Kelsi�s cooking
A regular Emily Dickinson: �As kids, Kelsi and Kassidy probably fought more because they were closer. I�ve always been kind of off by myself�a recluse. I was in my room with my stereo really loud, brooding.�
Name: Kelsi Osborn
Birth date: November 21, 1974
Hair: brown, currently dyed red
Eyes: blue
Marital status: married to Steve Hooper
Hobbies: cooking, musical theater, bowling
Earth mother: �Of the three of us, I think I�m the one who�s been the best at balancing my personal and business sides of life. I try to help my sisters out with that and make sure basic things are taken care of. When you�re in the studio at all hours, you hardly have any time to get anything else done, down to dinner or laundry. I think my role is to keep everybody sane.�
Name: Kassidy Osborn
Birth date: October 30, 1976
Hair: light brown, currently dyed dark brown
Eyes: gray-blue
Marital status: single
Hobbies: horseback riding, skiing, hiking and eating Kelsi�s cooking
Loudmouth: �I like to laugh. I love that stuff. My strong personality traits that I�ve been given are to be�loud, maybe? I remember as a kid running around the house singing as loud as I can and my sister Kristyn going, �Shut up! Will you ever shut up?��
Birthdate: July 29, 1966
Birthplace: Medicine Lodge, Kansas
Raised: on a dairy farm in Sharon, Kansas. �Every night,� she recalls, �my sister and I would walk down the lane to the pasture and round up our 30 cows and walk them up the lane to the barn. After that, there wasn�t much to do but music. There were a lot of instruments in the house, so that�s what we did.�
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Parents: Daryl and Jeanne Schiff
Siblings: sister Gina; brothers Steve and Marty
Husband: Martina married sound production manager John McBride on May 15, 1988.
Children: Delaney Katharine, born December 22, 1994; Emma Justine, born May 15, 1998
A family affair: When she was 7, Martina joined her family�s band�The Schiffters�featuring her dad on flat-top guitar and vocals, kid brother Marty on pedal steel and Martina on keyboards and vocals. Mom worked the soundboard. Brother Marty still plays guitar for Martina in her current band.
Favorite holiday: Christmas
Favorite food: home-cooked food like meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fried chicken and roast beef
Early performance: Seven-year-old Martina sang the Little Jimmy Dickens hit �I�m Little But I�m Loud� at a 4-H convention in Manhattan, Kansas. Her mother taped the song from the seats, and the 1973 recording was used as the opening track on Martina�s 1997 album, Evolution.
Favorite singers: Connie Smith, Linda Ronstadt, Merle Haggard, K.T. Oslin, Patty Smyth, George Strait
Career influences: �People like Reba, Barbara Streisand and Madonna, who are in control of their own careers and their destinies, have been big influences on me.�
Favorite color: blue
Favorite season: fall
Opry induction: November 30, 1995. She was inducted by one of her �all-time idols,� Loretta Lynn.
Charities: Martina�s annual celebrity auction, held during Fan Fair, raised more than $62,000 for the YWCA in 2002. She won $125,000 on ABC-TV�s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which she donated to the New York Police and Fire Widows� And Children�s Benefit Fund. Martina is also the celebrity spokesperson for the National Network To End Domestic Violence.
Awards: CMA awards for Video of the Year (�Independence Day,� 1994) and Female Vocalist of the Year (1999); ACM award for Top Female Vocalist (2002)
Billboard Top 10 singles: �My Baby Loves Me� (No. 2, 1993); �Life #9� (No. 6, 1994); �Safe In The Arms of Love� (No. 4, 1995); �Wild Angels� (No. 1, 1995); �A Broken Wing� (No. 1, 1997); �Happy Girl� (No. 2, 1998); �Valentine� (No. 9, 1998); �Wrong Again� (No. 1, 1999); �Whatever You Say� (No. 2, 1999); �I Love You� (No. 1, 1999); �Love�s The Only House� (No. 3, 2000); �There You Are� (No. 7, 2000); �When God-Fearin� Women Get The Blues� (No. 8, 2001); �Blessed� (No. 1, 2002); "Where Would You Be" (No. 3, 2002)
Current album: Greatest Hits
Current Single: "Concrete Angel"
Birth date: May 18, 1952
Birthplace: Poteet, Texas; raised in nearby Pearsall on his family�s cattle ranch
Hair: brown
Eyes: green
Height: 5 feet 10 inches
Hat: A Resistol. And if his hat could talk? George speculates: �I hope it never has to say, �Put me on a stretcher�your head�s getting� too big.��
Wife: George married his high school sweetheart, Norma, in December 1971. They eloped to Mexico but repeated their vows in a church north of the border a few weeks later.
