| Tracy Byrd |
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Birth name: |
Tracy Lynn Byrd |
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Born: |
December 17, 1966 |
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Origin: |
Vidor, Texas |
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Years active: |
1992–present |
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Labels: |
MCA (MCA Nashville) RCA Nashville BNA Blind Mule |

Tracy Lynn Byrd is an American country music artist. Signed to MCA Nashville Records in 1993, Byrd broke through on the country music scene that year with his single "Holdin' Heaven", which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Although he did not land a second Number One until 2002's "Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo", Byrd has charted more than thirty hit singles in his career, including eleven additional Top Ten hits. He has also released nine studio albums and two greatest-hits albums, with four gold certifications and one double-platinum certification from the RIAA.
Byrd released his first single, "That's the Thing About a Memory", in 1992. Although it and follow-up "Someone to Give My Love To" (previously a single in 1971 for Johnny Paycheck) both missed Top 40, he broke through in 1993 with the Number One hit "Holdin' Heaven". This song was the third release from his self-titled debut album, released by MCA on April 27, 1993. Although the album earned RIAA gold certification, its final single ("Why Don't That Telephone Ring") peaked at #39. Keith Stegall and Tony Brown shared production duties on the album.
No Ordinary Man was the title of Byrd's second album, which was produced by Jerry Crutchfield. It was also his highest selling, earning a double-platinum certification for U.S. sales of two million copies. All four singles from the album reached Top Five: "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous", "Watermelon Crawl" (also his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, at #81), "The First Step" and "The Keeper of the Stars". This last song, a love ballad, became a popular choice for fans to use at their weddings. It also won Song of the Year at the Country Music Association in 1995. MCA had not originally planned to issue this song as a single, until Byrd commented that it had been receiving favorable reactions when he sang it in concert.
His third album, 1995's Love Lessons, showed a decline in both chart performance and physical sales, despite still earning a gold certification. It was led off by the #15 "Walkin' to Jerusalem", followed by two ballads: the #9-peaking title track and #14 "Heaven in My Woman's Eyes", and finally the #21-peaking "4 to 1 in Atlanta." This album also reunited him with Tony Brown, who would also produce all of his subsequent material for MCA.
Big Love was the title of Byrd's fourth album and its first single. "Big Love" returned him to the Top Five with a #3 peak. After it came another Johnny Paycheck cover, this time of his 1971 single "She's All I Got." Re-titled "Don't Take Her She's All I Got", Byrd's cover peaked at #4. The album's other singles ("Don't Love Make a Diamond Shine" and "Good Ol' Fashioned Love") reached #17 and #47 respectively, with the latter being his first single since 1993 to miss Top 40. Big Love also became his third gold-selling album.
Byrd released his final studio album for MCA, I'm from the Country, in late 1997. Its title track, co-written by Richard Young of The Kentucky Headhunters and former MCA Records artist Marty Brown, was also the first single. This song was added to the album, which was originally to be titled Walkin' the Line, after the rest of the album had already been completed. "I'm from the Country" became his ninth Top Ten hit, reaching #3 in early 1998 and becoming his first #1 on the RPM Country Tracks charts in Canada. Only one other single, the #9 "I Wanna Feel That Way Again", was released from the album.
Byrd then released a greatest-hits package, the gold-certified Keepers: Greatest Hits, in 1999. This album was led off by the #31 "When Mama Ain't Happy" before he left the label.