Clay Walker

At 54 years old, Clay Walker has this physical status:

Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American country music performer.

He made his debut in 1993 with "What's It to You," which debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart (now Hot Country Songs) chart, as did its sequel, 1994's "Live Until I Die."

Both singles appeared on his self-titled debut album, which was released in 1993 via Giant Records.

He was with the company until its 2001 demise and then went to Warner Bros.

Records, RCA Records Nashville, and Curb Records. Clay Walker has released a total of eleven studio albums, including a greatest hits collection and an album of Christmas songs.

His first four studio albums received platinum status in the United States, and his greatest hits collection and fifth studio album were all rated gold.

He has charted more than 30 hits on Hot Country Songs, of which six have reached number one: "What's It to You," "This Woman and This Man," and "Rumor Has It."

Personal life

Lori Jayne Lampson married a rodeo queen before the debut of his first single. They had two children, MaClay DaLayne, born on January 14, 1996, and Skylor ClayAnne, 1999. In 2006, the couple divorced. He married model Jessica Craig on September 28, 2007, and had four more children with her: William Clayton, born August 5, 2008, and Mary Elizabeth, born December 27, 2009. Walker and his wife will welcome a fifth child together on August 7, 2020, a son named Christiaan Michael born January 2021.

Following his illness in 1996, Walker founded Band Against MS, a non-profit charity that raised the profile of multiple sclerosis after his appearance in various ways. He was honoured with the Humanitarian Award in 2008 for his charitable contributions to MS as well as his participation in a charity golf tournament that raised his cause.

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Musical career

Walker's self-titled debut album was released in 1993 under Stroud's direction. Its first single was "What's It to You"; written by Robert Ellis Orrall and Curtis Wright. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, and number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its sequel, "Live Until I Die," Walker wrote, was released late in the year and became his second straight No. 94. In early 1994, there was one. The number 11 "Where Do I Fit in the Picture," the B-side of "What's It to You," came after those two singles. The album featured No. 3 for a third time. In "Dreaming with My Eyes Open," a song that was also included on the soundtrack to the 1993 film The Thing Called Love, 1 hit. "White Palace," an additional cut from the album, debuted at number 67 on the country charts without being revealed as a unit.

Clay Walker was named platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for one million copies. On the Billboard 200, it reached number 8 on Top Country Albums, number 2 on Top Heatseekers, and number 52 on the Billboard 200. Walker's "high-energy" voice, according to Allmusic's Larry Powell, was reminiscent of Conway Twitty's. In 1994, Walker received two award nominations for his work in TNN/Music City News and Top New Male Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music.

If I Could Make a Living was Walker's second album, which was released in 1994. It also produced two more No. In the title track, there are 1 singles (co-written by Alan Jackson, Keith Stegall, and Roger Murrah) and 1995's "This Woman and This Man" were among the titles (co-written by Alan Jackson, Keith Stegall, and Roger Murrah) and 1995's "This Woman and This Man" are two singles (co-written by Alan Jackson, Keith Stegall, and Roger Murrah). The new artist spent two weeks at No. 2 in the United States. He made his first multi-week appearance on Sunday, becoming his first multi-week No. 1. 1 was struck. "My Heart Will Never Know" was the number 16 on the menu. If I Could Make a Living went platinum in May 1995, it ranked second on the country's charts at number two. "Walker has broken loose from Nashville's most recent crop of carefully crafted cowboys," Richmond Times-Dispatch founder Gordon Ely said. Walker began touring in 1995 as a headlining act in support of the album.

Walker's third studio album, Hypnotize the Moon, was released in 1995. Despite the fact that none of its singles made it to No. 1, it is nevertheless no. In "Who Needs You Baby" (co-wrote) and the title track, Hypnotize the Moon delivered two consecutive number 2 hits, followed by the number 5 "Only On Days That End in 'Y'" and the number 18 "Bury the Shovel." In 1996, Hypnotize the Moon was named platinum, marking Walker's third straight platinum album. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who said that it was his "most assured, cohesive album to date," said the album's reviewer, who said it was a "consistently excellent job." Walker did not have a distinct musical personality, according to Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly, but the song selection was solid and awarded a B+. Country Standard Time's Richard McVey II considered it a "throwback" in terms of Walker's debut, while USA Today said that it lacked the album's "verve."

Walker had just finished recording his fourth album in 1996 when he first noticed numbness, facial spasms, and double vision. Multiple sclerosis were discovered in magnetic resonance imaging studies (MS). Walker began changing his diet and addressing the disease with the help of a daily injection of Copaxone, bringing his MS into an arrest center.