Children: son George �Bubba� Jr., born in 1981; daughter Jenifer, born in 1972, died in an auto accident at age 13
Residences: a home in San Antonio and a sprawling ranch in Big Wells, Texas
Favorite dog breed: Australian blueheeler
Education: graduated from Southwest Texas State University with a degree in agricultural sciences
Armed services: George enlisted in the Army in 1971. He served as a payroll clerk in Hawaii and sang in an Army band. He was discharged in 1975.
Backup band: Ace In The Hole Band, formed in 1975
Instrument: guitar
Influences: Merle Haggard, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, Hank Williams, George Jones, Frank Sinatra. �I�ve always wanted to do a totally swing album,� George says. �Maybe someday I�ll do an album of old Sinatra-flavored swing with a huge band.�
Favorite contemporary stars: Alan Jackson, Lee Ann Womack, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill
Former jobs: From 1979 to 1981, George managed a 1,000-head cattle ranch from sunrise to sunset; by night he led one of the hottest Texas-style dance bands in the Rio Grande Valley.
On performing: �I�ve always heard, �Well, he just stands there and sings.� Well, what do you want me to do? With the songs that I sing, I can�t go running across the stage. And I don�t talk a lot onstage, either. But I do play a lot of songs.�
Favorite food: Mexican, but his mainstays are fish, pasta and vegetables
Hobbies: steer-roping, hunting, fishing, skiing, golf; he�s a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
Annual events: The George Strait Team Roping Classic, since 1983. George and Bubba compete each year at the event. Also, the George Strait Chevy Truck Country Music Festival, since 1998.
Movies: George appeared with his Ace In The Hole Band in 1982�s The Soldier. He starred as Dusty Chandler in 1992�s Pure Country.
Awards: 12 CMA Awards, including 2000�s Vocal Event of the Year (with Alan Jackson for �Murder On Music Row�); 10 ACM Awards, including 1997�s Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year (Carrying Your Love With Me); plus many more
Billboard No. 1 singles: George has charted 37 No. 1s, including 2002�s �Living And Living Well.�
Current albums: For The Last Time: Live From The Astrodome & The Road Less Traveled
Latest Number One Single: �She'll Leave You With A Smile�
Birthplace: Pensacola, Florida
Raised: Travelers Rest, South Carolina, near Greenville, in a region known as the �Dark Corner� of Appalachia, notorious for its moonshine
Height: 5 feet 8 inches
Hair: black, flecked with gray
Eyes: blue
Parents: father Willis Emory �Tip� Tippin, a retired Air Force pilot; mother Mary, a retired nurse
Spouse: the former Thea Corontzos, married July 15, 1995, in a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony. �I think I�ve found somebody who likes some of the same stupid junk I do,� says Aaron. �She likes golf, likes weight lifting, likes guns and shooting. She�s the type of gal who doesn�t mind handing me wrenches while I�m laying under the tractor cussing.� Thea and Aaron have also written several songs together, including Aaron�s No. 1 �Kiss This.�
Children: daughter Charia, from a previous marriage, born October 23, 1977; sons Theodore Emory, born December 14, 1997, and Thomas Aaron, born December 1, 2000
Residence: a spacious log home set on more than 300 acres of forested land in DeKalb County, Tennessee. Staples in the Tippin kitchen include venison, wild turkey, red wine and garlic.
Previous jobs: farm hand, truck driver, factory worker, corporate pilot, welder
Arrival in Nashville: In 1987, Aaron moved to Music City in a 1975 Toyota named Dazee, which was later immortalized in the song �There Ain�t Nothing Wrong With The Radio,� his first No. 1 single.
Hobbies: hunting deer and wild turkey, collecting vintage dump trucks, flying airplanes��Even though I know every aeronautical reason why an airplane flies, I�m still amazed when I see that giant piece of sheet metal jump off the ground.�
Body by Aaron: A longtime body-building enthusiast, Aaron started lifting weights after his divorce from his first wife: �I was 25 years old or so,� Aaron explains, �and I decided that I would quit being a stupid drunk and go to the gym and get myself in shape.� Two years later he began entering body-building competitions.
