Country singer Billy Currington signed with Mercury Nashville Records in 2003 and dropped his debut single, “Walk a Little Straighter,” in the same year. The song he co-wrote with Casey Beathard and Carson Chamberlain was a hit, climbing into the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Since then, he has enjoyed a flourishing music career, with Entertainment Weekly praising him for his effortless charm and Billboard hailing him for his relaxed delivery. And so we’ve compiled a few facts about him to know him a bit better.
He had a difficult childhood.
Billy Currington was born and raised in Georgia with four brothers and two sisters. When he was just one and a half years old, his mom married his alcoholic stepfather, Larry Currington, who caused constant turmoil during his childhood. And he struggled with its impact up to his adult life.
In 2007, just weeks after his sophomore album Doin’ Somethin’ Right achieved platinum success, he was forced to cancel the rest of his tour dates due to acute laryngitis. After that, he entered a 30-day trauma recovery program because of his abusive childhood. At one point, it was rumored that he went to rehab because of drug and alcohol addiction, so he decided to be public about the truth. He said, “People who care about me want to know the truth, so I’m telling them. I feel like I’m being used by God now, and all I can say is, ‘God, please use me,’ because someone else might need to heal from this, too.”
His stepfather introduced him to country music.
Despite all the bad he had to experience with his stepfather’s substance abuse issues, one good thing came out of it: he was introduced to country music. And it soon became his dream. But, as any country singer would attest to, the road to getting your name out there wasn’t an easy feat.
In his junior year of high school, he auditioned at the Opryland USA theme park. While he failed to get in, he pushed through and moved to Nashville to pursue music after graduation. But the road wasn’t easy, and he found himself working in a local pawnshop before deciding to return to his grandmother’s house and join a local country band instead.
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Eight months later, he decided to give his Nashville dream another shot. But then again, he was roadblocked, and he ended up working at a concrete company for 16 hours a day, six days a week. He played in clubs on the side, but he really didn’t have time to work on his music. So, he quit.
And then the door finally opened up for Currington. Working as a part-time personal trainer, he met Gary Voorhies, who worked for a music publishing company. Voorhies invited him to sing and play for him, and not long after their meeting, he got signed to Mercury Records!
His debut single was autobiographical.
His hit debut single, “Walk a Little Straighter,” which peaked at number 8 on the charts, told the story of having an alcoholic for a father and the vow not to be one when he becomes a father himself. According to Currington, his stepdad would get drunk and then get a little crazy. But the impressive part about this song was the fact that he wrote the chorus for the haunting ballad when he was just 12! His songwriting only became better over time, and ever since then, Billy Currington’s songs have earned a lot of achievement and praise.
And that’s a wrap on Billy Currington facts!
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