Episode 279. Tracy Lawrence -American Country Music Singer, Songwriter, & Record Producer
American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer, Tracy Lawrence signed to Atlantic Records in 1991 and debuted that year with the album Sticks and Stones. Five more studio albums, a live album, and a compilation album followed throughout the 1990s and into 2000 on the Atlantic before the country division closed in 2001. Afterward, he recorded for Warner Bros. Records, DreamWorks Records, Mercury Records Nashville, and his titles, Rocky Comfort Records and Lawrence Music Group.
Tracy has released a total of fourteen studio albums. His most commercially successful albums are Alibis (1993) and Time Marches On (1996), both certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He has charted more than 40 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including eight songs that reached the number one position: “Sticks and Stones,” “Alibis,” “Can’t Break It to My Heart,” “My Second Home,” “If the Good Die Young,” “Texas Tornado,” “Time Marches On,” and “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.” Of these, “Time Marches On” is his longest-lasting at three weeks, while “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” set a record at the time for the slowest ascent to the top of that chart. His musical style is defined mainly by neotraditional country and honky-tonk influences, although he has also recorded country-pop, Christmas music, and Christian country music. He has won Top New Male Vocalist from Billboard in 1992 and from Academy of Country Music in 1993, and Vocal Event of the Year from the Country Music Association in 2007.