Rodney Atkins
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| Rodney Atkins | |
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 Rodney Atkins performing on December 1, 2007 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 28, 1969 [1] |
| Origin | Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, United States |
| Genre(s) | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, acoustic guitar |
| Years active | 1997-present |
| Label(s) | Curb |
| Website | http://www.rodneyatkins.com/ |
Rodney Atkins (born March 28, 1969, in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Signed to Curb Records since 1997, Atkins charted his first single on the Billboard country charts that year; however, he did not enter the charts again until late 2002, with the Top 40 single "Sing Along". Atkins eventually landed his first Top Five hit on the country music charts in 2003, with the single "Honesty (Write Me a List)" from his 2003 album Honesty.
If You're Going Through Hell, his second album, was released in 2006. Its first two singles, "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)" and "Watching You", each spent four weeks at the top of the country music charts. Both songs were also named as the Number One country song of the year by Billboard magazine ("If You're Going Through Hell" in 2006, and "Watching You" in 2007). The album, which has since been certified platinum in the United States, has since produced two more Number One singles in "These Are My People" and "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)".
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[edit] Biography
Rodney Atkins was born in Tennessee, and put up for adoption not long after his birth. As an infant at the Holston Methodist Home for Children in Greeneville, Tennessee, he was so sick that two couples who had taken him home returned him a few days later. A third couple from Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, adopted him as well and, even though his ailments worsened, refused to give him up. His adoptive mother had been raised in a coal mining family near a tannery camp, and his dad survived an upbringing marked by poverty and episodes of abuse.
During high school, Atkins played guitar in his spare time at events and festivals. He went to college at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee, where he worked various jobs in order to pay for his education. He also went into Nashville to play gigs and write songs.
[edit] Musical career
Rodney was signed to Curb Records in 1997. That year, he charted for the first time with the single "In a Heartbeat", which peaked at #74 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. He had also planned to release a self-titled debut album that year; however, after deciding that he was not satisfied with the album's contents at that point, he asked Mike Curb (the label's president) to allow him more time to work on the album. For two more years, Atkins continued to work on his debut album, although it was eventually shelved.[1]
[edit] Honesty
In 2002, Atkins released his second single, entitled "Sing Along". Both it and its followup, "My Old Man", peaked in the lower regions of the Top 40 on the country charts. Eventually, he cracked Top 10 for the first time in late 2003-early 2004 with "Honesty (Write Me a List)", which went on to peak at #4. The song was the title track to his album Honesty, which was released by the end of 2003.[1] "Someone to Share It With" and "Monkey in the Middle" were also issued as singles from this album, although the former peaked at #41, and the latter failed to chart.
[edit] If You're Going Through Hell
Having been absent from the country music charts for most of 2004 and 2005, Rodney returned in 2006 with a single entitled "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)", which served as the lead-off to his second released album, If You're Going Through Hell. The song went on to become not only his first Number One hit on the country charts, but also the Number One country song of the year 2006 according to Billboard. This single's followup, "Watching You", earned Rodney a second consecutive Number One; in 2007, it was also declared by Billboard as Number One country song of the year.
Currently a platinum-certified album in the United States, If You're Going Through Hell has produced two more hit singles, for a total of four consecutive Number Ones: "These Are My People" and "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)".
[edit] Charitable efforts
Madeleine Rose Trudel (1999-2006), a young girl from St. Clair, Michigan, was dying of cancer when on October 25, Atkins gave Maddie a private concert in her hospital room. Atkins learned about Maddie when somebody sent him a link to the Free Press series about Maddie and her illness. He sang "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)", his signature song as well as Maddie's favorite song.
[edit] Family
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Rodney is married and has a son named Elijah, who appears in the video for "Watching You". He is married to Tammy Jo Atkins, whom he met in college. Atkins also has two step daughters, Lindsey and Morgan, from Tammy's previous relationship.
[edit] Awards
| Year | Association | Honor |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Academy of Country Music | Top New Male Vocalist |
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | RIAA Certification |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US 200 | US Heat | |||
| 1997 | Rodney Atkins | Unreleased | |||
| 2003 | Honesty | 50 | 47 | ||
| 2006 | If You're Going Through Hell | 1 | 3 | Platinum | |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Chart Positions | Album Title | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US Hot 100 | US Pop 100 | US Digital | CAN Country | CAN Hot 100 | |||
| 1997 | "In a Heartbeat" | 74 | Rodney Atkins | |||||
| 2002 | "Sing Along" | 37 | Honesty | |||||
| "My Old Man" | 36 | |||||||
| 2003 | "Honesty (Write Me a List)" | 4 | 57 | |||||
| 2004 | "Someone to Share It With" | 41 | ||||||
| "Monkey in the Middle"A | ||||||||
| 2006 | "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)" |
1 | 33 | 57 | 47 | 1 | If You're Going Through Hell | |
| "Watching You" | 1 | 36 | 57 | 47 | 3 | |||
| 2007 | "These Are My People" | 1 | 42 | 96 | 11 | |||
| "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)" | 1 | 40 | 83 | 5 | 84 | |||
| 2008 | "Invisibly Shaken"B | 43 | ||||||
- A Failed to chart.
- B Current single.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Brown, Marisa. Rodney Atkins biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
[edit] External links
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