Bob Seger was born in Dearborn, Michigan and lived in the area until age 6 when his family moved to nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan. He ran track and field in high school.
A roots rocker with a classic raspy, shouting voice, Bob Seger has stated that Little Richard and Elvis Presley were his biggest musical influences. Seger also listened to James Brown and said that, for him and his friends, Live at the Apollo was their favorite record following its release in 1963.
"Come Go With Me" by The Del Vikings was the first record he bought. Seger also named Van Morrison as being one of his influences and covered one of his lesser known songs "I've Been Working" on his albums Back in '72 and Live Bullet.
Bob Seger arrived on the Detroit music scene in 1961 fronting a three-piece band called the Decibels. The Decibels recorded an acetate demo of a song called "The Lonely One," at Del Shannon's studio. As well as being Seger's first original song, "The Lonely One" was Seger's first song to be played on the radio, airing only once on an Ann Arbor radio station. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the "System" from his recordings, and he continued to strive for national success with other various bands.
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
In 1973 he put together "The Silver Bullet Band," an evolving group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful. In 1976, he achieved national fame with two albums, the live record Live Bullet, and the studio record Night Moves. On his studio albums he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, appearing on several of Seger's best selling singles and albums.
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Dring his career, Seger wrote and recorded songs that dealt with blue-collar themes. Seger has recorded many rock and roll hits, including "Night Moves," "Turn the Page," and "Like a Rock," and also co-wrote the Eagles number one hit "Heartache Tonight." His iconic signature song "Old Time Rock and Roll" was named one of the Songs of the Century in 2001. With a career spanning five decades, Seger continues to perform and record today.
"Old Time Rock & Roll" charted #2 as most played Jukebox Singles of all Time, second only to Patsy Cline's "Crazy."
Seger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
On March 2, 2011, Seger released the first single from his forthcoming album, Downtown Train, a Tom Waits cover. ####
(Video of The Cleftones singing "Heart & Soul" is at end of this post.) According to legend The Cleftones emerged from Jamaica High School in Queens, New York, after elections for the student council of the school. They decided to stay together as budding entertainers after the elections were and were known as The Clefs. The members were Herb Cox, Berman Patterson, and Warren Corbin. They joined with another local group and Charlie James and Buzzy McClain were added. The new quintet was now called The Silvertones and performed at neighborhood venues. Soon the group changed their name to The Cleftones.
A high school friend, of the group David Rollnick became the manager of the group and started making the rounds of the area R & B record labels. George Goldner the head of Tico and Rama Records liked what he heard and set up the very first session for the Cleftones, and soon entered Mastertone Recording Studios in New York City.
The 'A' side was to be an uptempo rocker written by group member Berman Patterson called "You Baby You." The tune led off with Herbie Cox and Berman Patterson on an a capella dual intro lead. The dance tune was released not on Rama as originally planned but on the new Goldner Gee label.
The recording of "You Baby You" sold well on the East Coast and in Detroit. The flip side of the record was a forgettable ballad called "I Was Dreaming." In March of 1956 the second record by The Cleftones was released; "Little Girl Of Mine" and "You're Driving Me Mad." The 'A' side, the mid tempo rocker "Girl" took off. During the spring of 1956, the song was practically a teenage national anthem. The Cox written song sold well over a million and a half copies and was a national smash.
Next, The Cleftones, released "Can't We Be Sweethearts" and "Neki- Hokey" both written by Herb Cox and Berman Patterson. "Sweethearts" became an instant national hit. Next, The Cleftones released "String Around My Heart" and "Happy Memories." Although the record takes off quickly it does not approach the sales figures for the previous three releases by the group.
The Cleftones began 1957 with thoughts of changing their sound. Their next release featured a mid tempo rocker but this time with a softer edge. It was called "Why You Do Me Like You Do" and again was written by Berman Patterson. Herb Cox did the lead singing with Patterson picking up the vocal on the bridge. This newer type of sound did not click with record buyers in any great numbers however, and the flip side "I Like Your Style Of Making Love" was very much like the 'A' side and also did not get much attention.
