Randy Travis

When his star rose in the ’80s, Country Music Hall of Famer Randy Travis became a savior of old-school country sounds and the linchpin of the neotraditional movement. Born in 1959 as Randy Traywick, he grew up in North Carolina in a home filled with classic country sounds, and by the time he came of age, he was lending his mile-deep, sonorous baritone to vintage-sounding tunes. He self-released a live album in 1982 that earned enough attention to get him a deal with Warner, and his “proper” debut album, 1986’s Storms of Life, became a full-fledged phenomenon thanks to huge country hits “On the Other Hand,” “Diggin’ Up Bones,” and “No Place Like Home,” which spotlighted the singer’s enormous expressivity. Travis continued racking up hits for years, but he remained true to his roots-conscious sound even after his chart visits grew less frequent in the 2000s. During that period, he concentrated on Christian-oriented material, and he found plenty of success on that front, piling up Dove awards, but he always came back around to his classic approach. In 2013 Travis suffered a stroke that effectively ended his career, but his influence lives on in latter-day traditionalists such as Kenny Chesney and Josh Turner.