Tattoo: the palmetto tree and crescent moon from the South Carolina state flag, on his right bicep
When lightning strikes: It strikes twice for Aaron. He endured two indirect hits�the first when he was a teenager, building a fence with his dad, the second when lightning struck a dump truck he was working under. �It knocked the peerooney out of me that time,� Aaron says. �I don�t want to be hit that hard again.�
Songwriter: Before he became a recording artist, Aaron was under contract with Acuff-Rose as a songwriter. He wrote Charley Pride�s �Whole Lotta Love On The Line,� David Ball�s �I Was Born With A Broken Heart� and collaborated with Mark Collie on Mark�s �Something With A Ring To It.�
Favorite singers: Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Thompson, Faron Young, Johnny Horton, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra
Favorite songs: The Allman Brothers� �Ramblin� Man,� Frank Sinatra�s �Just The Way You Look Tonight� and �The Carroll County Accident� by Porter Wagoner
Gold albums: You�ve Got To Stand For Something (1991); Call of The Wild (1993); Lookin� Back At Myself (1994); Tool Box (1995); People Like Us (2000)
Platinum album: Read Between The Lines (1992)
Current Album: Stars & Stripes
Billboard Top 10 singles: �You�ve Got To Stand For Something� (No. 6, 1990); �There Ain�t Nothin� Wrong With The Radio� (No. 1, 1992); �I Wouldn�t Have It Any Other Way� (No. 5, 1992); �My Blue Angel� (No. 7, 1993); �Working Man�s Ph.D.� (No. 7, 1993); �That�s As Close As I�ll Get To Loving You� (No. 1, 1995); �For You I Will� (No. 6, 1999); �Kiss This� (No. 1, 2000); �Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly� (No. 2, 2001)
Current Single: "Love Like There's No Tomorrow" (a duet with his wife Thea Tippin)
Birth date: January 13, 1962
Birthplace: Springhill, Louisiana
Raised: Sarepta, Louisiana
Eyes: blue
Hair: blond
Height: 6 feet 6 inches
Parents: Aaron and Peggy Adkins
Brothers: Scott (deceased) and Clay
Spouse: Trace married Rhonda Forlaw on May 11, 1997, in the garden of Nashville�s historic Belle Meade Mansion. After Trace and Rhonda exchanged rings, Trace sang �The Rest of Mine,� a song he wrote with Kenny Beard, who accompanied him on guitar at the ceremony. The song was later released on Trace�s album Big Time. This is his third marriage.
Children: From his first marriage, Trace has two daughters�Tarah, born 1985, and Sarah, born 1989�and with Rhonda he has daughters Mackenzie Lynn, born 1998, and Brianna Rhea, born 2001.
Former jobs: sold Grit newspaper at age 11, worked as a derrick man and pipe fitter in the oil industry and later built barns
First band: Trace sang in a gospel group, The New Commitment Quartet, while attending high school. The act recorded two albums for an independent label: The New Commitment Quartet (1979) and The Best of The New Commitment Quartet (1980).
Role model: Merle Haggard. �When I say he�s an inspiration, that�s the truth. I�m not just saying it as the politically correct thing,� Trace explains. �I�ve been almost a student of his vocal stylings, the way he writes songs, and his life, too. It was so important for me, opening one of Merle�s shows. That was like winning an award for me.�
Injuries: A 1982 bulldozer accident resulted in deep cuts to Trace�s hind quarters. (�I thought I was fixin� to lose both my legs.�) In 1983, an oil tank exploded while he was trying to repair a leak, crushing his left leg. In 1989, he nearly cut off his finger trying to open a can of pipe dope with a six-inch buck knife. �They put it back together, but told me I�d never be able to bend it again,� Trace recalls. �I told them how I wanted the joints fused�in a curve, so they�d go around the neck of a guitar.� And the doctors followed his orders: Trace�s left pinkie is permanently arched. In 1994, during an argument, his second wife accidentally shot him in the side. �It wasn�t nearly as big a deal to me as it was to everybody else,� says Trace of the incident. �It�s not the first time I�ve almost gotten killed.�
On building character: �Scars build character, they say, so I ought to be a character by now!�
Least-favorite foods: sushi, beets, raisin bran and anything healthful. Trace prefers greasy, fried foods, then works out to keep his weight down.
Hobbies: gardening, camping, hunting, studying the Civil War, politics�he�s appeared as a guest on TV�s Politically Incorrect eight times!
Favorite movie: No Time For Sergeants (1958), starring Andy Griffith and Nick Adams
Movie appearance: Trace�s �80s-era band, Bayou, in which Trace sand lead and played guitar, appears in Square Dance (1987), starring Winona Ryder and Rob Lowe. The group�s song �Bayou Sunrise� is on the movie�s soundtrack album.
Award: 1996 ACM for Top New Male Vocalist
Gold album: Big Time (1997)
Platinum album: Dreamin� Out Loud (1996)
Current Album: Chrome
New Album: Greatest Hits (in stores Summer 2003 from Capitol Records)
Billboard Top 10 singles: �Every Light In The House� (No. 3, 1996); �(This Ain�t) No Thinkin� Thing� (No. 1, 1997); �I Left Something Turned On At Home� (No. 2, 1997); �The Rest of Mine� (No. 4, 1997); �More� (No. 10, 2000); �I�m Tryin�� (No. 6, 2001); "Chrome" (No. 10, 2003)
Current Single: "Then They Do"
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