Nu Millennia Media published Self Portrait in early 1996, which featured five of Walker's songs in an interactive CD-ROM format as well as a 30-minute video clip. Rumor Has It, 1997, He co-produced with Stroud, his fourth album, and he's back for his fourth album, Rumor Has It. It's championship time, his first single, he won his sixth and final No. This year, there was just one single. The number 18 "One, Two, I Love You," and the Top 5 hits "Watch This" and "Then What?" were among the album's other singles. According to the charts, the number 4 and the number 2 respectively rank at number 4 and number two. The latter also landed at number 65 on the Hot 100, his first appearance on the chart since "What's It to You." Rumor Has It was certified platinum on three of his three previous studio albums. Larry Stephens of Country Standard Time gave this album a largely critical review, naming the songs "cookie-cutter" outside "I Need a Margarita." Walker's album was also considered formulaic, but it was also said that even poor performance content was "able to make even poorer stuff sound good," with three stars out of five.

Walker charted with a live version of Earl Thomas Conley's 1983 album "Holding Her and Loving You" in April 1998. This rendition spent nine weeks on the charts and peaked at number 68. "Normal People" debuted one month later. It was one of two new songs on his debut album, "You're Starting to Get to Me," on August 1998, the same month in which Greatest Hits was rated gold. Walker appeared at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 1998 as well as in 1998.

Walker's 1999 album Live, Laugh, Love was written by Doug Johnson, who succeeded Stroud as Giant Records' president. Connie Baer, the label's senior director of marketing, said she wanted to raise Walker's profile as an artist because she and Johnson did not have the same success as other artists with similar album sales and chart success. Richie McDonald, Lonestar's lead singer, lead singer, was lead off this album by the number 16 nation and number 74 pop hit "She's Always Right." Since this song was released, it was ranked 11 in the United States and number 65 pop. Rory Lee Feek and Jonnie Barnett's book "The Chain of Love" was the album's third and most popular single, debuting at number three in the United States and number 40 on the Hot 100. Both it and "Once in a Lifetime Love," the fourth single to be unveiled on airplay, were among the top hits, while "Live, Laugh, Love" was gaining the charts. On its debut, "Once in a Lifetime Love" became his lowest-peaking single release, peaking at number 50. The Earl Thomas Conley cover was also included on the album, as well as a studio version.

On Allmusic, Erlewine said that it "never really distinguishes itself from its predecessors" but that it "has its moments." Country Standard Time founder Brian Wahlert said the album was inaccurate, that "She's Always Right," "The Chain of Love," and the Conley cover were among the album's best tracks, but that the rest "treads no new ground." Billboard's Deborah Evans Price was more upbeat, saying that it displayed the dynamism of his live performances, as well as that he "cut loose" with soul singing on "This Time Love."

Walker performed two songs on Believe: A Christmas Collection, a Giant multi-artist Christmas music album released in late 2000. These two songs, a cover version of Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" and the original "Cowboy Christmas" by Elvis Presley, made their debut on the country chart, racking number 51 and number 70 respectively.

In early 2001, Walker released "Say No More," his twenty-third single for Giant. It was the first single release from his sixth studio album of the same name, peaking at number 33 on the country chart; the Jerry Kilgore co-write "If You Ever Feel Like Lovin' Me Again," the country's only other single, reached number 27. Giant's parent company, Warner Bros. Records Nashville, sponsored the latter album as Giant's parent company, Warner Bros. Records Nashville, cancelled in late 2001. Walker co-produced the album with veteran producers Byron Gallimore and Blake Mevis, as well as session guitarist Brent Mason. In addition, the album featured a song that Walker wrote in high school as well as a recreation of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba." Maria Konicki Dinoia of Allmusic said it three stars, "the sensitivity on this album is so evident that it makes you want to run right out and hug the one you love." Mike Clark, a country Standard Time contributor, characterized the album as a "full of bad lyrics and overwrought production clichés."

Walker wrote and recorded a song for the Houston Texans, the National Football League's expansion team. The song, "Football Time in Houston," was released as the team's official battle song during its inaugural season. In an interview with CMT, he said he donated the song to Houston, Texas, and that he performs "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the team's opening game every season.

