With the Help of AI, Randy Travis Has Released His First Song Following His 2013 Stroke
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1959-present
Randy Travis Now: Singer Releases “Where That Came From” with AI Help
Country music icon Randy Travis, 65, is making music again with the help of artificial intelligence. On May 3, Travis released “Where That Came From,” his first song since suffering a debilitating stroke in 2013. Over the past decade-plus, the Country Music Hall of Famer has relearned how to walk, spell, and read again, but a condition called aphasia still limits his ability to speak and prevents him from singing.
In order to make the new track, Warner Music Nashville worked with London-based developers to create a proprietary AI model. The label compiled 42 samples from throughout Travis’ career, which allowed the program to overlay his voice onto a base vocal provided by singer James Dupré. “It’s Randy Travis; Randy’s on the other side of the microphone,” Cris Lacy, Warner Music Nashville co-president, told CBS News. “It’s still his vocal. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to make music, and to deprive him of that—if he still wants to do that—that’s unconscionable.” Songwriters John Scott Sherrill and Scotty Emerick penned the lyrics.
Listen to “Where That Came From” on Amazon Music, Apple Music, or Spotify
Some of the first people to hear “Where That Came From” included Travis’ family and his country music friends, including Carrie Underwood, Cole Swindell, and Clay Walker. Mary Travis, Randy’s wife, told the Associated Press the singer might release more music in the future using the technology. “We’re hoping that we can maybe set a standard [with using AI],” she said. “We’ll see where this goes. This is such a foreign territory.”
Who Is Randy Travis?
Grammy winner Randy Travis is best known for opening the door to young artists who sought to return to the traditional sound of country music. He was discovered by Elizabeth Hatcher when he was 18 and fought hard to make a name for himself. He found his stride in the mid-1980s with the No. 1 country albums Storms of Life and Always & Forever. Over the years, he has won seven Grammy Awards and sold millions of albums. In 2013, Travis survived a life-threatening health scare that left him unable to walk or talk. The Country Music Hall of Fame inductee has since continued to slowly recover and released a new single in May 2024.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Randy Bruce Travis
BORN: May 4, 1959
BIRTHPLACE: Marshville, North Carolina
SPOUSES: Elizabeth Hatcher (1991-2010) and Mary Davis (2015-present)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus
Early Life
Randy Bruce Traywick, best known as Randy Travis, was born on May 4, 1959, in Marshville, North Carolina. The second of six children born to Harold and Bobby Traywick, Randy was raised on a modest farm, where he was training horses and working cattle by age 6. As a child, he admired the music of the legendary country artists Hank Williams, Lefty Frizell, and Gene Autry. When he was 10 years old, he learned to play the guitar.
As a teenager, Randy’s interest in country music was matched only by his increasing experimentation with drugs and alcohol. Estranged from his family, Randy dropped out of school and briefly held a job as a construction worker. Over the next few years, he was arrested several times for assault, breaking and entering, as well as other misdemeanor charges.
On the verge of being sent to prison at 18 years old, Randy met Elizabeth Hatcher, a manager of a nightclub where he performed in Charlotte, North Carolina. Seeing promise in his music, Hatcher convinced a judge to let her become Randy’s legal guardian. Hatcher spent the next few years grooming Randy, who started to regularly perform at her country clubs.
Music Career
In 1981, after minor recording success on an independent label, the pair moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Hatcher secured a job managing the Nashville Palace, a tourist-oriented club near the Grand Ole Opry, while Randy—who for a time performed as Randy Ray—worked as a short-order cook.
After several years of trying to make a name for himself, Randy was signed by Warner Bros. Records in 1985. Now billed as Randy Travis, his first single, “On The Other Hand,” reached a disappointing No. 67 on the country music chart. Despite the lackluster debut, Warner Bros. released Travis’ second track, “1982,” which secured a place in the top 10.
Optimistic over the response to “1982,” the label decided to rerelease “On The Other Hand,” which immediately skyrocketed to No. 1. In 1986, both songs appeared on Travis’ album Storms Of Life, which secured its place at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart for eight weeks, sold over five million copies, and won Album of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
More awards and accolades accompanied Travis’ rise to fame, and he was invited to become a member of the prestigious Grand Ole Opry in 1986. His widely celebrated sophomore album, Always And Forever (1987), earned Travis a Grammy Award, as well as the Country Music Association’s Album of the Year. It also spent 43 weeks at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart. Travis took home back-to-back CMA trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year in 1987 and 1988.