Later that year, The Cleftones for the first time sang a ballad and promoted it as the 'A' side of a Gee Records release. This was "See You Next Year." The vocals by Cox and Berman featured two part harmony on the main choruses and trading lines on the bridge, but didn't go over with the public. The flip side "Ten Pairs Of Shoes" was forgettable as was the follow-up "Hey Babe"/ "What Did I Do That Was Wrong."
By now the magic had gone and the group was struggling. Bookings were few and far between. There was one last release in this period pairing "Lover Boy" and "Beginners At Love." The jump side "Lover Boy" again showed the pop sound that had taken over in rock 'n roll by that time in 1958. By this time, George Goldner began focusing on The Chantels and the new Flamingos. The Cleftones were signed to Hugo and Luigi's Roulette Records by Henry Glover, longtime A & R man for many labels especially Federal/ King.
During the summer of 1958 the Cleftones recorded "She's So Fine" / "Trudy." The fortunes of the group had sunk to a new low as record sales and personal appearances evaporated.
Henry Glover and George Treadwell - manager of the Ben E. King new Drifters - got together with The Cleftones (with added member Patricia Spann) and forged a new identity for the group to go with their revamped sound. In the spring of 1961 the released a new version of a standard from big band days called "Heart And Soul." The loping tempo, fine lead by Herb Cox, together harmony by the group with the female voice connected with the public. For the first time in five years The Cleftones were back on top, as the recording broke into the top twenty national pop charts and top ten R & B listings.
The Cleftones next released "For Sentimental Reasons," is September 1961. The record sold well enough to again enter the national pop charts. but by 1963 the end was near, and The Cleftones became another memory of the great era of the R & B vocal groups.
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In 1970 The Cleftones reformed for a revival show in New York City. All of the original members appeared with the exception of Buzzy McClain. After that time they did sporadic appearances at various revival concerts in the Northeast. In 1990 Herb Cox, Tony Gaines, Nicky Saunders, and Charlie James recorded an original release on Classic Artists "You Lost The Game Of Love" and "My Angel Lover."
The Cleftones' appeared on the PBS television special Fifty Years of Doo Wop singing a lively version of "Heart And Soul."
Did you know? In 1963, Wynette attended beauty school in Tupelo, Mississippi, and became a hairdresser; she would renew her cosmetology license every year for the rest of her life, just in case she should have to go back to a daily job.
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Born Virginia Wynette Pugh, Tammy Wynette was one of country music's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists. She was dubbed the First Lady of Country Music, and her best-known song, "Stand by Your Man," was one of the biggest selling hit singles by a woman in the history of the country music genre.
Many of Tammy Wynette's hits dealt with classic themes of loneliness, divorce and the difficulties of male-female relationships. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, she dominated the country charts, scoring 17 number one hits. Along with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, she defined the role of female country vocalists in the 1970s.
Her 1969 marriage to country singer George Jones - which ended in divorce in 1975 - created a country music "couple," following the prior success of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Jones and Wynette recorded a series of duet albums and singles, which charted throughout the 1970s, concurrent to their respective solo hits.
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Tammy Wynette was born Virginia Wynette Pugh raised on the Itawamba County, Mississippi farm of her maternal grandparents near Tremont, Mississippi. Her father was a farmer and local musician. He died of a brain tumor when Wynette was nine months of age. A
As a youngster, she worked in the fields picking cotton alongside the hired crews to get in the crop. As a child, Wynette taught herself to play a variety of instruments left behind by her father.
As a child and teenager, she found in country music an escape from her hard life. Wynette grew up idolizing Hank Williams, Skeeter Davis, Patsy Cline, and George Jones, and would play their records over and over on the children's record player she owned, dreaming of one day being a star herself.
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She attended Tremont High School, where she was an all-star basketball player. A month before graduation, she married her first husband, Euple Byrd. She worked as a waitress, receptionist, and a barmaid, and also worked in a shoe factory.
She left her first husband before the birth of their third daughter. He did not support her ambition to become a country singer, and, according to Wynette, told her "Dream on, Baby." When her baby developed spinal meningitis and Wynette tried to make extra money by performing at night. In 1965, Wynette sang on the Country Boy Eddie Show on WBRC-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, which led to appearances with Porter Wagoner. In 1966, she moved with her three girls from Birmingham to Nashville, Tennessee, where she attempted to get a recording contract.
