Tracy Lawrence facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tracy Lawrence
Lawrence performing at a private concert in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Tracy Lee Lawrence
Born	(1968-01-27) January 27, 1968 (age 57) Atlanta, Texas, U.S.
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country (Neotraditional)
Occupation(s)	Singer Songwriter Record producer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Atlantic Nashville Warner Bros. Nashville DreamWorks Nashville Mercury Nashville Rocky Comfort Lawrence Music Group

Tracy Lee Lawrence (born January 27, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and music producer. He was born in Atlanta, Texas, and grew up in Foreman, Arkansas. Tracy started performing when he was 15 years old. In 1990, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to begin his country music career.

Tracy Lawrence signed with Atlantic Records Nashville in 1991. Later that year, he released his first album, Sticks and Stones. He released many more albums throughout the 1990s. He has released 14 studio albums in total. His most popular albums are Alibis (1993) and Time Marches On (1996). Both sold over two million copies. Tracy has had more than 40 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Eight of his songs reached the number one spot. These include "Sticks and Stones", "Alibis", and "Time Marches On". His music often sounds like traditional country and honky-tonk music. He has won awards like Top New Male Vocalist and Vocal Event of the Year.

Early Life and Music Start

Tracy Lee Lawrence was born in Atlanta, Texas, on January 27, 1968. His family moved to Foreman, Arkansas, when he was four. Growing up, Tracy sang in his local church choir. He also learned to play the guitar.

Tracy started performing in local clubs when he was 15. By age 17, he joined a local honky-tonk band. He went to Southern Arkansas University in 1986 to study mass communications. But he left after two years to sing for a band in Louisiana.

When that band broke up, Tracy moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1990. He worked odd jobs to support himself. He also performed regularly at Nashville nightclubs. He won local talent competitions too. In January 1991, Tracy performed at the Bluebird Café. There, he was discovered by talent manager Wayne Edwards. This led to him signing with Atlantic Records Nashville. This happened just seven months after he moved to Nashville.

Music Career Highlights

Early Success: Sticks and Stones

After signing with Atlantic Nashville, Tracy began recording his first album. It was called Sticks and Stones. In May 1991, Tracy was injured in an incident. He was shot four times. This delayed his album's release. He needed time to recover before promoting it.

Sticks and Stones was released in late 1991. It had four hit songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The first was the title track. It reached number one in January 1992. Three more songs became top-ten hits: "Today's Lonely Fool", "Runnin' Behind", and "Somebody Paints the Wall". The album sold over one million copies. In 1992, Billboard magazine named him Top New Male Vocalist.

Alibis and More Number Ones

In 1993, Tracy released his second album, Alibis. This album was very successful. It sold over two million copies. All four of its songs became number one hits on the Hot Country Songs charts. These hits were the title track, "Can't Break It to My Heart", "My Second Home", and "If the Good Die Young". In 1993, he won Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.

I See It Now and Live Album

Tracy's 1994 album, I See It Now, also had several hits. The title track reached number two on the country charts. "As Any Fool Can See" also went to number two. "Texas Tornado" became his sixth number-one hit in mid-1995. The album sold over one million copies.

In 1995, he released a live acoustic album called Tracy Lawrence Live. It included live versions of nine of his past hit songs.

Time Marches On Success

Time Marches On, his fourth album, came out in January 1996. It became his second album to sell over two million copies. The first song from the album, "If You Loved Me", reached number four. The album's title track became his longest-lasting number-one song. It stayed at the top for three weeks. Other hits from this album included "Stars over Texas" and "Is That a Tear". Both reached number two.

The Coast Is Clear and Greatest Hits

Lawrence's fifth album, The Coast Is Clear, was released in March 1997. It sold over 500,000 copies. Its first two songs, "Better Man, Better Off" and "How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye", reached the top five.

Atlantic Records released a greatest-hits album, The Best of Tracy Lawrence, in 1998. This album included 13 of his past hits and one new song. It also sold over 500,000 copies.

Later Albums and New Labels

In late 1999, Tracy released "Lessons Learned". This song was from his 2000 album of the same name. It reached number three on the country charts.

In late 2000, Atlantic Records closed its Nashville office. Tracy moved to Warner Bros. Records. His only album with them, Tracy Lawrence, had two songs that did not chart very high. He then looked for new producers to change his sound.

After leaving Warner Bros., Tracy signed with DreamWorks Records Nashville in 2003. His first song for them was "Paint Me a Birmingham". It reached number four on Hot Country Songs in early 2004. The album, Strong, came out in 2004.

