Tracy Byrd graduated from Vidor High School in 1985 and grew up surrounded by country and Western swing music. He first attended Lamar University in Beaumont and later enrolled at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, where he began performing in local clubs. Realizing that music was his true calling, Byrd eventually left college to pursue it full-time. He formed a band called Rim Fire and performed throughout southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas. In January 1990, he walked into Cutter’s in Beaumont—a venue that had recently launched the career of fellow Southeast Texan Mark Chesnutt. Byrd soon landed a regular gig there, working alongside Chesnutt for about ten months and becoming the club’s featured singer after Chesnutt left for Nashville.

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Once he had enough original material to showcase, Byrd headed to Nashville and secured a recording contract with MCA Records. His debut album, Tracy Byrd, was released in 1993, and his first single, “Holdin’ Heaven,” reached No. 1 on the charts that same year. His second album, No Ordinary Man, produced three major hits—“Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous,” “Watermelon Crawl,” and “The First Step”—while its fourth single, “The Keeper of the Stars,” became his second No. 1. The song was nominated for CMA Single of the Year, won ACM Song of the Year, and helped push No Ordinary Man to double-platinum status.

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Byrd’s momentum continued into the late 1990s. He released the greatest hits collection Keepers in 1998 and went on to chart more than thirty hit singles over his career, including eleven additional Top Ten songs. He has released ten studio albums and two greatest-hits albums, earning four gold certifications and one double-platinum certification from the RIAA. Until 2006, Byrd released at least one album every year. In June 2016, he returned to the studio for his first project in a decade, recording at Rosewood Studios in Tyler, Texas. Self-produced and self-promoted, the album featured eight original songs written by Byrd and was released in October 2016.

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Beyond music, Byrd is passionate about the outdoors and community service. He gives back through his annual Tracy Byrd Homecoming Weekend, held each March, which includes a fishing tournament, concert, and golf tournament—all benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network.