After being turned down repeatedly by every other record company she'd met with, she auditioned for producer Billy Sherrill who signed her to Epic Records in 1966 with one caveat; that she change her name. According to her 1979 memoir, Stand by Your Man, during their meeting, Wynette was wearing her long, blonde hair in a ponytail, and Sherill noted that she reminded him of Debbie Reynolds in the film Tammy and the Bachelor, and suggested "Tammy" as a possible name; thus she became Tammy Wynette.
Her first single, "Apartment No. 9" (written by Bobby Austin and Johnny Paycheck), was released in December 1966, and just missed the Top 40 on the Country charts, peaking at No. 44. It was followed by "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," which became a big hit, peaking at number three.
The song launched a string of Top Ten hits that ran through the end of the '70s, interrupted only by three singles that didn't crack the Top Ten. After "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" was a success, "My Elusive Dreams," a duet with David Houston, became her first number one in the summer of 1967, followed by "I Don't Wanna Play House" later that year. "I Don't Wanna Play House" won Wynette a Grammy award in 1967 for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, one of two wins for Wynette in that category.[citation needed] During 1968 and 1969, Wynette had five number one hits — "Take Me to Your World," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Stand by Your Man," "Singing My Song," and "The Ways to Love a Man."
"Stand by Your Man" was reportedly written in the Epic studio in just 15 minutes by Billy Sherrill and Wynette, and was released at a time when the women's rights movement was beginning to stir in the U.S. It stirred up controversy and became a lightning rod for feminists. However, the song became very successful, reaching the top spot on the Country charts, and was also a Top 20 pop hit, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard pop charts in 1968, Wynette's only Top 40 hit as a solo artist on the pop charts.
In 1969, Wynette won the Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Stand by Your Man," and is nowconsidered a "classic" or Country music "standard." She earned a Gold record for Tammy's Greatest Hits which was certified in 1970 by the RIAA. The album would later be awarded Platinum record. In 1970, director Bob Rafelson used a number of her songs in the soundtrack of his 1970 film Five Easy Pieces.
During the early 1970s, Wynette, along with singer Loretta Lynn, ruled the country charts and was one of the most successful female vocalists of the genre.
After years of medical problems, numerous hospitalizations, approximately 26 major operations and an addiction to large doses of pain medication, Wynette died while sleeping on her couch on April 6, 1998, at age 55. Wynette's doctor from Pennsylvania said she died of a blood clot in her lung. Despite her persistent illnesses, she continued to perform until shortly before her death and had other performances scheduled.
Blind Willie McTell was an African-American blues musician and songwriter who sang and accompanied himself on the guitar. He was a twelve-string finger picking Piedmont blues guitarist. He recorded 149 songs between 1927 and 1956.
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Born William Samuel McTier (or McTear) in Thomson, Georgia, blind in one eye, McTell had lost his remaining vision by late childhood but became an adept reading Braille. He showed proficiency in music from an early age and learned to play the six-string guitar as soon as he could.
After his father left the family and his mother died, he left his hometown and became a wandering busker. He began his recording career in 1927 for Victor Records in Atlanta.
In the years before World War II, he traveled and performed widely, recording for a number of labels under many different names, including Blind Willie McTell, Blind Sammie, Georgia Bill, Hot Shot Willie, Blind Willie, Barrelhouse Sammie, and Pig & Whistle Red. "Pig 'n Whistle" was a reference to a chain of Atlanta Bar-B-Que restaurants, one of which was located on the south side of East Ponce de Leon between Boulevard and Moreland Avenue frequently where he played for tips in the parking lot. He was also known to play behind the nearby building that later became Ray Lee's Blue Lantern Lounge.
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His musical style was a form of country blues bridging the gap between the raw blues of the early part of the 20th century and the more refined east coast "Piedmont" sound. He took on the less common and more unwieldy 12-string guitar because of its loudness.
