Randy Travis Artistfacts

May 4, 1959
With his rich baritone, Randy Travis became one of the top country stars of the late '80s and early '90s. He had a stretch from 1986-1990 when he released 13 singles, and 11 of them went to #1. One of them was "Forever And Ever, Amen," which became his signature song.
His real name is Randy Traywick. In the early '80s he started using the name Randy Ray to perform, which he changed to Randy Travis when he got a record deal with Warner Bros. in 1985. Martha Sharp, the A&R person who signed him to the label, suggested the name.
Travis suffered a devastating stroke in 2013 that left him barely able to speak. In 2019 he staged the Music Of Randy Travis tour with James Dupré singing his songs. The tour was cut short after three songs but Travis kept working with Dupré, who in 2024 provided guide vocals for a new Randy Travis song called "Where That Came From" that used artificial intelligence to create Travis' vocal.
He got a big break in 1985 when he went to the Grand Ole Opry as a guest of Little Jimmy Dickens. To Randy's surprise, Dickens brought him on stage to perform, which led to his record deal. A year later, Travis became a member of the Opry.
Early on, he opened shows for Loretta Lynn. At his last concert before his stroke - June 29, 2013 at RiverEdge Park in Illinois - Lynn was his opening act.
In 1975, when Travis was 16, he won a talent competition at a Charlotte, North Carolina, nightclub owned by Frank and Lib Hatcher, a married couple. Lib, 18 years older than Travis, became his manager, and later, his wife - they got married in 1991. They dated for about a decade before Travis revealed they were a couple. Randy and Lib went through a contentious divorce in 2010.
After notching his 15th #1 Country hit, "Whisper My Name," in 1994, his popularity waned, but he made a comeback with another chart topper, "Three Wooden Crosses," in 2002. Around that time, he was recording a lot of gospel music.
He started dating Mary Davis, whose brother made the shirts Randy wore on stage, in the early 2010s as his marriage to Lib Hatcher was crumbling. After his stroke, Davis helped with Randy's recovery, and in 2015 they got married. During appearances, she acts as his (quite literal) support and typically answers questions on his behalf.

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