After DreamWorks Nashville closed in 2005, Tracy moved to Mercury Nashville. He released a collection of his hits called Then & Now: The Hits Collection. He had to re-record most of his old songs for this album.

In 2006, Tracy started his own record label, Rocky Comfort Records. His first song for this label was "Find Out Who Your Friends Are". It was from the album For the Love. This song became a number-one hit in 2007. It took 41 weeks to reach the top, setting a record for the slowest climb to number one on the country charts. The song also won awards from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.

Later in 2007, Tracy released a Christmas album called All Wrapped Up in Christmas.

Christian and Acoustic Music

In 2009, Tracy released The Rock, a Christian country album. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album.

Due to money issues, Tracy closed Rocky Comfort. In 2011, he started a new label, Lawrence Music Group. His first album for this label was The Singer. It was only available online and on his website. This album featured only acoustic instruments. It included new acoustic versions of "Paint Me a Birmingham" and "Find Out Who Your Friends Are".

Recent Projects

In 2013, Tracy released Headlights, Taillights and Radios. He funded this album through Kickstarter. In 2017, he released Good Ole Days. This album featured nine of his hit songs re-recorded as duets with other country singers. These included Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean. A second Christmas album, Frozen in Time, came out in 2018.

In May 2019, he announced a new album called Made in America. He said it was "possibly the most personal album I have ever released."

Tracy's next big project is a three-disc album called Hindsight 2020. The first disc, Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell, was released in April 2021. The second disc, Volume 2: Price of Fame, came out in August. It included re-recorded songs and duets. The third part, Volume 3: Angelina, was released in January 2022.

Other Work and Music Videos

Tracy Lawrence has worked on many other music projects. He was featured on George Jones' 1992 song "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair". In 1994, Tracy recorded "Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues" for the Maverick movie soundtrack. This song reached the top 10 on Hot Country Songs. He also sang on the charity song "Hope: Country Music's Quest for a Cure" in 1996.

Tracy also started producing music for other artists in 1997. He worked on Rich McCready's album and the soundtrack for the musical The Civil War.

Many of Tracy's songs had music videos shown on CMT. In 1996, his videos were played more than any other artist's on CMT. Some of his videos, like "If the Good Die Young" and "Texas Tornado", had a fun time travel storyline. In these videos, Tracy would appear in different time periods.

Music Style

Tracy Lawrence is known as a "rock-tinged honky-tonk" singer. He became famous in the early 1990s. His music mixes modern and traditional country sounds. His style is often described as "polished, modern-day honky-tonk." He has a nice country sound in his voice.

Tracy's singing voice has been called a "smooth baritone" and a "warm baritone." He says his main music influences are Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley, and George Strait.

Personal Life

Tracy Lawrence has been married three times. His first wife was Frances Weatherford. They married in 1993 and divorced in 1996. He married Stephenie "Stacie" Drew in March 1997. They divorced later that year. He married his third wife, Becca, in a private ceremony in 2000. They have two daughters, Skylar and Mary Keagan.

Discography

Studio albums

• Sticks and Stones (1991)
• Alibis (1993)
• I See It Now (1994)
• Time Marches On (1996)
• The Coast Is Clear (1997)
• Lessons Learned (2000)
• Tracy Lawrence (2001)
• Strong (2004)
• For the Love (2007)
• The Rock (2009)
• The Singer (2011)
• Headlights, Taillights and Radios (2013)
• Good Ole Days (2017)
• Frozen in Time (2018)
• Made in America (2019)
• Hindsight 2020 Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell (2021)
• Hindsight 2020 Volume 2: Price of Fame (2021)
• Hindsight 2020 Volume 3: Angelina (2022)

Christmas albums

• All Wrapped Up in Christmas (2007)
• Frozen in Time (2018)

Compilations

• Tracy Lawrence Live (1995)
• The Best of Tracy Lawrence (1998)
• Then & Now: The Hits Collection (2005)
• The Very Best of Tracy Lawrence (2007)

Billboard Number-One Hits

• "Sticks and Stones" (1 week, 1992)
• "Alibis" (2 weeks, 1993)
• "Can't Break It to My Heart" (1 week, 1993)
• "My Second Home" (1 week, 1993)
• "If the Good Die Young" (2 weeks, 1994)
• "Texas Tornado" (1 week, 1995)
• "Time Marches On" (3 weeks, 1996)
• "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" (1 week, 2007)

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

Academy of Country Music Awards

Country Music Association Awards

Images for kids

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  Country music singer Tracy Lawrence, signing an autograph for a fan