McTell was unique among country bluesmen for his ability to play the guitar in both a complex, fingerpicking ragtime style similar to Blind Blake or Blind Boy Fuller and a heavier bottleneck blues style ("Three Women Blues"). He never played a song the same way twice. He would vary the bar pattern and sometimes even the rhythm and chord progression from verse to verse.
McTell was also an excellent accompanist and recorded many songs with his longtime musical companion, Curley Weaver; their recordings are some of the most outstanding examples of country blues guitar duets. See, for example, "It's a Good Little Thing" or "You Were Born to Die."
In 1934, he married Ruthy Kate Williams - also known as Kate McTell. She accompanied him on stage and on several recordings before becoming a nurse in 1939. Most of their marriage from 1942 until his death was spent apart, with her living in Fort Gordon near Augusta and him working around Atlanta.
Postwar, he recorded for Atlantic Records and Regal Records in 1949, but these recordings met with less commercial success than his previous works. He continued to perform around Atlanta, but his career was cut short by ill health, including diabetes and alcoholism.
In 1956, an Atlanta record store manager, Edward Rhodes, discovered McTell playing in the street for quarters and enticed him with a bottle of corn liquor into his store, where he captured a few final performances on a tape recorder. These were released posthumously on Prestige/Bluesville Records as Last Session.
McTell died in Milledgeville, Georgia, of a stroke in 1959.
Bob Dylan has paid tribute to McTell on at least four occasions: In his 1965 song "Highway 61 Revisited," the second verse begins with "Georgia Sam he had a bloody nose," referring to one of Blind Willie McTell's many recording names; later in his song "Blind Willie McTell," recorded in 1983 but released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3; then with covers of McTell's "Broke Down Engine" and "Delia" on his 1993 album, World Gone Wrong.
Also, in his song "Po'Boy," on 2001's "Love & Theft", which contains the lyric, "had to go to Florida dodging them Georgia laws," which comes from McTell's "Kill It Kid."
A blues bar in Atlanta is named after him and regularly features blues musicians and bands.
He was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1981.
Christopher Maurice Brown was born in Tappahannock, Virginia. Music was always present in Brown's life. He used to listen soul albums that his parents had owned. Eventually, Brown began to show interest in the hip-hop scene.
Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age. He then began to perform in his church choir and in several local talent shows. While mimicking an Usher performance, his mother recognized his vocal talent and they began to look for opportunities of a record deal. At the same time, Brown had been through personal issues. His parents had divorced, and he said his mother's boyfriend terrified him due to domestic violence endured by his mother.
At the age of 13, Brown moved to New York. In 2004, Tina Davis — then-senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings — discovered him while he was working with local producers. She loved what she heard and saw when Brown auditioned in her office at Island Def Jam Records in New York. She immediately took him to meet the former president of the Island Def Jam Music Group Antonio "L.A." Reid, who offered to sign him at the same day.
The negotiations with Def Jam lasted two months until Davis lost her job due to a corporate merger. Brown then asked her to be his manager and Davis accepted, starting to "promote" the singer to labels such as Jive Records, J-Records and Warner Bros. Records. Brown ultimately choose Jive, due to its successful work with then-young acts such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.
Brown started recording in February 2005. By May, there were 50 songs already recorded, 14 of which were picked to the final track listing. Brown received co-writing credits of five tracks. The album took less than eight weeks to produce, and was released on November 29, 2005.
The album, titled Chris Brown, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies. Chris Brown has now sold over two million copies in the U.S. (three million copies worldwide) and was certified two times platinum by the RIAA.
The album's lead single, "Run It!" made Brown the first male act (since Montell Jordan in 1995) to have his debut single to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100—later remaining for four additionally weeks. Three of the other singles—"Yo (Excuse Me Miss)," "Gimme That" and "Say Goodbye"—peaked within the top twenty at the same chart.
On June 13, 2006, Brown released a DVD entitled, Chris Brown's Journey, which shows footage of him traveling in England and Japan, getting ready for his first visit to the Grammy Awards, behind the scenes of his music videos and bloopers.