Despite Warner Bros.'s departure from Warner Bros. for the Nashville division of RCA Records in May 2002, Warner Bros. released a Christmas music album titled Christmas in September of the same year. It featured a back cover of José Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," which Walker took to number 49 on the country chart in January 2003.

"A Few Questions," Walker's first single release on RCA, debuted in April 2003. The band spent twenty-seven weeks on the country charts, peaking at number nine on the first top-ten entry since "The Chain of Love" three years ago. This was his first single from his only RCA album, as well as A Few Questions, which he produced with Jimmy Ritchey. "I Can't Sleep" is its second single, which also topped the charts in early 2004. Chely Wright, with whom Walker wrote it, performed backing vocals on this album. "Jesus Was a Country Boy," Walker wrote with Rivers Rutherford on the third and final single. A Few Questions ranked as the second highest peak on the country's charts, reaching number three.

Erlewine rated this album two-and-a-half stars out of five on AllMusic. Walker's music was more country pop-oriented than Giant's, but this change in sound made it not "feel like a Clay Walker album," he said. "And his passionate performing cannot rise above this album's predictable lyrics and lame arrangements," Dan McIntosh wrote for Country Standard Time, where he wrote that "even his enthusiastic singing cannot rise above this album's predictable lyrics and lame arrangements."

In July 2005, Walker signed his third record deal, this time with Curb Records' Asylum-Curb division. "Fore She Was Mama," the label's first single, attracted a top of the charts in March 2007. It was included on Keith Stegall's album Fall, which was released in October. Clay Mills' album "Fall" was written by Clay Mills, former Mercury Records musician Shane Minor, and former Exile member Sonny LeMaire. It was the second straight launch from Fall, with the country charts at number 5 and the Hot 100 at number 55. "She Likes It in the Morning" was the album's third and final single, with a number 43 country peak. On a cover of Fender's debut single "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," the first duet of Walker's career appeared. In early 2006, Walker and Fender formed this duet; Fender died of lung cancer in October of the same year.

Erlewine gave it a three-and-a-half star rating, saying that Stegall's production gave it a more modern look in comparison to A Few Questions, and that, despite having some "good" songs, it was his "most enjoyable collection in some time." Brady Vercher, a Engine 145 reviewer, rated it three stars out of five, lauding Walker's vocal appearance but noting that the song selection "looked to be lacking in anything but fluff." Walker gave "a very pleasant country voice with a strong sense of emotion" and that the result was more country-sounding than most mainstream performances, according to reviewer Jeffrey B. Remz, but that there were several "generic" songs in the collection.

In June 2009, Walker's second album for Asylum-Curb was released for the first time. Its first single, "She Won't Be Long," was announced on December 29, 2009, although it had already appeared on the country charts in late November. Walker also wrote She Won't Be Long Longer than his ninth album. On June 8, 2010, the album, as well as She Won't Be Lonely Long, was released. It features a backwards version of Alabama's 1980 hit "Feels So Right" as well as a backing vocal from Alabama's lead singer, Randy Owen. Thom Jurek, an allmusic reviewer, praised the album's "straight-up, mainstream contemporary country" sound, but said it did not reflect a change in sound from Fall.

In mid-2010, "She Won't Be Long" reached No. 4 on the country charts. "Where Do I Go From You," the album's second single, was introduced to radio on August 2, 2010 with the song "Like We Never Said Goodbye" following in late 2011. "Jesse James," Curb's Sidewalk Records imprint, was released in 2012. Curb released a compilation called The Best of Clay Walker in 2014, which included singles from Fall and She Won't Be Lonely Long, as well as re-recordings of songs from when he was on Giant.

Walker's latest single, "Right Now," was released in November 2015. Despite a recording hiatus, Walker continued to appear infrequently between 2015 and 2017. The bulk of his time between releases was due to the lingering effects of multiple sclerosis. Walker's second single, "Working On Me," was released on April 13, 2018 from his then unconfirmed album. On December 21, 2018, Walker revealed that he would be debuting "She Gets What She Wants" on his social media pages at midnight on December 21, 2018. Walker also announced that the album would be called Long Live the Cowboy, and that it would be released in January 2019. The Cowboy was finally published in January 2019, and it includes the singles that had never been released.

Walker signed with Show Dog Nashville in August 2020 and announced that his first single, "Need a Bar Sometimes," would be published on August 14, 2020. "Need a Bar Sometimes" charted at number 59 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in February 20, Walker's first chart appearance in more than eight years. Show Dog Nashville released Walker's eleventh studio album, Texas to Tennessee, in July 2021.

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