His next three albums—Grammy-winning Old 8 X 10 (1988), No Holdin’ Back (1989), and Heroes And Friends (1990), which included duets with George Jones, Tammy Wynette, B.B. King, and Roy Rogers—also sold millions of copies. Travis’ music career continued to thrive with the release of Full Circle (1996), You And You Alone (1998), and A Man Ain’t Made Out Of Stone (1999).
A turn toward gospel music led to more success. Rise and Shine (2002), Worship & Faith (2003), and Glory Train (2005) all won Grammys for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album.
During his career, Travis unintentionally opened the door for many young artists who sought to return to the traditional sound of country music. Known as a “New Traditionalist,” Travis was credited with influencing future country stars like Garth Brooks, Clint Black, and Travis Tritt. In 2009, he recorded a version of his hit song “I Told You So” with Carrie Underwood. It became his first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the duo the Grammy—Travis’ seventh overall—for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals the next year.
In October 2016, Travis reached a new pinnacle when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. “Today is the greatest day of Randy’s celebrated music career,” his wife Mary Davis said during the ceremony on his behalf. “Randy wants to thank you for listening and loving him.”
By that point, many assumed the country singer would never make new music again. He had survived a near-catastrophic stroke in 2013 and, despite relearning how to play guitar and sing, never regained his talents enough to continue his career. So, the May 2024 arrival of “Where That Came From,” the singer’s first single since his health scare, came as a big surprise. Because of Travis’ limited singing abilities, the track was created with an AI program that used more than 40 samples of music throughout his career to overlay his voice onto a base vocal track, performed by singer James Dupré.
Acting Career
In the 1990s, Travis concentrated on an acting career. He won roles in the made-for-TV movies Dead Man’s Revenge (1994) and Steel Chariots (1997), plus made appearances on some of TV’s most popular series, including Touched By an Angel, Fraiser, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. He then moved to the silver screen with supporting roles in the movies The Rainmaker (1997), T.N.T. (1998), and The Million Dollar Kid (1999).
2012 Arrest
In August 2012, Travis, then 53 years old, was arrested for drunk driving in Texas. According to a report by ABC News, police were called to the scene by another driver, who witnessed Travis shirtless and allegedly taking a nap on the side of the road. The country star had been involved in a single-car accident, according to the report, and when police arrested him on a DWI charge, he received a separate charge of retaliation and obstruction for threatening to shoot and kill officers at the scene.
Officers took the singer to the police station naked (the details of how he became naked are unclear), and his blood alcohol limit was well above the legal limit, authorities said. He was released the following day, after posting a $21,500 bond, according to ABC News.
In January 2013, Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. He was sentenced to two years of probation, 30 days at in-patient rehab, fined $2,000, and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
Health
Six months later, in July 2013, Travis made headlines again when he was admitted to a Texas hospital after reportedly suffering from complications related to a heart condition. The 54-year-old singer was diagnosed with having congestive heart failure. While undergoing treatment for his life-threatening condition, Travis suffered a stroke that left him in critical condition.
According to his publicist Kirt Webster, Travis had surgery to relieve pressure on his brain following his stroke. “His family and friends here with him at the hospital request your prayers and support,” Webster said in a statement. The health scare kept Travis in the hospital and rehabilitation for months. As a result of the stroke, Travis had lost his ability speak and had difficulty walking, but in the years since, has been making progress on both counts as well as relearning how to play the guitar and sing.
Three years after his stroke, Travis wowed fans when he stood on stage and sang an emotional rendition of “Amazing Grace” at the 2016 induction ceremony for the Country Music Hall and Fame. “Randy stared death in the face, but death blinked,” his wife Mary Davis said during the event.
Travis continues to recover. His speech and mobility continue to slowly improve. One of his recent appearances was at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Honors, where he presented an award to Kane Brown.
Wife
Travis is currently married to his second wife, Mary Davis. The couple became engaged in 2013 before Travis’ health scare, then married in 2015.
Previously, he was married to his longtime manager Elizabeth Hatcher in a private ceremony on the island of Maui in 1991. The couple remained together until 2010 when they divorced.
The famed country singer has no children.
Quotes
It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It’s what you leave behind you when you go.
I think you have to sound right singing whatever it is that you sing.
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