Shortly after ending his summer tour with Ne-Yo, Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, Exclusive, which was released in November 2007. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, selling 294,000 copies in its first week. It has sold 1.9 million copies in the United States.
In December 2007, Brown released his third single from Exclusive, entitled "With You" which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and had entered the charts in various countries around the world. It is one of Brown's most successful releases to date.
In May 2010, Brown released a collaborative mixtape with Tyga, titled Fan of a Fan. "Deuces" which features Tyga and Kevin McCall, was released from the mixtape in the U.S. on June 29, 2010. The song peaked at number one on U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for seven non-consecutive weeks, giving Brown his first number one on the chart since his 2006 hit single, "Say Goodbye." It also peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
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In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured on several hits such as "No Air," a duet with singer Jordin Sparks, "Shortie like Mine" with the rapper Bow Wow and "Shawty Get Loose" alongside Lil Mama and T-Pain. The songs have peaked on number three, number nine and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively.
On July 20, 2009, Brown released a two-minute video on his official YouTube page apologizing to fans and Rihanna for a domestic altercation, expressing the incident as his "deepest regret" and saying that he has repeatedly apologized to Rihanna and "accepts full responsibility."
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, known professionally as Adele, is an English singer-songwriter. She was the first recipient of the BRIT Awards Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008.
In 2009, Adele won two Grammy Awards, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, at the 51st Grammy Awards.
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Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in Tottenham, north London, to a teenage single mother on May 5 1988. She began singing at age four. Adele would also impersonate the Spice Girls at dinner parties as a young girl.
At the age of 11, Adele and her mother moved to West Norwood in South London. West Norwood is the subject for Adele's first record, "Hometown Glory," written when she was 16.
After moving to South London, she became interested in R&B artists such as Destiny's Child and Mary J Blige. Adele's interest in soul was deepened with a visit to the HMV store on London's Oxford Street. Adele attended the BRIT School in Croydon, South London, until the age of 16.
Adele graduated from The BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon in May 2006. While in school, she was more interested in going into A&R, and hoped to launch other people's careers. Four months later, she published two songs on the fourth issue of the online arts publication PlatformsMagazine.com.
Adele had recorded a three-song demo for a class project and gave it to a friend who posted it on Myspace where it became very successful and led to a phone call from music label XL Recordings. She doubted if the offer was real because the only record company she knew was Virgin Records, and she took a friend with her to the meeting. Nick Huggett at XL recommended Adele to manager Jonathan Dickins at September Management and in June 2006 Dickins became her official representative.
September was managing Jamie T at the time and this proved a major attraction for Adele who was a big fan of the English singer-songwriter. Huggett then signed Adele to XL in September 2006.
Since her debut, 19, Adele has received much recognition both commercially and critically. The album debuted at number one, and has been certified four times platinum in the UK. Her career in the US was boosted by a viewer record-breaking Saturday Night Live episode in late 2008.
Adele released her second album 21 in January 2011 in the UK, and February in the US. The album was a critical and commercial success, selling 208,000 copies in its first week in the UK and debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US, selling 352,000 copies in its first week. The album has charted at number one in 17 European countries and the US.
After performing at the 2011 BRIT Awards, the album track "Someone Like You" reached number one in the U.K. while the album also remained at number one. "Someone Like You" held the number one position for four consecutive weeks. The Official Charts Company announced that Adele is the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top five hits in both the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964
Adele's album 21 has spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one in the UK, the longest ever by a female solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, surpassing Madonna's nine weeks at number one back in 1990 with her greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection.
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In the US the album has spent a total of five weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 to date. The album has also broken the record for the most UK digital downloads.
Born Randy Bruce Traywick - but known in musical circles as Randy Travis - Randy has recorded more than a dozen studio albums to date. He has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, with sixteen reaching Number One.
Travis was born in Marshville, North Carolina. While growing up, he was forced to take guitar lessons by his father and began performing at the age of eight with his brother, Ricky. He often fought with his father and soon dropped out of high school. He was arrested for various offenses, including auto theft and burglary.
