• November 19, 1973
• Georgia native Billy Currington abandoned his plan to be a football star and instead embarked on a career in Country music after high school. Undeterred by a failed audition for the Opryland theme park, he moved to Nashville after graduation, then briefly returned to Georgia before he gave Nashville another try. His persistence paid off when he was signed by Mercury Records in 2003. His first single, "Walk a Little Straighter," from his self-titled debut album, features a chorus he wrote when he was a 12 year-old boy struggling with his relationship with his alcoholic stepfather.
• In 2004, Currington was selected to perform the Country version of Shania Twain's duet, "Party for Two." Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray sang with Twain on the Pop version of the single. The song became a Top 10 hit, which Currington followed up with his second album, Doin' Somethin' Right, in 2005. The title track was his first #1 hit and was notable for its racy video, featuring Miss Mexico Blanca Soto. Currington told CMT.com that many women were screened for the video, but Soto was the clear favorite. Soto went on to become a Latin television and film star.
• Currington took a year off from music after the success of Doin' Somethin' Right. He had laryngitis and was forced to cancel his tour, but he also underwent therapy in a program in Arizona geared toward trauma victims, which helped help him deal with his stepfather's abuse. He told People magazine in January 2008 that the abuse left him with his own anger issues. He said, "I started showing symptoms of trauma in grade school by getting into fights. When you are taught to hate, you carry that with you."
• His 2008 album, Little Bit of Everything, featured three #1 hits: "Don't," "People Are Crazy," and "That's How Country Boys Roll." "People Are Crazy," earned Currington his first Grammy nomination, as well as two nominations from the Academy of Country Music.
• Currington is known for his upbeat songs, with the occasional soulful ballad mixed in to balance out the album. After the release of his fourth album, Enjoy Yourself, in 2010, he said on his website that songs like "Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer," "Like My Dog," and "All Day Long," epitomize the type of music that he wants to make. Despite being a fan of the sad, breakup songs like the type Merle Haggard and George Jones are noted for, Currington said, "I don't want to feel that way or make anyone else feel that way when they're listening to my music. I want people to walk away feeling happy."
• Billy Currington recalled some of the jobs he had before landing his record deal in 2003. "I started working like at [age] 12, landscaping. This was summer, every summers, and roofing. I started when I was about 16 roofing houses, and that was probably one of my toughest jobs because down there in south Georgia, it gets hot, so doing that every day all summer long. The pawn shop when I moved to Nashville was one of my favorites, even though it was one of my least favorites. The concrete job was my least favorite of all – six years of that, and I couldn't take it no more. After that job, that was my turning point. Either I'm going to do something else for a living [laughs] or quit and try to really focus on music and get this record deal."
• Billy Currington is an avid surfer and spends as much time on the water as possible. "I go to the ocean. Whether I have to wear a wet suit because it's freezing out there, or I'm fortunate enough just to be in my swim trunks, I'm in the ocean as quick as I can get there when I'm home," he told The Boot. "When I get in the ocean, it's the strangest thing — just being on the waves, going up and down with the waves, or riding the waves in, there's something so unique and special about it. It takes my mind off of everything else. Even if it's just an hour out there in the water, all the worries have been left out there in the water."

Comments: 2

• Anita Cooper from Houston TxLove all of Billy's music, and especially his beautiful smile!!!
• AnonymousGod is great beer. Is good and Billy Currington is fantastic.

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