Rodney Atkins

Like the dust-caked cowboys before him, Rodney Atkins had to navigate some twists and turns along the path to country stardom—but he discovered himself in the process. Born in Knoxville, TN, in 1969, Atkins had a bumpy start, bouncing between adoptive parents before settling in a family that was frequently on the move. He made it to Nashville in the mid-'90s, and by 1997 released his first song for the iconic Curb Records, the pining "In a Heartbeat". Early singles cast him as a crooner of elaborately produced ballads, but Atkins was restless, cycling through styles and producers until finally sharing his LP debut, 2003’s Honesty. Making the most of his big Tennessee twang, he sang story songs with dashes of honky-tonk and classic outlaw country, and wooed fans with the title track, where a couple sits down to divide up their lives and instead comes back together. But it was Atkins' next one, 2006's If You're Going Through Hell, that delivered four No. 1 country hits in a row, including upbeat jukebox jams like the persistence-pushing titular single and "Cleaning This Gun", a wry tale of a dad scaring the hell out of his daughter’s suitor. Ever since, Atkins continues to embrace the old school in his sound while exploring new roads, from the hints of heartland rock heard on 2008's It's America to the pulse-pounding EDM elements added to 2019’s Caught Up In the Country.