R

• Next
• Back

He became fascinated with Roy Acuff and started playing and writing songs. With his brothers, he played concerts in and around the Virginia area. He sometimes wore a buckskin jacket and headband. Rising guitarist Roy Clark worked with Rainwater and together they cut a few demos for 4 Star Records. Pop singer Teresa Brewer turned one of his compositions, "I Gotta Get My Baby Back," into a big hit. Others were overdubbed and released on budget record labels • Marvin Rainwater • Marvin Rainwater Discography

Rascal Flatts has released six studio albums and a greatest hits album, all on Lyric Street Records. Their first two albums, 2000's Rascal Flatts and 2002's Melt, have been certified 2× Multi-Platinum and 3× Multi-Platinum, respectively, in the United States, while 2004's Feels Like Today and 2006's Me and My Gang have received 5× Multi-Platinum and 5× Multi-Platinum certifications respectively. 2007's Still Feels Good, their most recent album, is certified 2× Multi-Platinum. Their new album, Unstoppable, was released on April 7, 2009. • Rascal Flatts Website • Rascal Flatts Discography • Top Vocal Group 2009

Edward Garvin Futch was born in Lafayette, Louisiana on August 19, 1944 as one of eleven children. Influenced by Cajun music, the country music sounds from popular radio broadcasts such as the Louisiana Hayride, New Orleans blues, and the new sounds of rock and roll, Raven first played in a band at age thirteen. Raven later went to work for a radio station in Georgia, where in 1962 he self-released the single "Once a Fool" under the name Eddy Raven. When his family moved back to Louisiana, Raven worked at a record store called La Louisianne, where he recorded and released his first album, That Cajun Country Sound.• Eddy Raven Website • Eddy Raven Discography

Throughout the 1990s, Collin continued to produce Top Ten singles on the country music charts. By the end of the decade, however, his momentum had slowed; 2001's Can't Back Down was his first album that did not produce a Top 40 country hit, and he was dropped by his record label soon afterward. He did not record another studio album until 2005's Twenty Years and Change, released on an independent label. • Collin Raye Website • Collin Raye Discography

Reed was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the second child of Robert and Cynthia Hubbard. Reed's grandparents lived in Rockmart, GA. and he would visit them from time to time. He was quoted as saying as a small child, while running around strumming his guitar, "I am gonna be a star. I'm gonna go to Nashville and be a star." Reed's parents separated four months after his birth, and he and his sister spent 7 years in foster homes or orphanages. Reed was reunited with his mother and stepfather in 1944. Music and impromptu performances helped ease the stressful times the new family was under. • Jerry Reed Books • Jerry Reed Discography •

Rimes made her breakthrough into country music in 1996. Her debut album, Blue, reached Number 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and was certified "multi-platinum" in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's lead single of the same name (originally intended to be recorded by Patsy Cline in the early 1960s) became a Top 10 hit. With immediate success, Rimes attained widespread national acclaim for her similarities to Cline's vocal style. When Rimes released her sophomore studio effort in 1997, You Light up My Life: Inspirational Songs, Rimes went more towards country pop material, which would set the trend for a string of albums that would be released into the next decade. LeAnn Rimes is the youngest person to win a Grammy, and the first country singer to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. • LeAnn Rimes Website • LeAnn Rimes Discography

After several years of playing throughout the Southern United States, Ricochet was signed to a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1996. Their self-titled debut album produced three straight Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts, including the Number One single "Daddy's Money"; the album was also certified gold in the United States. Ricochet's membership has changed significantly over time. Of the original six members, only Greg Cook and Heath Wright remain, alongside Dwayne Dupuy (vocals, keyboards, trumpet), Kenny Lewis (vocals, guitar), Troy Nelson (harmony vocals, drums). • Ricochet Website • Ricochet Discography

Robbins was born in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona. He was reared in a difficult family situation. His father took odd jobs to support the family of ten children. His father's drinking led to divorce in 1937. Among his warmer memories of his childhood, Robbins recalled having listened to stories of the American West told by his maternal grandfather, Texas Bob Heckle. Robbins left the troubled home at the age of seventeen to serve in the United States Navy as an LCT coxswain during World War II. He was stationed in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. To pass the time during the war, he learned to play the guitar, started writing songs, and came to love Hawaiian music. • Marty Robbins Website • Marty Robbins Discography

Jimmie Rodgers' traditional birthplace is usually given as Meridian, Mississippi; however, in documents signed by Rodgers later in life, his birthplace was listed as Geiger, Alabama, the home of his paternal grandparents. Rodgers' mother died when he was very young, and Rodgers, the youngest of three sons, spent the next few years living with various relatives in southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama, near Geiger. He eventually returned home to live with his father, Aaron Rodgers, a foreman on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, who had settled with a new wife in Meridian. • Jimmie Rodgers Books • Jimmie Rodgers Discography

Two of his albums, The Gambler and Kenny, are featured in the About.com poll of "The 200 Most Influential Country Albums Ever". He was voted the "Favorite Singer of All-Time" in a 1986 joint poll by readers of both USA Today and People. He has received hundreds of awards for both his music and charity work. These include AMAs, Grammys, ACMs and CMAs, as well as a lifetime achievement award for a career spanning six decades in 2003.

Success in recent years include the 2006 album release, Water & Bridges, an across the board hit, that peaked at #5 in the Billboard Country Albums sales charts, also charting high in the Billboard 200. • Kenny Rogers Website • Kenny Rogers Discography

Along with his work in Hootie & the Blowfish, Rucker has recorded two solo albums. The first, Back to Then, was released in 2002 on Hidden Beach Recordings. An album of country music entitled Learn to Live followed in 2008 on Capitol Records Nashville. Its first three singles — "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", "It Won't Be Like This for Long" and "Alright" — have all reached Number One on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart. He also won the 2009 Country Music Association Award "New Artist of the Year" • Darius Rucker Website • Darius Rucker Discography • 2009 CMA New Artist of the Year

Signed to Lyric Street Records in 2003, Rushlow released two singles and one album (Right Now) on the label that year. After disbanding in 2004, Rushlow and Harris formed a duo known as Rushlow Harris, which was signed to Toby Keith's Show Dog Nashville label in 2006.

Before the foundation of Rushlow, lead vocalist Tim Rushlow was co-lead vocalist with Brady Seals in the band Little Texas, a six-piece band which charted several Top Ten country singles in the mid-1990s, including the Number One hit "My Love". In 1997, Rushlow left for a solo career. His first cut was the musical track "Totally Committed" on comedian Jeff Foxworthy's 1998 album of the same name. Tim Rushlow signed to Atlantic Records in 2000, charting the Top Ten single "She Misses Him" that year. • Rushlow Website • Rushlow Discography