Joe Nichols

Joe Nichols
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Edward Nichols
Born	(1976-11-26) November 26, 1976
Origin	Rogers, Arkansas, U.S.[1]
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Intersound, Giant, Show Dog-Universal (formerly of Universal South), Red Bow
Associated acts	Brent Rowan

Joseph Edward "Joe" Nichols (born November 26, 1976) is an American country music artist. Between 1996 and 2001, Nichols held recording contracts with the Intersound and Giant labels. In 2002, he signed with Universal South Records, now known as Show Dog-Universal Music.

Nichols has released seven studio albums: Joe Nichols (1996), Man with a Memory (2002), Revelation, A Traditional Christmas (both 2004), III (2005), Real Things (2007), and Old Things New (2009). His albums have produced fourteen Top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, including the Number One singles "Brokenheartsville", "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off", "Gimmie That Girl", and "Sunny and 75", as well as four other Top Ten entries.

In October 2012, Nichols signed to Red Bow, a new partnership of Broken Bow Records and RED Distribution.^[2]

Biography

Joe Nichols was born and raised in Rogers, Arkansas.^[3] He was the second son born to Michael Curtis Nichols (May 29, 1956 - July 16, 2002) and Robin Larson Nichols. Joe has an older brother Michael Curtis Jr. and a younger sister Kelli Francis. His father, who worked as a trucker, also played bass guitar in local country bands; eventually, Nichols himself found work in a local rock band, before taking a job as a country disc jockey.^[1] Nichols is part Cherokee.^[4]

Musical career

Nichols in April 2010

Through a meeting with record producer Randy Edwards, Nichols began to work on his singing and songwriting skills. At age 19, he was signed to his first record deal, with an independent label known as Intersound Records. There, Nichols released his first album, 1996's Joe Nichols. Despite the minor success of its lead-off single "Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other" (which reached No. 74 on the RPM country charts in Canada), the album sold poorly and he was dropped from Intersound's roster. A second record deal, this time with Giant Records, was short-lived and did not produce any singles or albums.^[1] After his short-lived record deals, he took many jobs in Nashville, including moving furniture, installing cable TV systems, and selling steaks door to door.^[5]

Man with a Memory

In 1999, Nichols met Brent Rowan, a Nashville session guitarist who helped him land a recording contract with Universal South Records (which became Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009). July 2002 was the release of his second album, entitled Man with a Memory. Its lead-off single, "The Impossible", went on to become a No. 3 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, and was declared by Billboard as the tenth most-played country song of 2003.^[1] The same year, his debut album was re-issued under the title Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other.^[1]

Man with a Memory earned Nichols a Top New Male Vocalist award from the Academy of Country Music, as well as three Grammy Award nominations and platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[1] Its second single, "Brokenheartsville", became his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard country charts in 2003, while "She Only Smokes When She Drinks" and "Cool to Be a Fool" both reached Top 20.^[1] Also in 2003, Nichols received the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.^[3]

Revelation and A Traditional Christmas

Nichols spent most of 2004 on tour with Alan Jackson. In June of that year, he issued his second album for Universal South. Entitled Revelation, it produced the Top Ten hits "If Nobody Believed in You" and "What's a Guy Gotta Do", at No. 10 and No. 4 respectively. Later that same year, he also issued an album of Christmas music, entitled A Traditional Christmas. Four of the tracks from this album received enough airplay to enter the country charts.

III

III was the title of Nichols's third album for Universal South and was released in October 2005.^[1] Its lead-off single, "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off", became his second Billboard Number One hit, with both the single and the album receiving gold certifications from the RIAA. The album also produced the Top Ten hits "Size Matters (Someday)" and "I'll Wait for You", at No. 9 and No. 7. In 2005, Anna Nicole Smith met Nichols at the Grand Ole Opry and she became a fan.^[6] After Smith's death, he performed two songs ("Wings of a Dove" and "I'll Wait for You") at her funeral service. Nichols joined Toby Keith on tours in both 2005 and 2006.

Real Things

Real Things is the title of Nichols's fourth Universal South album, released in August 2007.^[1] Its lead-off single, "Another Side of You," reached Top 20 on the country music charts, as did the follow-up, "It Ain't No Crime." Also included on this album was the song "Let's Get Drunk and Fight," which Canadian singer Aaron Lines released as a single in 2008.

Old Things New

Nichols released a new single, "Believers", to radio on March 27, 2009.^[7] Written by Ashley Gorley, Wade Kirby and Bill Luther, it is the first single from his sixth album entitled Old Things New. The song reached the Top 30 on the country singles chart. The album's second single, "Gimmie That Girl", which reached Number One on the country charts in May 2010.

The follow-up single, "The Shape I'm In", was shipped to radio in July 2010.

It's All Good

It's All Good was released on November 8, 2011. The album's only single "Take It Off" peaked at number 25 on the country charts. Nichols left Show Dog-Universal in May 2012.^[8] He signed in October 2012 to Red Bow, a new partnership of Broken Bow Records and RED Distribution.^[9]

Crickets

On April 22, 2013, "Sunny and 75" premiered exclusively online at AOL's The Boot.^[10] The song was available on iTunes May 7, 2013. On Monday, May 13, it was announced that the song had the biggest country radio add week of his entire career, with 52 first week adds.^[11] It peaked at number one on the Country Airplay chart in December 2013.^[12] Nichols' eighth studio album, Crickets, was released on October 8, 2013.^[13] On January 9, 2014, it was announced that "Sunny and 75" was certified GOLD by the RIAA for single sales in excess of 500,000 digital downloads. ^[14] The album's second single, "Yeah", will be released to country radio on January 27, 2013.

Personal life

On January 8, 2005, Nichols returned to Nashville to see a therapist after causing a scene in Steamboat Springs, Colorado while intoxicated on amphetamines and alcohol. He had been battling an addiction since 2002 after the death of his father.^[15] On October 13, 2007, Nichols was checked into a substance abuse rehabilitation program.^[16]

Nichols married Heather Singleton on September 9, 2007, in Savannah, Georgia. He had known Singleton since they were both 19 years old. In February 2012, it was announced that Singleton was expecting the couple's first child. On April 17, 2012, the couple welcomed a daughter, Dylan River Nichols.^[17] Nichols has another daughter, Ashelyn (born 1998), from a previous relationship.^[18]

Discography

Albums

• 1996: Joe Nichols
• 2002: Man with a Memory
• 2004: Revelation
• 2005: III
• 2007: Real Things
• 2009: Old Things New
• 2011: It's All Good
• 2013: Crickets

Number-one singles

• "Brokenheartsville" (2003)
• "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" (2005)
• "Gimmie That Girl" (2010)
• "Sunny and 75" (2013)

References