His father entered Randy and Ricky in a talent contest at a nightclub called "Country City USA" in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the meantime, Ricky, who also had brushes with the law, was sentenced to jail. Randy had to complete the contest alone, and won. The club's manager, Elizabeth "Lib" Hatcher, took an interest in Travis and gave him a job singing at the club. Travis began focusing on music. He first recorded for Paula Records and released two unsuccessful singles — "She's My Woman" and "Dreamin'."
Travis moved in with Hatcher, who eventually left her husband and, in 1982, she and Travis moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Travis was soon turned down by every record label in town. His early demo tapes were criticized by Nashville record executives as being "too country."
Hatcher took a job as manager of a nightclub, "The Nashville Palace" and hired Travis as a cook and singer. It was during this time that an unlikely romance began to form between the two; Travis said "I think we discovered how much we needed each other." He and Elizabeth "Lib" Hatcher soon came forward with their relationship and were married in a private ceremony in 1991.
In 1982, Travis recorded an independent album Live at the Nashville Palace and Lib Hatcher used it to secure a deal with Warner Bros. Records. However, the label said they had to keep their romance a secret so as not to turn away fans, and changed his stage name from Randy Ray to Randy Travis. In 1985, Warner Brothers released the single "On the Other Hand" which peaked at #67 on the country charts. His next single, "1982," became a Top 10 hit followed by the re-release of "On the Other Hand" in 1986. The re-release became Travis' first number one hit.
His debut album, Storms of Life, went on to sell more than 4 million copies. In the late 1980s he had a string of hits, including "No Place Like Home" and "Diggin' Up Bones."
A song from his second Warner Brothers album Always and Forever titled "Forever and Ever, Amen" arguably launched the neo-traditionalist country era. For two years in a row, Travis won the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, for the albums Always & Forever in 1988, and for Old 8x10 in 1989. He also won the Grammy for Best Country Newcomer in 1986. Off the success of his first two albums, Old 8x10 was certified platinum, and Always and Forever was number one for 43 weeks.
In 1992, Travis took a break from music to concentrate on acting and landed roles in several Western-genre films. He returned to recording with the 1994 album This Is Me and the hit single "Whisper My Name." Three years later, Travis parted ways with Warner Brothers and signed with DreamWorks Nashville. He recorded You and You Alone, which produced the top 10 hits "Out of My Bones," "The Hole" and "Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man."
After the 1999 release of A Man Ain't Made of Stone, Travis shifted away from mainstream country and focused on Gospel. Between 2000 and 2003, he recorded the albums Inspirational Journey, Rise and Shine and Worship & Faith. The single "Three Wooden Crosses" from the Rise and Shine album reached No. 1 and won the CMA song of the year in 2003. That same year, Travis ranked #13 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.
He continued to act in film and television; he appeared in several episodes and in the series finale of Touched by an Angel. His album, Passing Through, was released in November 2004. It combined the country music of his earlier years, with the gospel influences from his latest albums.
After the release of Glory Train: Songs of Faith, Worship, and Praise in 2005 and the Christmas album Songs of the Season in 2007, Travis released his brand new single "Faith in You" as a free download from his official website. It heralded the July 2008 release of his album, Around the Bend, his first collection of mainly secular recordings in nearly a decade.
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In February 2009, Travis' "I Told You So" was released as a single by Carrie Underwood, who had recorded the song for her 2007 album Carnival Ride. The next month, radio stations were sent a duet version of the song, featuring Randy Travis on vocals. From then on, he was credited with Underwood on the single, which peaked at No. 2 on the Country charts and No. 9 on the U.S. Hot 100.
That same month, Travis released the 2 disc greatest hits compilation I Told You So: The Ultimate Hits of Randy Travis. In June 2011, he is slated to unveil his latest album, Anniversary Celebration.
Travis and Elizabeth divorced in October 2010 after a 19-year marriage. Despite the divorce, their 34-year business relationship continues.
Bob Seger arrived on the Detroit music scene in 1961 fronting a three-piece band called the Decibels. The Decibels recorded an acetate demo of a song called "The Lonely One," at Del Shannon's studio. As well as being Seger's first original song, "The Lonely One" was Seger's first song to be played on the radio, airing only once on an Ann Arbor radio station. 
